Published on 12, July, 2020
I realise I am middle aged and I that grew up in a world in which only a minority of men had tattoos, and they were either sailors, builders or thugs. Then, around about 15 years ago, David Beckham, famous footballer, gets a tattoo—followed by a string of other footballers, so-called celebrities and media non-entities, all proclaiming they are expressing their 'individuality' or 'rebelling'. Soon afterwards every young man and woman has covered his or her body in them, all believing they too are expressing their individuality or rebelling. And yet, like lemmings advancing towards a cliff-edge, or sheep flocking with the herd across fields, they all look almost the same, that is apart from having different amounts of these vulgar eyesores, or slightly different colourings to them, they all still look virtually the same (at least to me). I see no individuality in these people. Or any spirit of rebellion. I can't understand this herd-mentality. What is it that makes people all try so desperately hard to copy one another in a bizarre attempt to appear different from one another. It doesn't make sense. You would think to be different or rebel, you'd do the opposite to what everyone else is doing. And what is this craving to emulate celebrities or media personalities? Do they imagine they are better than they are—smarter, nicer, more charismatic? The unfathomable sheep-like behaviour aside, I can't understand what, apart from mental illness, what would drive a person to inflict such damage on their largest and most vital organ. The very idea of deliberate mutilation horrifies me.
I find this odd?
Firstly, why does it distress you so much what others are doing with their lives?
Perhaps live and let live.
Deliberate mutilation can come in varying forms. A lot of Autistic people s*lf h*rm. Maybe tattooing is a way to cope with that in a less hurtful way?
Many NT people also SH, and tattoos could be a way to cope.
I don't think it's a bad thing that people copy or imitate. It's a very human thing to do actually. I find it very sad that people can't just let people get on with it.
I, myself, am covered in tattoos. I have a few special interests and I have tattoos that represent them. They're things I want on my body. I also think they look nice on me, and that's okay. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I don't believe we need to have a running commentary on what you dislike about other people's appearances.
Some of my tattoos are just random. And thats fine by me. I was once addicted to s*lf h*rm, so I think tattoos are a great way for me to feel something on my skin and end up pretty instead of scars everywhere.
Personally, I just think we should all be able to let one another do whatever we want as long as we aren't hurting anyone. And if it really distresses you that much, perhaps you should speak with a professional about these worries.