133 thoughts on “Are traditional American tattoos the most effay of all tattoo styles?

    • Anonymous says:

      Because the revival of old aesthetics is almost always just visual. There’s rarely any thought on why the style came into being or the lived experiences of those that originated it. Hipsters couldn’t do anything but deconstruct and distance themselves from the Victorian aesthetics they hung on to. The Reddit, nu-man, fake lumberjack does much the same. Your clothing should be an expression of who you are, not some /fashion/ggy ironic stance or protest. We wear who we are and how we live. We wear what we want to be and what we will become.

      • Anonymous says:

        So if I want these tattoos I must learn to box, dig ditches, lose my eldest son to polio and beat my wife on a regular basis?

        • Anonymous says:

          At least half of those tattoos are sailor tattoos, gotten by guys working on ships either out of a sense of superstition (which sailors are famous for) or to mark their camaraderie with their crew mates.
          Does any of that apply to you? Have you ever had your ship rocked by a storm and wondered if you might actually die then and there? Have you ever been locked in metal box with a bunch of other guys for weeks on end, knowing that you’ll only make it to shore alive if you all work together as a team?
          If not, then all significance of those tattoos is lost. You could certainly still go and get one, but what’s the point? You’re paying money to permanently wear symbols you don’t understand, belonging to people you’ll never know, from a time that no longer exists.

          • Anonymous says:

            Who are you the tattoo police?

            This is why the only "tribal" I’ll get is celtic runes or a triskelion. If you’re going to get something tatted, at the absolute very least it has to 1) not be a pop culture reference 2) have some relevance to your life/ancestry/ culture

            I agree with this.

          • Anonymous says:

            I’ve done all of this and you couldn’t pay me to get a tattoo in this style. Reddit types have ruined it

          • Anonymous says:

            god damn, this is the saddest thing i’ve ever seen.

            anon tells this guy he shouldn’t get stolen valor tattoos that imply he did something meaningful because that’s pretty gay.
            his response is that anon is too much of a pussy to get tattoos.
            ie. he thinks getting the tattoo itself is a big deal…
            in 2022 he thinks this.

          • Anonymous says:

            Thinking that every tattoo needs to mean something is timid b***h behaviour.

            There’s nothing wrong with an accountant getting tatted up like the OP pic. Deal with it, you timid little weasel.

          • Anonymous says:

            >thinking that every medal has to be meaningful

            lol i just like the aesthetics of the medal of honor. i don’t know why people get buttmad about me wearing it.

          • Anonymous says:

            It literally is meaningful. It has a meaning and purpose. It’s a designator of a specific award. It spits on the graves of everyone that died to receive that award. The flag is one thing, a medal you didn’t earn is another.
            t. veteran

          • Anonymous says:

            that was my point.
            sailor tattoos meant specific shit too.
            like x tattoo means you have sailed every ocean or been to the arctic and back or shit like that.
            wearing them for no reason is as gay as if someone walked around with a medal on that they didn’t earn.

          • Anonymous says:

            Thinking that every tattoo needs to mean something is timid b***h behaviour.

            There’s nothing wrong with an accountant getting tatted up like the OP pic. Deal with it, you timid little weasel.

            >My body means nothing. Your body means nothing. Just draw whatever on it. I have no meaning and neither does my body.
            Anon, don’t tempt people here. These things are permanent and need to be thought through.

        • Anonymous says:

          we must protect the cultural sanctity of, uh, *checks notes* american sailors in asia getting drunk on shore leave and waking up with tattoos they don’t remember

          I sense fear in you. A fear of ever doing anything out of the ordinary. You are the worst kind of coward: a boring one.

          numale hipsters always act like a bunch of passive aggressive women whenever they argue with anyone. Seriously dude I’d b***h slap that bearded baby face of yours in front of your girl and I guarantee you wouldn’t do shit about it, you sound like a gay.

      • Anonymous says:

        we must protect the cultural sanctity of, uh, *checks notes* american sailors in asia getting drunk on shore leave and waking up with tattoos they don’t remember

        • Anonymous says:

          You’re assuming these tattoos were nice or worth defending to begin with. Go ahead and get LARPy permanent markings on your body to show how big of a queer you are. I tried stopping you, but I’m okay with laughing at you.

