Is it cliched

amazingemmet

Is it cliched? I've just been thinking about the whole tattoos/piercing thing and cliches. Do people who get tattoos know they're buying into the whole cliche thing or do they consider it at all. Take me for example i've got a large tribal on my right arm i spent about a year designing it getting it right so it follows the muscle and line of my arm and i couldn't be happier with it but its still a huge cliche. So does me putting more time and thought into it that make it a better cliche or just a cliche?

In the scene in general has it come to a point where its all cliche there's not one tattoo that i've seen where i haven't seen someone else with something similar in the same place, i won't even get started on piercings besides the point that its combinations of piercings that are the cliches. I see it every hard to do something innovative without people imitating (sp?), i was reading a blog of someone who was getting a full back piece done, well thought out nice design and a good artist doing it, and before it was finished he had people e-mailing him asking if they could copy it.

Now to the people on the street do they know their tattoos are cliched? or is it just us insider that know that a small tribal on the lower back is huge round the world or a tribal sleeve etc. Do people who get flash done do they know that the same books are used worldwide and if you thought a design in one book that probably meant so did a couple of hundred other people. Flash tattoos tend to get looked down on as un-original etc but getting say a full back piece of some japanese legend isn't that just as bad? People say that they've seen loads of people with such and such piece of flash but show me your tattoo and i can probably find someone else with the same/ slightly different piece.

So is it cliched? What is a cliche in this scene and what isn't? Or is it all just cliche just with varying degrees of acceptance?
[end rant]

porn_star

Well, I'm definitly not sure do people that get stuff out of flash, eg. small tribal, butterfly, fairy, etc...think it's a cliche.I think most of them are just happy that they can say they have a tattoo.
I'm not sure would I call, putting alot of work and thought into a tattoo a cliche though.It depends what way you look at it.I don't really think of either tattoos/piercings or any other mod as a cliche, just because I simply do what keeps me happy and what I like and **** what other people think.
I think it's more people's reasoning behind it, that would bother me.Like is someone getting a tattoo/piercing cos it's the 'in' thing to do, or beacuse they feel it's something they need and aren't just getting it for the' shock' factor or whatever.
If someones getting a tattoo to be different, then they shouldn't bother, cos most people these days are tattooed.If someone's getting pierced to be different, then they definitly shouldn't bother.I think the thing that gets me most, is when random people(and this does happen) will start talking to me about piercings and they'll have absolutly nothing done and they'll say tehy want something like a nape piercing or something, nape seems to be the most popular at the moment anyway...but they'll want it done, cos it looks cool and they'll tell me where they're thinking of getting it done...and that's when you see that tehy've done absolutly no research or **** all on the thing and they don't give a **** about it once they have it done.And you'll advice people where to go to get a decent piece of work done and tehy'll ignore you because of prices/ages and they'll go to the **** place then come back and regret it.
That's what pisses me off more then anything, I don't care whether it's a cliche or not, once what I do keeps me happy.

amazingemmet

porn_star wrote:

If someones getting a tattoo to be different, then they shouldn't bother, cos most people these days are tattooed.If someone's getting pierced to be different, then they definitly shouldn't bother

You've touched on something else what i've thought about but didn't mention above. The question of being different. As you've said most people are tattooed/ pierced to some degree, i'm not sure i agree totally with this but we'll go with it. But is it that they want to be percieved as different? or is it them using non verbal communication to let other know they are different?
If everyone was tattoed/pierced would people be not be getting mods to staisfy their need to express their unique idenity. or is being "different" more a way of saying i want to belong to another sub-group?

porn_star

wow..you're really thinking about this a lot!!
I'm not sure people do want to be perceived as different.I guess some people do...I know people who do...but it's more of a thing of 'I have my tragus pierced,I'm rebellious and cool and you don't understand me' sorta thing. see where I'm coming from?!And I think that's what a lot of people think...well younger people anyway.
Thinking about it now, I honestly can't say what people want to be perceived as.I think some people do it for attention...but the only people I can think of are younger people (I'm making myself out to sound older now, when I say 'younger' but just for clarity I'm 17 myself).I guess some people don't have a reason at all.And for other people, I think it's merely for them,and **** what anyone else thinks.Which is probably the one I prefer!!I really don't know...

For me..I'm not trying to be perceived as different, I'm not looking for attention, I'm not trying to communicate with people silently that I'm different.I've got a LOT of work done(nearly 30 piercings, a couple of trans implants and a tattoo) for my age, but I got it all done for me and because it's what I like and it's my choice.It has nothing to do with being different or trying to stand out from the crowd, just purely for my own personal reasons and satisfactions and it's something I enjoy.
I guess if EVERYONE was getting pierced/tattooed you might have the odd drop in numbers of people trying to express themselves,this way, but who knows.Its hard to answer 'what if' questions.
and whether people want to just be part of 'a sub-group' I honestly don't know, it definilty wouldn't be a reason of mine, but all the same, it's nice to have people that don't judge you because they like the same.

I'm kinda **** at explaining myself, so this is coming out long winded, but what I will say iS, I don't particulalry classify myself as 'different' because...well I'm not that different from anybody else..you know, when it comes down to it, I'm still made up of the same parts as everybody else whether I have some piercings or ink or whatever.The only thing I am glad to say, is that through having that I have done, I've realised how either small minded or open minded people are to something that is seen as 'different'.I've had either people tell me that they admire me for being able to do it/go through pain or have strangers come straight out and tell me that I look repulsive, so if nothing else I've learned a lot from 'being different' if thats the way you wanna put it!!

amazingemmet

Your right i am thinking bout this a little
I don't want to put you on the spot but seeing as your the only one replying so please don't take offense i'm only questioning this to get to the bottom/somewhere/develop the arguement. But nearly everyone who has mods says they get them for themselves that its a personal thing etc, but this has become a cliche in the scene. But what people don't realise is by changing your appearance it becomes more then a personal thing it gives other visual clues as to what sort of person they can think you are (this idea goes back to triabalism). So is it really a personal thing or is back to non verbal communciation?

And before someone points it out i'm aware that almost anything can be deems cliche.

porn_star

you're alright, it's hard to offend me
Well I guess, you're right in that it becomes a little bit more then personal, because it leaves it open for people to think they can interpreate who/what you are, but then I myself think that comes down to, if you actually care what people think of you or not.
I did have a similiar conversation over texts with someone who used pierce me, I wish I knew what I'd said to him when he asked me why I like piercings and go to the degree of implants, cos he said what I was saying made a lot of sense and it's a rarity that I do..so I'll just try again...
I started getting pierced when I was 12 and I kinda started by accident more then anything else.I wanted my helix done, so i did it.Not to be cool, just cos I liked the way it looked.Then when I was 13 my already pierced sister planted the idea of a navel piercing, so I got that done..I never planned any more, but I just kinda started.I started to do a lot more research on them and wanted to see how far I could go really, I wanted my tragus pierced but my boyfriend at the time wouldn't let me, we broke up and I did it, one cos I wanted it and 2 so I could mark my body as my own again...it went on from there really.Some of my piercings will kinda have my own personal story to it, some of them I got during times I was just down and wanted to feel good.I recently gotmy septum pierced one cos Ive wanted it done for about 2 years and two, I was seeing another guy and he told me I couldn't get it done, that I had enough piercings as it was, blah blah blah ....I have a habit of going for the wrong type of guy, but he really broke my confidence inmyself and he made me feel like **** about myself, and it was something that I never saw him doing until we finished....so I got it done, just to be me again and but all that behind me.
But a lot of the reason I started getting pierced was to see how they felt to get done, what sort of pain I could put my body through and then how I could heal them and find the best way for me....
Me getting my implants in my wrist was just another way of trying to push my body that little bit more and seeing how I could withstand the pain of it....thats not the only reason like, obviously I wanted them too...
But that's why I do it...not to be different, or to stand out...but for my own personal enjoyment and satisfaction, if you will...

Obviously everyone elses reasons will be different, but that's my own.

whether them being visible or not, stops it from being personal I'm not sure...maybe it does give people clues into the type of person I am, but I'd rather people take the time out and find for themselves rather then judge me from apperance.

irishcrazyhorse

pretty much,to make this alot shorter-

Pornstar is right,listen to the girl!

Blub2k4

porn_star wrote:

