The Sheila Variations

Yeah. The olden days, when times were simpler, and people behaved rationally. Remember. God Sheila. You just don't care, do you? It's a shame.

Why, I remember a time when we youths swallowed live goldfish.....as a prank. When our Mothers stayed in the kitchen where they belonged. Where the average earnings for a family of four was barely tolerable. Yoou're too young to remember the good old days, and you should have some respect. Tatoos. Madonna. Julianne Moore. The whole thing makes me wanna puke.

Get a life, Sheila.

Sincerely

Mr. Darlymple and friends

...gradually these tentative essays in the direction of male proletarian savagery have been replaced by larger, more prominent and brazen declarations of allegiance to it...
...To think so is to confuse a necessary with a sufficient condition; indeed, there is very little more appalling than great skill in the service of bad taste and barbarism...
...What is striking about these “tattoo narratives” (as the author calls them) is their vacuous egoism. The interlocutors speak, and appear to think, in pure psychobabble, that debased and vague confessional language that allows people to imagine they are baring their souls when in fact they are exposing their shallowness. This is something the author does not notice because she herself belongs to the psychobabble culture...
...Here we see the bodily consequence of an intellectual climate that has long extolled opposition and hostility to what exists as the only honorable and ethical stand to take towards it. Of course, such an attitude is fundamentally ahistorical and lacking in respect for the achievements of the past, and only people who live in an eternal, egoistic present moment could adopt it. (The eternity of the present moment is, of course, the key to modern shallowness.)...

my god, how does he miss the pompous irony in this crap that he wrote?

Like I said, I've liked a lot of his stuff, but he's gone right off the rails on this one. Pompous is right.

Wow, red, you seem almost... umm.. angry...

I like when he says:

"This is infinitely sad. That a person’s individuality should be made to depend upon so crude an outward sign as a tattoo is in fact an indication of the fragility of that person’s identity"

Funny, I usually consider tattoos to be an EXPRESSION of someone's individuality. Its a wee bit strong to say that their individuality is dependant on a tattoo.

Oh, and one other thing: Has Dalrymple missed the undeniable fact that MOST trends start in the lower-classes and then move up?

Er ... the blues? A couple of grungy garage bands in Seattle end up taking over the world? Many more examples.

You mean that windsurfing trend doesn't have much chance of catching on with the masses?

Curtis -

did someone give you the impression that this was an anger-free zone?? :)

Youthful person: "I like to windsurf because I feel really special and good about myself when I catch a great wave."

Dalrymple thinks, "Wow, that is infinitely sad."

To be fair Curtis, the "infinitely sad" comment came after this quote form a tattoo wearer:

"[Being tattooed] separates me from anybody else. No one else has anything like what I have. I feel a little bit different from Joe Shmoe in the street, and I guess it makes me feel special."

I'd have to say that the person who made that quote is a little sad. I thinks Darymple's being presumptouous in lumping everyone with a tattoo into the category of the guy who made that quote, though.

Not at all! I love anger caused by a collision of passion and opinions. It makes for exciting reading. Thank you!

Favorite song quote: "if you are not angry, then you are just stupid, you don't care... how else can you react when you know something so unfair." -ani

John- Yeah, I read that, but I don't think the person is saying he gets his whole raison d'etre from his tattoo. He is just saying he likes that he has something that noone else has. Again, I think its an expression of his individuality, not its source.

I still say, though: if it helps that guy feel special, what does it hurt anyone? Who cares? People do all KINDS of interesting weird things because it makes them feel special, or it fills up some hole inside ...

It's hard for some people to just get through the freakin' day. Maybe it's not hard for Dalrymple, but - some people aren't born with rock-hard self-esteem, and a knowledge that they're special.

I just don't care. It doesn't HURT anyone.

I write long-winded daily essays about Cary Grant. I freely admit that part of the reason is because I'm very lonely, and - writing those essays fills up some deep void within me.

A Dalrymple-type might look at that and say, "wow, how sad" - but I would say right back: "Screw you. It helps me get through the day! It gives me joy - and finding joy ain't easy for me. Maybe it is for YOU, but it's not for ME."

I don't judge that guy for wanting to feel special ... I don't know his life-story. I don't know where that comment came from, and we just don't know what is in someone else's heart. We just don't.

Just to explain where I'm coming from (although it's probably way obvious!!):

I got my tattoo for all of the reasons that Dalrymple scorns.

