Tattoos have been around for decades. In the past and today they are used to decorate the human body in colorful way. People get inked for all types of reasons.
Lexy Loberg got her tattoo because of her mother’s death and it symbolizes the beauty of her mother. “Tattoos are more than just ink on your body, they can have a lot of meaning and symbolizes something good if you choose the right ones.”
Loberg, a 20-year-old sophomore at Sonoma State University in California, says she got her first tattoo when she was 18 and because of her mother’s death that she had to get something in memory of her. She loves her tattoo and doesn’t regret it at all. She just got her second tattoo on this past Sunday of a lotus flower, to symbolize peace and beauty. The only thing Loberg doesn’t like about both of her tattoos is that they are both color and they will fade within a couple of years. This still doesn’t stop her from wanting her third tattoo, which she plans on getting in the next couple of months.
Tattoos are also very expensive and cost a lot more than people would think. Courtney Wilcox, a 21 year old senior at Roger Williams University, got her tattoo last year on her 20th birthday. “I love my starfish, and means a lot to me because it reminds me of Cape Code. I have spent a lot of time on the Cape and my whole family is from there.” Her tattoo is about 1inch wide and 1inch long and this cost her about $90 plus tip. “I didn’t realize how expensive tattoos cost. Mine is very small and it was still a lot of money.”
Wilcox doesn’t plan on getting another one for quit some time because she feels that her small starfish is enough. Her starfish is hidden well on her body and it has a lot of sentimental value. Wilcox thinks maybe when she gets older and more things have a happened in her life that she might get another one. She loves the ocean and the beach and could see her self getting another one that symbolizes that just like her starfish. However, Wilcox thinks that tattoos are too expensive and should cost less.
“Tattoos shouldn’t cost as much as they do. People get stupid things on their bodies all the time and it shouldn’t be so expensive for something that is so pointless.” Wilcox feels that tattoos are a work of art and everyone should treat them as art. By getting something on your body that is pointless and has no meaning is not art, therefore it should not be on your body.
Whitney Dempsey a 20-year-old sophomore at San Francisco State University has two tattoos. One that is very meaningful to her and other one she got just because it looked cool. Her meaningful one is the name of her grandmother’s store, Forever, that she worked in and spent a lot of time at. Her grandmother died and her family had to sell her store. This had a huge impact on Dempsey and she wanted something to remember her grandmother by. She got inked up on her side and it goes from her shoulder down to her hipbone. It is the name of her grandmother’s store with birds and other special things that her remind her of her grandmother. This is her favorite tat so far. Dempsey loves getting tattoos and if she had more money then she would get them all over her body.
“Tattoos are beautiful and they are my favorite thing to get. I love them and this one of my grandmother is my biggest one and then best one. It cost my over $200 and it was worth every penny.”
Her second one is meaningless and has not sentimental value. She has two guns on her hipbones that point down. Dempsey is a very expressive person and thinks her guns are fun and humorous. She sometimes regrets getting them because she knows within a couple of years that she will have to get a real job and be professional; guns aren’t quit professional. Dempsey enjoys her guns for now and thinks there cool but she knows in a couple of year that she might have to get them removed, which cost a lot more than $200.
“I know this tattoos are fun and cool looking but sometimes I wish I didn’t get it. It’s a little too much and at some point in time I will have to grow up.” Dempsey plans on getting her third tat sometime this week. She wants to have a religious quote on her back but she doesn’t know which one she wants. She hopes that she won’t regret this one.
Leilani Farbar has four tattoos and she loves all of them. A freshman at Roger Williams University, she thinks tattoos are amazing and beautiful. Her first one is on her ankle and it is two little gold fish. They don’t have too much meaning because she was intoxicated when she got them. However she still loves them and doesn’t regret it all. “I love all my tattoos. They’re all different in their own ways and I plan on getting more.”
Her second tattoo is a work in progress. Farbar first started this progress last July. It is a very large tattoo and goes from the middle of her back and wraps around to her waste and then down to her hipbone. So far this has cost her about $800 and it is still not finished. She estimates the total of her tattoo when it is done at about $1,500. It is very detailed and had a lot of color as well as shading. She describes it as a “large mermaid with other sea creatures and swirls of color all over the mermaid.”
This tattoo has a lot of sentimental value for Farbar because she loves the ocean and all the sea animals. She also grew up by the ocean in Maine and hopes to live someday by the ocean again.
“The ocean is my life and my tattoo says it all.” Her third and four tats are a secret and she only tells and shows certain people them. She likes to keep these private because they are so special to her that she only wants certain people to see them. “I enjoy every tattoo on my body but these ones are just for me. I don’t like any one seeing them and they are very hidden.” Farbar’s mother on the other hand hates all of her tattoos and thinks is ridiculous that she has all of them.
Farbar’s mother, Sherry Farbar, is a stay at home mom and has three children. She thinks its crazy to get something so permitted on your body. She feels that in five years from now Leilani will regret them and they will be her body for the rest of her life. “Tattoos disgust me and I think that they are way to permit. I can’t believe how many my daughter has. If she gets another one I don’t know what I’ll do” Sherry has a tattoo of her own and she has regretted getting it ever since the day she got it. She was 18 years old got a flower on her lower arm. Every time she wears a t-shirt she is so embarrassed and hates that she has it. She doesn’t want her daughter to feel the same way in a couple of years.
“I hope she maid the right decision but I feel in a couple of years she willkill her self for getting all of those silly tattoos.”
