What do you think?

[seXieleXie]

i've wanted a tattoo for a long time. i've spent a lot of time thinking about what i would want, where i would get it, what it would mean to me. the more i think about it, the more i want one.

then the question is what to get. in the last two weeks i've spent some time researching designs. i think i want a set of three kanji symbols:

woman(onna)

love (ai)

man(otoko)

with love in the center and slightly bigger, the central concept of the tatto, and then some sort of stylized background design connecting the other two symbols to the center.

i'm just posting these web images as examples. i've been researching the symbols using two texts from the asian library here on campus, so i'm sure the symbols mean what i think they mean.

anyway, i just wondered what people thought of this idea.

 

[Pyper]

I would probably never tattoo any writing on my body that I myself did not understand. But if you really want to get them done, I would suggest checking with a Japanese speaker to make sure the symbols and the context are correct.

Edited to say: I believe that in Japanese culture to call someone an "onna" is slightly offensive.

 

[seXieleXie]

I would probably never tattoo any writing on my body that I myself did not understand. But if you really want to get them done, I would suggest checking with a Japanese speaker to make sure the symbols and the context are correct.

that's what i've been doing. research, to me, does not mean typing "kanji symbol for love" into images.google.com
i went to a library, asked the reference librarian to help me find texts that would be useful, then asked my linguistics TA from last year if the information i had was correct. i think that i understand these symbols as well as any native english speaker can.

 

[seXieleXie]

aw, people are voting but not posting. that's no fun.

 

[Pyper]

Was the TA a Japanese speaker? Looking up the symbols in a book is not the same as talking with a fluent speaker, because the symbols may have connotations that you don't know about. They seem pretty straightforward, but this is something permanent on your body, and I would still make sure.

 

[Mellon Collie]

I voted passé but I could be biased, I never liked the symbol tattoos in the first place. But if it's what you want and what will make you happy then by all means, go for it.

 

[Starfish]

You know what I think, right?
I use them all of the time.


Go for it.

 

[Pyper]

Also, the order in which you place them may have an effect on the meaning, which is another reason to check it out with a native speaker.

 

[horny_giraffe]

About culture appropriation

When I was in Japan, I remember seeing ridiculous things written in English on shopping bags, t-shirts, and the like. (Beautiful Happy Flying Clouds and similar nonsense phrases) Apparently, many Japanese find English to be as exotic as English speakers find Kanjii.

I can't help but think that to have something written in another language on your body is well, rather clinical--once you get past the exoticism.

In a way, tatooing Kanjii on you body can send a truly ironic message: on the one hand, you wish to show how global and sophisticated you are--on the other hand, the very fact that you think it's having Kanjii tatooed on your body is global and sophisticated shows how provincial you really are.

Please don't desecrate your body with such nonsense.

 

[perks]

I think they're all of those things, but to different people.

A tattoo is a personal thing, something you choose for your body. It's about what you think of it, what it means to you, not to anybody else.

I happen to think it would look beautiful on your skin, and it is very *you*.


hi lexicon *snuggie*

 

[Angel]

If it has meaning to you, and you like it - all I can say is go for it. If you follow the advice of others instead of your heart, all you'll be left with is regret.

 

[seXieleXie]

yes, she's from japan. the books explained the contextual meanings, the etimology of the words, shades of meaning, all the relevant info. i know how perminant this would be, i'm not taking it lightly.

even if i decide that this is what i want, i probably wouldn't do it until the summer. i still have a lot of things to think about.

 

[st4nton]

the only bad thing about symbols such as these is that everyone has them.. but theyre still cool, if you like it do it.

 

[seXieleXie]

hi lexicon *snuggie*

heya beautiful glad to see you're back. i've missed you!

 

[perks]

heya beautiful glad to see you're back. i've missed you!

not so back yet, in full force, Thursday. I've missed you too, babyla.

 

[seXieleXie]

If it has meaning to you, and you like it - all I can say is go for it. If you follow the advice of others instead of your heart, all you'll be left with is regret.

you're right about that angel. i'm not going to let other people make up my mind for me. i just wanted to start a discussion

 

[Pyper]

Okay, as long as you know what you're doing.