          • Anonymous says:

            I sense fear in you. A fear of ever doing anything out of the ordinary. You are the worst kind of coward: a boring one.

          • Anonymous says:

            > I sense fear in you. A fear of ever doing anything out of the ordinary. You are the worst kind of coward: a boring one

          • Anonymous says:

            what do people like these do for a living where they can afford the absurd costs for all of these tattoos and body mods, while also allowing them to work at their company looking like they do

          • Anonymous says:

            I quite often see a guy walk past my apartment with full head skull tattoo and all and he always walks to a nearby factory so I assume he’s a worker there. If I had to guess then people with absurd tattoos like that work low income jobs that its hard to find anybody else for and that are sort of behind closed doors so that the company doesnt have to fear for their image by employing them
            but more than that my guess is: they dont work, silly

          • Anonymous says:

            what do people like these do for a living where they can afford the absurd costs for all of these tattoos and body mods, while also allowing them to work at their company looking like they do

            A lot of them (including Lizard Man) are literal freakshow/sideshow performers

          • Anonymous says:

            Yea having a tattoo is really out of the ordinary…
            I’m not the guy you were fighting with, but I think there is a kernel of truth in what he was saying. I like the style of tattoo but it can come off as larpy if you overdo it

  1. Anonymous says:

    Only if you get like 1 or two, covering yourself looks stupid, it also looks like some gay hipster shit if you’re not /fit/

    Pic related is PEAK kino though and is why I wanted to be a tattoo artist for a while till I realized the kinda tattoos people actually get and started to hate it.

      • Anonymous says:

        No it’s not stupid… if you want a traditional tattoo like that and you bring it back to your home country, i guarantee you will only get compliments. Ofc you shouldn’t be trying to larp as yakuza, especially if your attitude isn’t quiet aggressive. Let me tell you something, if you have the attitude for whatever you put on your body, no one will question you, even the tattoo hating anons would compliment your piece. Most of this shit talk is internet based. Most anons are actually decent irl and wouldn’t put you down like that

        • Anonymous says:

          Non-Japanese people that get Japanese tattoos are worst than huwhite Texans getting tribal tattoos. I’d much rather put someone down online than allow them to be put down in real life, especially if it’s something that’s probably going to stick with them for the rest of their life. Keep advising people to make permanent bad decisions though anon.

          • Anonymous says:

            This is why the only "tribal" I’ll get is celtic runes or a triskelion. If you’re going to get something tatted, at the absolute very least it has to 1) not be a pop culture reference 2) have some relevance to your life/ancestry/ culture

          • Anonymous says:

            My m8 has a hecking Mario kart tattoo and it actually looks great. I thought itd be awful when he told me his plan but it looks good and and there is no pretense about it. He just likes Mario kart lmao

          • Anonymous says:

            Imagine showing your boss that tattoo. You’d look like you’re a man child and a queer. You’re a stupid and so is your friend.

          • Anonymous says:

            >Imagine showing your boss that tattoo. You’d look like you’re a man child and a queer.
            So I’d get hired on the spot?

          • Anonymous says:

            Yes. In American tech companies, people do this once they reach senior positions. So ya, become the boss before you do this.

          • Anonymous says:

            Niggah getting a tattoo on the style of traditional Japanese art is appropriation which is essentially what your hecking telling people not to do you hecking nerd holy shit

          • Anonymous says:

            >just put permanent symbols associated with a foreign culture on your body, lol. It’s not like you have any self-worth or your body means anything.
            What an absolute stupid.

      • Anonymous says:

        if you read some books about Japanese tattooing, you’d know Japanese tattooers actually love getting foreigner clients, since it allows them to showcase their work outside Japan

      • Anonymous says:

        i like traditional but not a fan of patchwork sleeves. they better alone than grouped together.

        i like japanese traditional better for large scale pieces.

        no japanese tattoo master horiyoshi III tattoos foreigners all the time.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Extreme cringe if you are not an actual midwesterners
    I see slags here in eastern europe wearing them and it’s always terrible

          • Anonymous says:

            >rage of the wolf
            >carelessness of the dove
            >softness of the sheep
            Isn’t this just anthropomorphizing animals? Sounds like that cringe "inside me there are two wolves" shit you see posted by guys on facebook who went to the school of hard knocks.