you're alright, it's hard to offend me
Well I guess, you're right in that it becomes a little bit more then personal, because it leaves it open for people to think they can interpreate who/what you are, but then I myself think that comes down to, if you actually care what people think of you or not.
I did have a similiar conversation over texts with someone who used pierce me, I wish I knew what I'd said to him when he asked me why I like piercings and go to the degree of implants, cos he said what I was saying made a lot of sense and it's a rarity that I do..so I'll just try again...
I started getting pierced when I was 12 and I kinda started by accident more then anything else.I wanted my helix done, so i did it.Not to be cool, just cos I liked the way it looked.Then when I was 13 my already pierced sister planted the idea of a navel piercing, so I got that done..I never planned any more, but I just kinda started.I started to do a lot more research on them and wanted to see how far I could go really, I wanted my tragus pierced but my boyfriend at the time wouldn't let me, we broke up and I did it, one cos I wanted it and 2 so I could mark my body as my own again...it went on from there really.Some of my piercings will kinda have my own personal story to it, some of them I got during times I was just down and wanted to feel good.I recently gotmy septum pierced one cos Ive wanted it done for about 2 years and two, I was seeing another guy and he told me I couldn't get it done, that I had enough piercings as it was, blah blah blah ....I have a habit of going for the wrong type of guy, but he really broke my confidence inmyself and he made me feel like **** about myself, and it was something that I never saw him doing until we finished....so I got it done, just to be me again and but all that behind me.
But a lot of the reason I started getting pierced was to see how they felt to get done, what sort of pain I could put my body through and then how I could heal them and find the best way for me....
Me getting my implants in my wrist was just another way of trying to push my body that little bit more and seeing how I could withstand the pain of it....thats not the only reason like, obviously I wanted them too...
But that's why I do it...not to be different, or to stand out...but for my own personal enjoyment and satisfaction, if you will...

Obviously everyone elses reasons will be different, but that's my own.

whether them being visible or not, stops it from being personal I'm not sure...maybe it does give people clues into the type of person I am, but I'd rather people take the time out and find for themselves rather then judge me from apperance.

In all honesty, I think that anyone who gets implants is not doing it for themselves, they are trying to say "look at me, look at me, I AM THE MOST EXTREME, beat that suckers!", so I dont think transdermals and the like are for oneself, but that's just my opinion.

<edit> the exceptions to this rule tend to be sexually related implants their primary purpose is not the look but the physical stimulation they provide.

porn_star

irishcrazyhorse wrote:

pretty much,to make this alot shorter-

Pornstar is right,listen to the girl!

woohoo, I'm right!cheers darling!

porn_star

Blub2k4 wrote:

In all honesty, I think that anyone who gets implants is not doing it for themselves, they are trying to say "look at me, look at me, I AM THE MOST EXTREME, beat that suckers!", so I dont think transdermals and the like are for oneself, but that's just my opinion.

<edit> the exceptions to this rule tend to be sexually related implants their primary purpose is not the look but the physical stimulation they provide.

Well obviously that's you're opinion and I'm not gonna bother my arse trying to change it to be honest.
But the reason I got mine the way I got mine, was cos I'd wanted surface piercings in my wrists for about 2 years previous and after my piercer repeatedly telling me he wouldn't do them cos they wouldn't work he suggested implants...so I got them, but I got them placed to look like a surface piercing.
And I wanted to go a step further then the average piercing too.
But it's definitly not something I go throwing into peoples faces or anything.
But opinions are opinions.You're entitled to yours, like I am to mine,

sweetbeat

If you're getting a tattoo because it's what you want and not to impress someone or to follow a trend, then you have nothing to worry about. :cool:

ven0m

People who do things to be different & follow a trend are not being different, it's called being a sheep....

Who cares who has tattoos or piercings or whether it's trendy or not, do what u want to do to yourself for you & no-one else....

& that's the bottom line cos I'm stone cold sober & I said so



::: ven0mous :::

Blub2k4

porn_star wrote:

But it's definitly not something I go throwing into peoples faces or anything.

True true, it's like only spikes coming out of your arm, nothing unusual there :rolleyes:

What really gets me is a piercer who will do this procedure on a 17 year old as well, responsible? I think not.

amazingemmet

Woah there's been some deviation off topic in this thread can we try get it back to the orginal point, cheers

Blub2k4

Ai sorry Emmet. Original subject, is it cliched?

I dont know what you mean exactly, it depends on whether you buy into the scene doesn't it. I frequent BME, I read a lot about tattoos and piercings, give advice here, but to be honest I dont consider myself to be part of any scene or community. I think if you are looking for validation as a young person with insecurities then like any youth you may consider yourself to be a modded community member, or a punk, or a goth, whatever, this is then fitting a stereotype on purpose.
The cherry creek flash tail pieces (lower back) on women are very very cliched but if people think they need a tattoo as a fashion statement then I can only laugh really cos they cant change them like their hairstyle.
I find tribal mostly to be horrible crap, the original tribal styles rock, such as borneo or polynesian, but masses of meaningless black streaks down someones arm or across their back....meh what a load of toss, and yes it is horribly cliched, it bears only a passing resemblance to the Borneo from which it is inspired, apart from appearance the borneo stuff has meaning. The scorpions keep evil spirits away and the neck tattoos stop the person from having their head hacked off, apart from the fact that they are invisible to their gods when they are not tattooed makes these tattoos fairly important to a borneo headhunter tribesman.
I personally wouldn't even get maori tattoos as they are quite touchy about non-maoris getting their sacred symbols, they insist on vetting their own people before allowing them to get these suits which represent their villages and westerners just get them done, bad form if you ask me.