I tend to agree with horny_giraffe, but I'm never one to stop someone else from doing something that will please them.

 

[Angel]

you're right about that angel. i'm not going to let other people make up my mind for me. i just wanted to start a discussion

Cool

If I'd let people talk me out of having even one of the tattoos or piercings I have, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.

I made a mistake with one tattoo, which I admit to, but it worked out because I've redesigned it into something wonderful and I'll be getting it done soon. I don't regret the mistake I made either. It opened the door for what I am doing now, and it was a chapter of my life that although I don't have many good memories of it, it made me who I am today, and it'll always remind me of that.

 

[Starfish]

Horny-g,
People write 'I love Betty' or whatever tattooed on their arms all of the time and that isn't considered clinical, and it isn't exotic either. I just is.


I mean, I have a pretty deep rooted understanding of Asian culture, and my use of any of these symbols are correct, and have meaning to me, but no, I wouldn't put them on by body but I wouldn't get a tattoo anyway.


But that doesn't mean that the correct usage of them in a tattoo on a westerner would denote a sort of ignorance on the part of the barer.


If the Kanjii is correctly written, then it is art. It is the same for the art of caligraphy. They write for the beauty of writing, not just for what is being said. No one can deny the fact that the writing is artistic, beautiful and symbolic.....

not unlike many other types of symbols used in tattooing.

You have a good point, that it can be a problem, but if it has particular deep meaning to you, I can't see the harm.

But if not, then it may be something she'd regret.

 

[horny_giraffe]

Horny-g,
People write 'I love Betty' or whatever tattooed on their arms all of the time and that isn't considered clinical, and it isn't exotic either. I just is.

I mean, I have a pretty deep rooted understanding of Asian culture, and my use of any of these symbols are correct, and have meaning to me, but no, I wouldn't put them on by body but I wouldn't get a tattoo anyway.

But that doesn't mean that the correct usage of them in a tattoo on a westerner would denote a sort of ignorance on the part of the bearer.

If the Kanjii is correctly written, then it is art. It is the same for the art of caligraphy. They write for the beauty of writing, not just for what is being said. No one can deny the fact that the writing is artistic, beautiful and symbolic.....

not unlike many other types of symbols used in tattooing.

You have a good point, that it can be a problem, but if it has particular deep meaning to you, I can't see the harm.

But if not, then it may be something she'd regret.

Fair enough. It's probable that a westerner would be well-aware of the particular meaning of whatever it is they have tattooed on themselves. But it strikes me as pretentious to write something in one's second language--or worse yet, a language that one doesn't even know.

It's like these whitebread college kids who decide that they speak for Latin American countries because they learned Spanish and spent six months in Mexico.

I feel that I can understand the calligraphy thing. Did you ever see "The Pillow Book?" It's mildly interesting.

Still, I'd feel much more comfortable about getting something in English tatooed as an illuminated script. It's exotic, and yet part of my own cultural heritage.

 

[MechaBlade]

Cool and overdone. It is probably most done in appropriation of the Japanese culture. However, I'd do it, cause I love the Japanese. I'd learn some Japanese first though.

 

[Sillyman]

It's overdone and not that exciting visually.

 

[kotori]

from your description, it sounds more like you're going more for a "monogram" than a sentence. "Love" in the middle, flanked on either side by smaller symbols for "man" and "woman" i guess to express your bi-sexuality. if that's the case, that might be where your next line of inquiry goes, to the overall symbolism of what you're planning. does the position of the individual characters imply something (especially something you hadn't intended)? Since this is a long-range projection, you have plenty of time to research and get it just right. i think it's koi.

 

[LordOfDarkness]

Somehow I think of tattooing as self-mutilation. There are people who put awful colored dots on their foreheads which I find silly. I've seen too many people with body decorations that do not suit them. If celebrities do that, why must we blindly follow?

 

[LibraStud]

i've wanted a tattoo for a long time...
anyway, i just wondered what people thought of this idea.

I do not like permanent tattoos because they are just that...
permanent. What if you change your mind (as 50% of the people
do?)

I like what you have chosen. Why not try to get these in a
temporary media? LS