          • Anonymous says:

            This shirt would incriminate you if you actually had to shoot someone in a self defense situation

          • Anonymous says:

            God boomer tough guy core is cringe. But kino worn ironically. My boomer uncle pisses into a plastic bag and has a bumper sticker of a plane on a us flag, dropping bombs, it says "resistance is FUETILE" above his "proud to have served" sticker for his time managing the tool checkout desk on a navy boat.

          • Anonymous says:

            >(SKULL EMOJIE) TOO SLOW TO RUN (SKULL EMOJIE)
            When am I getting an Adult Swim show, starring the skeletons that live on boomer shirts?

          • Anonymous says:

            https://i.imgur.com/GbKIFTf.jpg

            It’s the ideological equivalent of this with some more esoteric shit on top of it.

            >yeah bro the biological characteristics of a wild animal in you are total bs lmao gayyyyyyyyyyyyyy xddddddd
            >oh yeah bro you have invisible demons inside you that make you touch yourself, but I have the cure, praise yahweh and israel
            do christcucks really?

  3. Anonymous says:

    I get a tattoo from a good local artist everytime i travel to a new country and usually let them choose what they want to put on me as long as they compliment the other pieces. I don’t really do it for the aesthetic more like how people collect passport stamps. Usually they pick something culturally important, can’t go to America though afraid of getting attacked by crazy social justice people.

        • Anonymous says:

          I don’t think Ed Hardy’s clothing design is really all that. You can tell his job had a huge influence in his design work. I think being toned and wearing a wife-beater while having a sleeve from him would look kinda cool though.

        • Anonymous says:

          I know about there being camera tricks that go into all that. I just want anon and his tattoo to look their best.

  4. Anonymous says:

    So from what I gather you anti tat Black folk are actually using the le cultural appropriation argument.
    >you’re not Japanese
    >you’re not from the mid west
    >your not Nordic
    >you’re not Celtic
    >you’re not white
    Imagine my shock when you are using double think. You don’t like tattoos, great, people who know how to wear the ink look good in their style, and others look like shit cause they got a dumb image. I agree a lot of tats look bad but when it’s done right it’s /fashion/. Regardless, half this bird is androgynous curly headed closeted homos anyway

    • Anonymous says:

      I’ve been arguing against tattoo ideas in this thread, but I’m not against tattoos in general. I’m just not some low-impulse stupid that’s going to tattoo a scrotum on my forehead. If you’re going to get a tattoo, make sure it’s worth it. Encouraging shit tattoos, mistakes that are difficult to undue, is a really shitty thing to do. As for cultural appropriation, wearing a Native headdress to a festival for a day is different than carrying a tribal symbol on your body for the rest of your life. You’ll forever have a marking less meaningful to you than a midnight trip to McDonalds. It’s just a fetishistic consumption momento, a meaningless image on a meaningless body if it’s commissioned for no meaning deeper than a shallow aesthetic.

      • Anonymous says:

        If I get a tattoo, it would be from an artist that I can really respect. I’m a art gay so having someone’s masterpeace on my body would be meaningful to me. Like i said though, the stars would have to align perfectly for me to even begin considering it. I’ve seen some beautiful Japanese colored pieces and they are captivating. Same goes for the Thai trad pieces. Carrying a truly talented artists art with you is an honor.

        • Anonymous says:

          If you’re actually spending the time thinking about it, reading up on tattoo artists, and want to make your body into an art piece, go for it. I think OPs gay image looks terrible still though. Don’t go with that. It’s just shitty kitsch. You deserve better than that. I hope your tattoos come out great though, anon.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Can I do an American Traditional sleeve on my left hand and a realism sleeve on my right, or will I look like a nonce? I like both styles

    • Anonymous says:

      If you have to ask, really think it over. There’s no need to rush. Don’t just go with a theme. Unless you have complete faith in an artist’s work or are 100% what you want, take some time and really mull over it.

    • Anonymous says:

      You have to have bigger biceps than pic rel if you really want to pull it off. If that’s not the case, hit the gym beforehand.

      • Anonymous says:

        Yea, it’s a pretty bad look when the guy in your tattoo has bigger muscles than you. But ironically one of the reasons I’m thinking of taking the sleevepill is I am 6’5 and it takes a tremendous amount of food, cooking, and training for me to get and keep juicy arms. