https://www.yahoo.com/news/study-finds-almost-half-tattoo-040222632.html

 

The article notes that some of the pigments or solutions used in creating tattoos can be broken down by bacteria or UV light into carcinogenic compounds, and also some particles in the ink can be small enough to migrate into cell nuclei and lead to cancer-causing genetic mutations.. How anyone would think injected dye into the skin might not cause some sort of issue is more of a surprise than this new research. Is that 'special memory' injected into one's body worth dying for?

 

Admittedly I am not a fan of tatts....not on me, not on anyone. I understand tatts have joined politics and religion as topics not to be discussed in polite company, but an anonymous forum doesn't necessarily qualify as polite. It is a place for opinion, and while I appreciate people will have differing opinions, this is mine. Others can add their opinion, and a discussion results.

 

While 'some of my best friends' have tatts, I do not think anyone ever looks better with a tattoo. I know for some cultures they have religious significance, but there was a time when sacrificing one's young virgin daughter to some god had religious significance. That doesn't make it special and being opposed to such a thing doesn't make me culturally insensitive.

 

Tatts in the West were once a fringe thing. When a fringe practice becomes mainstream, the word for it is 'fad', and fads have a shelf life. Unfortunately, tatts do not. A mullet or a mohawk can be cut when the owner decides the fad is dead, but tatts are forever. At best one will have a scar if later someone decides they no longer like it. At worst, the tatt causes cancer, which is a high price to pay for a fad. (Aside, I see lots of elderly expats now sporting tatts, and because of the style, I know the tatts are new. A guy who wants to look like a warrior or a 'bad boy' would be better off cutting back on the beer and hitting the gym than getting inked like a Maori. Tatts, and maybe a "man bun" on old expats might be the midlife crisis for guys who cannot afford a Porsche.)

 

I appreciate many wonderful Thai women have tatts. My opinion is every last one of them would look better absent the tatts, but of course I wouldn't hold a tatt against a woman, especially if she was willing to hold it against me. Their body, their choice. Still, I guess I am more in line with ancient Greeks who believed tattoos were a sin against the gods for defiling the beauty the gods gave a person. Toss in this new medical news about carcinogenic ink and perhaps the fad finally goes the way of the mullet.

 

Also, while tatts might have become somewhat mainstream, at least for a while longer, most of Thai society still looks down on them (despite one really famous person with an almost entirely tattooed body). Have the tatts often associated with bargirls, and one is not going to get hired by a bank or anywhere that tries to create an image of hi-so-ness. Fair? No, but it is what it is. Tatts limit options in Thai society.

 

Per an earlier thread, tatts may not not equate with 'bad girl', but the more tatts one has often does equate to 'bargirl', and there may come a time when a woman might wish to erase that part of her past. Still, to each his or her own. Just know the risks----of being stamped with yesterday's fad or---according to this new research---a cancer victim.

Tattoos have sacred significance  in Thai and Khymer  culture and have been around for hundreds,  maybe thousand years.

All over the  world the fashion,  not fad, for Tattoos has grown. The first time  I saw them  on women was 1974 in India in Goa.

 

Bacon is supposed to give you cancer too but how many ppl stopped eating it because of that. 

The oldest known tattoo was found on the mummified skin of a Bronze-Age man from around 3300BC. He was found in a glacier of the Otztal Alps near the border between Austria and Italy.  He had 57 tattoos.

 

So no, this new information will not end the tattoo fad.

 

Because something that has been around for well over five thousand years is not a fad.

i think most tattoos look real good 30 years later. 

We all die.  Do what you require(or do not require) while you have the time allocated to you. For when it's over...it is done. ????

6 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Tattoos have sacred significance  in Thai and Khymer  culture and have been around for hundreds,  maybe thousand years.

All over the  world the fashion,  not fad, for Tattoos has grown. The first time  I saw them  on women was 1974 in India in Goa.

 

And having the heart pulled out of your 6 year old daughter had religious and spiritual significance to Aztecs. Gods, however, are a foolish superstition, so whatever done on 'their' behalf is a colossal waste of time and effort, and offers nothing except it feeds silly beliefs.

 

Tattoos are absolutely a fad in most societies now, far removed even from their superstition. Ten years ago, few Thai women had tatts. Maybe some had the usual left shoulder tatt, but most had clean skin. That they don't now = fad. Fads, die off. In five years people will be embarrassed that got Maori warrior tatts or tribal tatts, of "F U" tatts.

6 hours ago, Adumbration said:

The oldest known tattoo was found on the mummified skin of a Bronze-Age man from around 3300BC. He was found in a glacier of the Otztal Alps near the border between Austria and Italy.  He had 57 tattoos.