I dunno if any tattoo is not cliched, I think it depends on what you personally identify with.

As to most people being pierced or tattooed, I think that would be a very narrow view and a view born from limited experience of the world, if you are in a circle of people who are all tattooed, pierced then you can say that about the group you know but in the grander scale of things most people definitely dont have some mod done to them unless you count the standard female ear piercing. My parents are not modded, one of my three brothers is pierced, no one else in my immediate (very large) family is modded, so I would definitely be of a different opinion.
It may sometimes strike you as cliched when you walk down Grafton St when everyone is out in their t-Shirts and you see every second bloke has a tribal, but again this is a group of limited size and also in a city setting, so all in all I think it is more of a personal thing, if you want to belong to a group then most definitely it is cliched as that is why you got whatever mod you got, I think very few people get mods for themselves, as they are always an external sign and almost always for the ego, I waited a long time to get my personal mods and still there is an element of other people involved, I have pagan leanings and am a celt so my tattoos mark me ( as far as I am concerned) in this direction. I dont know a lot of people who did it for this reason, but by wearing celtic art I am making it clear what ethnic group I belong to, I dunno if this could be called cliche or culture.

amazingemmet

^^ some good points.
I'm finally sort of getting to what i mean in the first but its more an attiude of the whole scene (gross generalisation) where some people look down on others mods being cliched etc but when it boils down to it is it all cliched are is it expression of wanting to be part of a certain group?

on a side note i got promoted on monday and now have the net in work cue the spamming

Blub2k4

If you mean is the bird in the tracksuit with the johnny blue packet the lower back tribal piece ( you know the one with the black wavy lines and the rose :cool:) and her tracksuit folded down to show her pubes and her bellybutton piercing pushing her pram along O'connell st or whatever street, is she a cliche?
Well you know what I was talking about from the above description and probably know a lot of women who look similar, are they cliches? The fact that you would possibly recognise the people I am talking about suggests "she" is a walking cliche, but the tats and the piercings are just a part of it, like white shellsuits *shudder* but there is no "shell-suited" community, unless you count that estate in Limerick

porn_star

Blub2k4 wrote:

True true, it's like only spikes coming out of your arm, nothing unusual there :rolleyes:

What really gets me is a piercer who will do this procedure on a 17 year old as well, responsible? I think not.

well what I meant is, it's not like I go up to people and go, 'hey look at my arm, I'm ****ing cool'
Besides the fact that it's winter anyway and you can't see them.

And yeah, the piercer was responsible, he thought I was older...which was my total doing and he's kept and eye on me to see how they are ever since.And then he kicked my ass when I told him how old I was really.
But it's besides the point, I'm 18 soon anyway, and they still would've been done then.The reason I got them done at the time I did was becasue I knew I wouldn't be able tog et them done for ages after my birthday due to other commitments....
But I hardly see why I should justify that, to someone who's going right ahead and judging every little thing I saw anyway.
Is it the implants that are you're problem or my acutal age.

amazingemmet

^^ take it to pm

Will

Interesting topic In comparison to other people here ive relatively few piercings (4) and no tattoos. However, they are cliched but amazingly i dont mind. Everyone has them nowadays, as someone was mentioning previous ancient tribal tattoos, piercings etc. used to have deep symbolic meaning, coming of age and that.They still do but not to the extent nowadays, which i think is a shame.
As with everything in life it will go out of fashion and back in fashion, at the moment its "cool" to have tattoos and piercings.I got my first one this time 2years ago, i didnt do it to piss off my parents or to "fit in" i just thought it would be nice to try it.
There are certain types of people who will do it for the attention and shock factor but let them! When it goes out of fashion theyre piercings will be gone and so will they.

porn_star

good point

Blub2k4

porn_star wrote:

Is it the implants that are you're problem or my acutal age.

A bit of both mized with adulation of a piercer who I think is overrated.

I dont think implants should be done by any piercer, I think only doctors should be opening up pockets under the skin, such large infection sites and **** all knowledge of the whole level of complication that can go with it.

porn_star

well yeah, that's a concern and an opinion of a lot of peoples alright.One I can't argue with, cos I totally see where you're coming from.I was happy to get it done and trusted all parties involved and I felt satisfactory enough to get it done.I don't regret it either.
As for the piercer, like I said, don't hold my age thing against him, it was my own unwillingless to wait that had him do them.He was none the wiser and when he was, I was put in my place.
There's not much else I can say on the subject really and I don't wanna wreck amazingemmet's thread so..on with the is it a cliche stuff...