More Thoughts on the Tattoo

Yesterday, my post on the educated man's tattoo brought over 20,000 people over to this blog. That breaks the visitation record. In truth, I've yet to reach 100,000 page views. I hope the best is yet to come.

With that said, the tattoo is not without some controversy. For every person who thought the tattoo was cool, there seemed to be another person who thought it was pretentious, contrived, and smug. Let me address those naysayers.

As one of the comments said, So much hate, what's up with that?

I think there's a few reasons. Tattoos, as a source of self-expression, still cause a lot of fuss. Many folks assume a person who desires a tattoo is an attention seeker; that he is misguided in his attempt to express his individuality. Because a tattoo is permanent, one must consider that self-perception can change with time.

The fellow who got the tattoo believes himself to be intelligent. Many may call this arrogant. However, as the phrase goes, "you shall know them by their fruits" — the tattoo is an intelligent tattoo because it provokes an opinion. In the end, an intelligent person isn't someone with an opinion, an intelligent person is someone who causes others to have a thoughtful opinion.

Indeed, if he was merely branding himself with nonsensical words, as others have done, I would agree that this is an unintelligent tattoo. This is not what he is doing. His tattoo creates the impression of his skin peeling back, that there is an attempt for repair — for if it doesn't repair, words will burst forth from his flesh. There is wide range of interpretation here as there is a wide range of opinion. This is a good thing.

What I was trying to express in my former post was that tattoos are not about butterflies and kenji and barbed wire. Tattoos can express deep thought. Tattoos can provoke ideas. They are not just for attention-seeking individuals who are unsure of their self-identities.

Tattoos can be a provocative form of art.