Stupid Question... Tattoos

[Portrait]

Good points, Portrait. I’ve always disliked tatoos, though at times I’ve found it difficult to actually *verbalize *the reasons for my distaste. As you’ve mentioned, even good, moral, and respectable people are getting tatoos these days (so previous assumptions/prejudices may not be as accurate as they once were), but I still think they carry a negative symbolism that would do well to be avoided for prudence’s sake.

Dear lerapt78,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou kindly for that.

Whilst, dear friend, many of the professional middle-classes are now getting ‘inked’, to use the modern parlance, it must be remembered that these people take their cue as to what is acceptable and normative from the prevailing secular culture. They are living lives that are in complete conformity to the transient norm of worldly life, unlike those who profess the holy religion of Christ. Therefore we would expect such earthbound people to embrace and live by the debased standards of the godless world (cf. Eph. 2: 2). However, the pious Catholic is striving not to be conformed to the world (Rom. 12: 2) and so ought to be actively opposed to the world’s undignified practices and fashions.

You are quite correct, dear friend, tattoos do indeed continue to have negative associations. However, it is true to say that they have ceased to have those negative associations for worldly people with jolly low standards and also Catholics who have sadly sucumbed to the secular drift. However, those of good social standing, be they Christian or non-Christian, continue to find tattoos objectionable and unseemly and would still consider them to be off-limits for respectable people. The widespread increase in those having tattoos, especially women, is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise within Western society, namely the corrosion of moral standards and a general corsening of conduct.

This issue, as with so many others, is bound up with the much broader issue of sanctity and separation from the godless world and its distasteful practices. Alas, dear friend, the pursuit of holiness and separation from the world have never been popular topics, especially with those who are content with a sort of ‘Catholicism Lite’, I mean a hand in hand with the world type of religion which makes little or no demand in terms of self-denial.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

 

[SgtSchultz]

I wonder if anyone ever heard about where the fad of tattoo sleeves came from. I was talking about tattoos with a friend once and he said that tattoo sleeves came from gay porn. He said that about 3-5 years after they had become prevalent in that “genre” of smut, it had spread to the general culture. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

 

[lerapt78]

I wonder if anyone ever heard about where the fad of tattoo sleeves came from. I was talking about tattoos with a friend once and he said that tattoo sleeves came from gay porn. He said that about 3-5 years after they had become prevalent in that “genre” of smut, it had spread to the general culture. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

I don’t say this with any authority SgtSchultz, but if I had to guess, I would say the “sleeve” fad possibly comes from western society’s more recent infatuation with all things eastern/oriental. Namely in this case, the Japanese Yakuza. Maybe it has to do with a “tough guy / gangster” image?

Again, it’s only a guess.

 

[SgtSchultz]

I don’t say this with any authority SgtSchultz, but if I had to guess, I would say the “sleeve” fad possibly comes from western society’s more recent infatuation with all things eastern/oriental. Namely in this case, the Japanese Yakuza. Maybe it has to do with a “tough guy / gangster” image?

Again, it’s only a guess.

That makes as much sense as any theory. But here’s the thing: in Japan or Korea, having tattoos is extremely frowned upon. They are associated with, as you said, criminal elements or the kind of people with whom “civilised society” dare not mix. In fact, one cannot enter a bath house* if tattooed in either country.

*A Korean or Japanese bath house being akin to a sauna and not a place where men seek to have sex with other men. Unlike what “bath house” has come to mean in North America, in East Asia bathhouses are for both sexes (even kids) though they are separated just as washrooms are. They’re usually attached to centres where people can go swimming or engage in sports whilst clothed.