I drew it myself. It's a simple small line-drawing of a phoenix. At the time I got it, I was recovering from the worst heart-break I had ever gone through. I thought I would die from the pain in my own heart. Getting a tattoo was my way of declaring myself free - it was my way of saying: No. I must move forward. I must find a way to LIVE.

It was my declaration of belief in my own future.

Dalrymple would pooh-pooh all this new-agey stuff, all this emotional stuff ... but it was a profound time for me, and yes - there were times, bleak dark times, when I would look at my little simple phoenix, and say: "Hang in there, Sheila, hang in there ... Out of the ashes you will rise, too."

This description of my own experience is right in line with everything that Dalrymple thinks is stupid and vacuously egotistical. He doesn't know what is in another human being's heart - he shouldn't claim to.

I am now laughing at myself for getting so worked up about that dumb article.

I got the impression that the person quoted has very little else to feel special about, but as Sheila said, there isn't enough evidence to say either way.

It's been my experience that most people who need to express their uniqueness with dress, haircuts, or body art have not found what truly makes them unique, and that is sad, especially if they stop the search once they have decorated their body. But while some, or even many (I certainly can't say based on my limited experience) with body art might fall into this category, there is no evidence that body art is socially corrosive, as Darymple seems to suggest.

John -

And if it's true that the guy has little else to feel special about ... and again, who knows, it's an excerpted quote ... but if that's true, then I say: more power to him if a tattoo helps him feel his own uniqueness. It doesn't hurt anyone.

He's not trying to set himself apart by murdering every kitten in the neighborhood, or chopping up little old ladies. He got a tattoo. It makes him feel special.

Like my dad always says: "I see no problem."

:)

Although, if the tattoo shows kittens being murdered, then there might be a problem.

I agree with you though... Somebody elses really has no effect on your life... why not let them live their's.

Somebody else's tattoo I mean.

Sorry

Depicting the murder of a bunch of kittens in a tattoo would be rather ... distrubing. I agree.

Getting a tattoo isn't necessarily tied to either expression or identity-construction. You could get a tattoo for "infinitely sad" reasons, yes, but you can also get a tattoo for expressive reasons, where the tattoo is an aid not so much in the construction of identity, as it is a reinforcer of already-held beliefs about oneself.

Reading this reminds me of Foucault in his series on sexuality, where chastity/sexual cleanliness was a differentiator in upper-class circles. When the masses started (not) doing "it," I'm sure those same people were horrified.

Just because a million people in America might have a Japanese Kanji symbol for "harmony" on their back doesn't mean it becomes trivial. Getting a tattoo is still a significant event, moreso than fashion, because it stays.

Disclaimer: I have no tattoos.

Steve -

I've heard funny stories about people THINKING they had the Japanese symbol for "harmony" on their back, when it really said "Big Mac" or "vacuum cleaner".

[blows whistle and throws yellow flag]
15 yard penalty for mentioning foucault. bring up derriere-da and you do time in the penalty box...

I have two small tattoos, and they are quite odd, in a very unfashionable way. I'm intrigued that you saw yours as a declaration of belief in the future. I see mine as the exact obverse.

Both of mine (a Pynchon W.A.S.T.E. postal horn on my upper chest; an empty circle, symbolizing the moon, on my shoulder blade) are markers of a time and place where I was. They were not about personal triumphs or anything - though the next one, when I finally get around to doing it, will be - just silent statements that I was somewhere, somewhen. And they don't make statements, so much as they open conversations (or could). Little doors, little memories.

To properly lower the discourse to the levels of the lumpen, though, I must pine briefly about tattoos on girls, er, women. They are impossibly hot. Or hott, as the kids say these days. The bummer of it is, they didn't do that back when I was in school; and now the girls with those amazing pelvic saddles or lower-back engravings are just a bit young for me.

Our small cabals.

I was about to tell the story about the best tattoos I ever met in a hot tub, but I realize that it would run long. And perhaps it best belongs over on my blog, anyway!

"I am now laughing at myself for getting so worked up about that dumb article."

Getting worked up about dumb articles or trivial things is god.(Remind to me to share sometime my ongoing rant about cars tentatively titled "What the Fuck IS an Elantra, or, Who Took My Roadmaster Away?") Passion is good. Otherwise, why bother being alive?

This all reminds me somehow of a scene in the book "The Asphalt Jungle." (Made into a movie called "The Young Savages" I think, but don't remember if the scene was in the movie)

Anyhow, the main character is remembering when he was a boy growing up in the slums. For some reason, which he himself didn't understand, he wore a small padlock looped to his belt. A neighborhood bully grabbed the lock, and threatened to throw it down the sewer. Main character perceives this as a threat to his very identity, and punches the hell out of the bully.

