Fading away

Although my tattoo hasn't even been sketched yet (I think), I'm still wildly excited about getting it. I can't wait to have Serenity and the SG-1 Stargate tattooed on my back, followed by all the other ships, gates and galaxies I've chosen for my piece.

I get that, while tattooing is becoming more mainstream, it's still not really accepted as something a "good girl" would do. Fair enough; I'm not a very good girl, although I'm nowhere near as bad a girl as I'd like, or as bad as some seem to think tattooing will make me (a whole other rant).

What really bugs me, though, is the assumption people make that I'll somehow end up regretting getting myself inked when I'm older. As though these things that i have specifically chosen to be put onto my body, because of the meaning they hold for me, will suddenly become unacceptable to my brain and I'll be desperately trying to get rid of them, covering up at every opportunity and ashamed to show myself.

Look: I'm almost 40 years old. I'm pretty well aware of the fact that skin sags as one ages, and tattoo ink fades, and wrinkles happen. None of that matters to me. I'm not getting tattooed because I think it's going to make me look hot, badass, or whatever it's supposed to be doing in some imaginary world of why-the-fuck-would-she-do-this. I'm not having ink stuck under my skin for anyone but me. I've chosen my themes and my images very carefully, because they have real meaning and purpose for me, and they represent important things in my life, things that make me who I am today. I don't care that they're from TV shows, or books, or movies, or comics, or are imaginary creations that don't exist. In fact, that's pretty much the point, if you've read my post on my sci-fi back piece.

Is it supposed to be about how the tattoo will sag as I age? That it'll wrinkle and fade and look bad? Newsflash: I'm no supermodel as it is. I'm not hot, sexy or mysterious; and I'm certainly not getting tattooed to turn anyone on. Again: it's for me. And as my whole body ages, so will my tattoo; it's meant to be part of me for the rest of my life, just like everything else will (hopefully) be part of me for however long I live - hair, teeth, arms, legs, skin. My ears will get bigger and I'll lose my hearing; my eyes will get saggy and wrinkled and I'll have trouble seeing; my face will droop and I'll get jowly and my butt will sit behind my knees and my boobs will hang down to my waist and SO WHAT? It's called GETTING OLD. So my tattoos will GET OLD with me!

Besides, as someone else said, when I'm old I'll be too damn busy worrying about my arthritis and senility to give a rat's ass about being ashamed of my ink!

Age is a state of mind