Tattoos and Traditional Parents

I have always been drawing, doodling, sketching on any surface that I can find. I mostly had fun drawing on myself however and my parents despised that. At first, it was cute when I was 3 and would scribble on my legs, but as time went on art, became something serious to me. When they would see a sun or flower drawn on my arm, leg, ankle…that was it for them. I was not allowed anymore and would be scolded for it.

My love for tattoos began when I saw my aunt’s Virgo symbol tattooed on her back. I was about 4 years old when I really studied the color and shape of it. It made her special because no other woman in my family had a tattoo. Her sisters and my grandmother threw a fit, but she took it and didn’t care because it was her body, her money, and her life to do so.

And that’s exactly what I was thinking about while sitting in the tattoo parlor yesterday watching my tattoo artist set up.

Was I a bit nervous about getting it? Of course, I was. My parents raised me to believe that tattoos were wrong, wrong, wrong. They would tell me that I would never get a job; that they are unprofessional; that they are not an art form. This stung me the most because I love art. I love paintings, animation, cartoons and drawing. I always expressed myself through my artwork.

“Mom, I’ve been drawing on myself for years. Did you really think I wasn’t going to get one? It’s my own money, I graduate this year and I’m 22. This tattoo is something I created that means so much to me.” My mother stared at me in disbelief and I was sure she was going to say that God gave me this body and that I’m ruining it; which I don’t care for because I’M in control of my own body. No one else and she knows I’m not religious at all so it doesn’t apply to me. But she and my father were both raised this way, they see tattoos and instantly think “delinquent”, “prison” or “prostitute”.

Now, I didn’t get this tattoo just to disobey my parents or to get them angry. Many people have parents like mine and rebel against them, but remember that you should get this tattoo for YOU. Get that piercing for YOU. Dress whatever way you want for YOU. Date that person for YOU. When you reach a certain age or certain point in life you have to do what makes you happy. My parents are strict and traditional but it really is time to start making myself happy. Love your parents and cherish them, but when it comes to your happiness, you take control of it because it is YOUR life in the end.  

At the end of my session, I checked my drawing that I got on my body and smiled from ear to ear. I did what I’ve wanted to do and I was happy to have gone through with it. My own symbol that tells a story is forever on my body and no one can take that happiness away from me.

Not even my loving, but traditional, strict parents.