Open Post

“When people see my tattoos or my piercings, the most common thing they say is, ‘That hurt didn’t it?' Or, 'I bet that hurt!’ Almost never do people ask me, ‘What does that mean to you?’ You know? People are so weird man… And I tell them, yeah, it fucking hurt.”
-D the Shop Bitch

Undeniably people are fascinated with pain, especially when it’s elective or self-inflicted. To this day, people who know me, but don’t know I have tattoos, act absolutely fascinated when they find out. They say, “Oh my god! I didn’t know you had tattoos… wow.” I think my tattoos are larger than most people expect. The first shock is that I have them. The second is how large they are. D is right; the most important and frequently asked question is how much did they hurt? The surprise towards me having tattoo has to do with a variety of things including gender, socio-economics, aesthetics and religion.

As I am a female (surprise?), it’s shocking since we are traditionally the gentler, weaker sex. As I come from an “upper-middle class” family, it’s shocking that I have this "pejorative folk-art." As I am beautiful, it’s shocking because I have mutilated my flesh. As I have Jewish heritage, it’s shocking for two reasons, the first because the old testament says not to mark thyself, but more contemporaneously, because the Nazis tattooed the Jews against their will during the Holocaust. Each of these reasons can be unpacked into full length posts of their own; however, the bottom line is they’re all problematic. Each issue is paradoxical. For example, some might think I am objectifying my female body, sexualizing it in a demeaning way, while others might feel I’m embracing my womanhood and wielding my sexuality in a strong “I am female, hear me roar” kind of way.

Tattoos are a visual expression; they are made to be seen. Like any crafted art, the seeing brings conceiving. Because of the severity of tattoo, there is increased interest. Because of the pain associated with tattoo it is exoticized, it is an “Other.” This could be a coincidence, but the word taboo is frighteningly close to word tattoo, and both evoke the same wanton fascination in most contemporary societies