License to ink

[Kip Gordon]

I find tattoos to be a very unusual art form; more diverse than the individual works are the people that collect them. I often hear "wow, they should hand out licenses for having babies"(I'm originally from way, way up north here in Canada)...well should the same be true for getting tattoos?

We are very different people in this world, radically different than eachother and personally, and I can really appreciate that. However if you ask me my opinion of your new tattoo (eg. a beaver with a hockey jersey and stick standing in front of a flag) I will tell you exactly what I think.

I understand that people's tattoos are personal. We own our work once it's on us and paid for...a simple business transaction. What about the guy with the swastika on his forehead freaking out and screaming in the mall at noon 'cause no one buys his "hi, I'm deaf" bullshit? Are we talking censorship or is this merely overlooked because incidents of this kind are low? Opinions?

[Sarah]

Anyone who has a swastika tattooed on their forehead is kind of asking for trouble. How would you set the criteria for having a tattoo? We could set up a panel/committee!

It's probably easier to work on the premise that if you ask someone else's opinion on your tattoo you might just get it.

[Judy]

I don't know about a license. Maybe a class, like drivers ed. If everyone had to take a class and have proof that they attended one, maybe it would cut down on the number of stupid tattoos out there (or maybe not, who knows).
If I was teaching it I'd put in photos of pus-filled infected scratcher tattoos, and some lovely transposed and totally senseless kanji from Hanzi smatter, oh and some pictures from that site that has the worlds worst tattoos. Kind of a "don't let this happen to you" before I discussed finding a good artist, what to look for in a shop, ect.

[Kip Gordon]

I'd like to be on a comittee; maybe I could be in charge of mixing drinks...we'll need it for our 'travelling health show'. Instead of "blood on the highway" we could screen "Gangrenous tattoos from the chop shop" or something else equally horrible!

[George W Stever Jr]

What about the 18 year that has 3/4 of his or her body done so they fit into a group.