 

So no, this new information will not end the tattoo fad.

 

Because something that has been around for well over five thousand years is not a fad.

It's a fad now. Just because a Bronze Age guy had one doesn't make them special. He also likely believed in bloodletting. He had no access to medical journals or NIH publications, so most of what he did stemmed from abject ignorance and superstition.

6 hours ago, Bobtheblob said:

Bacon is supposed to give you cancer too but how many ppl stopped eating it because of that. 

While I don't eat bacon, those who do benefit because of the protein. Tatts are useless, so it is jumping on fad or fashion for something of zero biological benefit but perhaps with a severe cost.. Like smoking, it's an unnecessary thing that involved some sort of discomfort just to acquire something---tatt or tobacco addiction---that can kill you. It epitomizes human idiocy. Darwin smiles.

 

Someone who might develop a fatal cancer can look at himself and say, "Well, my tribal tattoo made me look like a bad man, so it was worth it".

Can't compare traditional tattoos with what goes on today. It is a fashion, period.

Personally, they turn me off, especially when I see a girl going around in the cold with shorts or bare shoulders to show them. Then again, it's their choice, if it makes them happy go on.

Tattoos are a form of art just like paintings. Tattoos have also come a loooooong way since the early days, especially over the past 10 years. There's tattoo artists that can do photo realistic stuff that's absolutely amazing. Some people have their art on the wall, others have it in their skin. To each their own. 

3 hours ago, Walker88 said:

And having the heart pulled out of your 6 year old daughter had religious and spiritual significance to Aztecs. Gods, however, are a foolish superstition, so whatever done on 'their' behalf is a colossal waste of time and effort, and offers nothing except it feeds silly beliefs.

 

Tattoos are absolutely a fad in most societies now, far removed even from their superstition. Ten years ago, few Thai women had tatts. Maybe some had the usual left shoulder tatt, but most had clean skin. That they don't now = fad. Fads, die off. In five years people will be embarrassed that got Maori warrior tatts or tribal tatts, of "F U" tatts.

Well don't get one then.

 

I personally have decided not to give a **** about them from now on.

 

Any harm in you doing the same?

 

Go on....... try it!

 

 

 

 

Tattoos are messages to other people.

 

Look at ME! 

Feel  better now?

Tattoos and play acting.

What a laugh.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MI5fRkdw0

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Walker88 said:

ancient Greeks who believed tattoos were a sin against the gods for defiling the beauty the gods gave a person.

I'm with the Greeks on this one.

 

IMO, there's nothing more beautiful than a well proportioned young lady, nude, with no body markings whatsoever.

5 hours ago, Walker88 said:

 Tatts are useless,

If I said topics like this are useless, that was started by you, what would be your response. ?

And if you really believe your opinion matters to those that have, or will have tattoos - you are sadly mistaken.

Want a tat - get one. Don't want a tat - don't get one

Yours is one opinion of billions.

 

13 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Just know the risks----of being stamped with yesterday's fad or---according to this new research---a cancer victim.

Make you sure you have clean underwear on when going out, because you just don't know when you might get hit by a bus, cough, cough, oh then there's Covid, and....and.....and

 

Go outside, look at the clear blue sky, the greenery around you, suck in the fresh air and enjoy life because eventually you will be moving on and no point in worrying because we all have an expiry date man.

 

Life's for living, not worrying, then we die, Amen.

13 hours ago, Walker88 said:

ancient Greeks who believed tattoos were a sin against the gods for defiling the beauty the gods gave a person.

 

I know something else the Ancient Greeks were famous for.

Hazard a guess as to what it is ? And it is still going on, and many people Whine and Snivel and Moan about it to this day.

I fail to see the relevance.

Do what you want - let others do the same.

Certainly hope this news might deter some.  I haven't seen one person that looked better with a tattoo.   Several times I've looked at people and thought they must have been in a terrible motorcycle accident that horribly scarred their legs.   How awful to have to walk around looking like that.  Then looked closer and saw it was tattoos.  Bad on men, much worse on women.

2 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Tattoos are a form of art just like paintings. Tattoos have also come a loooooong way since the early days, especially over the past 10 years. There's tattoo artists that can do photo realistic stuff that's absolutely amazing. Some people have their art on the wall, others have it in their skin. To each their own. 

The vast majority of tatts are 'art' like tigers painted on black velvet or dogs playing poker are art, despite coming 'a loooooong way'. They aren't the Pieta. What makes true art special is its uniqueness as well as the skill involved in imagining/creating it. There was one Michelangelo; within a ten minute walk from my condo there are twenty tatt shops, all producing the same banal stuff. Also, get tired of a painting and one can simply remove it. Tatts, or their scars, are forever.