Not totally parallel to the tattoo, but thought it might be interesting.

I can see both sides. How about a tatoo that says, "Infinitely sad"--that would confuse everyone. As someone who has, at times, pursued my own difficult-to-understand avenues of personal expression, I am going to side with Sheila on this one. However, if you start putting dinner plates in your lips or ear lobes, you lose me. Same thing for the elongating rings around your neck, foot-binding, severed digits, or the like.

Gasp! WOMEN getting tattoos?!?! Why, next thing you know, they'll be wanting to vote!

But really...outrage over the tattooing trend? How 1998.

I'm infinitely sad.
I have 4 tattoos. God, I suck.

Jeez! What is this guy? 200 years old??

I think you're all being too tough on the good doctor. If free-thinking adults wish to get a tattoo, for whatever reason, it's their business. However, as mother of a preteen daughter, I am wary of the transformation of tattooing to a trendy fashion statement. I would strongly oppose and frustrate any attempt on my daughter's part to get a tattoo, because it's a permanent alteration of the skin and a source of potential infection and disfigurement. I admire Dalrymple's work and I must say that I agree with him in this case. My husband, the estimable Mr. Bingley, has already expressed his disagreement, but I know that if our daughter came home with a tattoo, he would pitch a fit!

Yay Sheila! I'm always wanting to get another tattoo. We should have a "Screw you Dalrymple" Tattoo party.

"I've got a tattoo. But I'm not a part of any stupid community. I don't talk about my tattoo like it means anything - It means something to me, and that's about it."

I love this. It's so true for me as well. I don't expect anyone else to understand my tattoos and that's ok because it's really all about me.

Sheila, as always, your counterpoint is excellent.
What I find interesting about Dalrymple's article is the word "shallow". My definition of "shallow" is "superficial", which Dalrymple is very guilty of.
I do not consider tattoos to be a fad. The word "fad", in my opinion, is better applied to mini-skirts or disco music. Tattoos have been around for centuries; their recent popularity due to the better quality of work and ink, and the breakdown of social stigma toward tattooed bodies. Tattoos have become an art form, and they are no longer limited to sailors or prisoners with "mom" tattoed on their arms. Dalrymple doesn't seem to get this. I haven't read Ms. DiMello's book, but I'd like to. I have 9 tattoos, and every one is, what I consider, a reflection of my personality. They are symbols of certain beliefs which hold much importance in my life.I'm sure this applies to most people who have tattoos. I've already got ideas for my next three planned.
People like Dalrymple piss me off. He's no different than that Mister What's-his-name--the guy with the best and worst dressed list. If someone was to judge me by the clothes I wear (which I'm sure would put me on the worst dressed list) or my looks, I wouldn't have a grain of respect for them. THAT is shallow.

Mrs. Bingley! Hello! I saw some photos of your daughter - she's beautiful!!

Just for the record: I was a 28 year old woman when I got mine, and my parents weren't exactly thrilled. I didn't get a nice, "Wow, let me see that - how great!!" Heh! But they got over it. It is my choice, I was an adult, I know it's there forever, and I haven't regretted it for one second. Like i said before, it's a symbol for me, a symbol of a time in my life, etc ... I LOVE my tattoo.

If I were 11, 12 years old, of course my parents would have veto power over something like that. But the fact that I knew they wouldn't be happy that I had gotten a tattoo, even though I was a grown-up, didn't stop me. We've gotta make our own choices at some point.

Ditto what my fabulous sister-in-law and red said about the 'age of reason'. Flashback: a lunch at Schlotzky's. The table next to us contained a Marine, his mum and, apparently, his intended, for what appeared to be a round of 'get to know you'. The prospective squeeze spent the entire time surreptitiously hauling up the sagging cuff of her ankle sock, in a vain attempt to keep a cheesy dragon, in all it's inken glory, hidden from mum's view. Puncture holes heal. A tattoo is basically forever (or painfully and expensively not so), and is a 'woman' decision, vice sweet young thing. My 40 yr old best friend just got her first, and more power to her. (I, however, have a 'needle' issue...)

To possibly close out the thread, I'll publicly admit my hypocrisy on this issue: I seriously doubt I'd ever get a tattoo myself, but, like Linus, I find women with tattoos VERY hot.