 

Yes, to each his own. I suspect lots of folks got caught in the fad and will come to wish they never inked up once the fad goes away or the person ages and the tatt migrates due to sagging skin. Now seeing that the inking itself is carcinogenic just makes it worse. Is a fad worth dying for? Maybe for some it is.

18 minutes ago, seedy said:

If I said topics like this are useless, that was started by you, what would be your response. ?

And if you really believe your opinion matters to those that have, or will have tattoos - you are sadly mistaken.

Want a tat - get one. Don't want a tat - don't get one

Yours is one opinion of billions.

 

Yes, opinions are like buttholes: everybody has one. In fact, that is the entire point of Forums. Tatts, on the other hand, are a choice, and as a member of a Forum I can offer an opinion on them. Sure it will offend some people, just as an opinion about politics or religion or smoking will offend some people. Welcome to the world of internet Forums.

 

I don't expect to change anyone's mind, nor do I care to. I wrote an 'opinion', which is to say I followed the point and purpose of a Forum. I see you have offered over 7000 opinions as a member of this forum, yet you insinuate I cannot offer this one about tatts.

13 hours ago, Bobtheblob said:

Bacon is supposed to give you cancer too but how many ppl stopped eating it because of that. 

Let's not forget bananas 

57 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Make you sure you have clean underwear on when going out, because you just don't know when you might get hit by a bus, cough, cough, oh then there's Covid, and....and.....and

 

Go outside, look at the clear blue sky, the greenery around you, suck in the fresh air and enjoy life because eventually you will be moving on and no point in worrying because we all have an expiry date man.

 

Life's for living, not worrying, then we die, Amen.

Funny how this topic brings out odd comments.

 

In point of fact I don't really care that much one way or the other about tatts. I'll never get one and I do think most look really silly, but only occasionally do I give them any thought. As the fad picked up I obviously notice them more, to some extent have gotten used to seeing them, but remain of the opinion---that's the key word on a Forum: OPINION---that nobody looks better with a tatt. I have a good friend who keeps adding to her 'art' as time passes. What was once on each thigh and on one arm, has morphed into both arms, her chest, her entire back, one hand, and even her butt. Underneath all of that 'art', she has, or had, astonishingly beautiful skin. Sadly---to me, not her---it's mostly all hidden now. I remain just as fond of her as always, as what's inside is what makes her her.

 

Tatts aren't the driving issue in today's world, but Forums exist to elicit opinions, so I offered one after reading an article on medical research noting the carcinogenic nature of many of the inks and solutions used in the process. It struck me that there are young people, caught in the fad, who are going to die because they just had to have that special something on their arm or leg or back or wherever. For something so banal, that seems a shame.

 

By the way, I do always wear freshly laundered boxers. Heck, I even iron mine, fastidious type that I am. Pima or Sea Island cotton only, too. One never knows when that bus or meteor is coming to take me out, and I want to be as fresh as possible when it happens.

I agree with everything the OP says. I have a fair few tattoos and wish that I'd never had them done. I also concur that they don't improve anyone's appearance, especially when they get older. They look dreadful on women, especially the larger tattoos. 
I still don't know why I got mine, I was young and in the army and probably wanted to go with the flow at the time. Alcohol also played a large part in it.
At 78 I guess it's too late to worry about it now.

14 hours ago, Bobtheblob said:

Bacon is supposed to give you cancer too but how many ppl stopped eating it because of that. 

They don't... until they get cancer, and then blame everyone else.

15 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

I'll never get one and I do think most look really silly, but only occasionally do I give them any thought. As the fad picked up I obviously notice them more, to some extent have gotten used to seeing them, but remain of the opinion---that's the key word on a Forum: OPINION---that nobody looks better with a tatt.

I respect your right to have a free opinion, however will disagree with you regarding tattoos being a fade.

 

 

 

 

I get your point but tattoos are a matter of personal choice. God forbid, that I ever live in a totalitarian state that would prevent people from being tattooed. 

I confess I don't have a tattoo. When I was young they weren't fashionable and now it is much too late in life to get one done. Apologies to all those at the wrong end of life who are tattooed but I think they lose their visual appeal on wrinkled skin. 

 

A far greater concern for most of us pale skinned expats is the risk of skin cancer from exposure to the sun's rays rather than the risk from ink from an aged tattoo. 

 

Oh, - - - - and one last point, the sweetest lady in the world has but one, a small scorpion tattoo on the back of her left hand, just below the thumb, and I love it. ????

I have always thought thai girls have some of the most beautiful skin i have ever seen.  Covering that beauty up with tattoos is a damn shame in my book....and yes i know it's their skin.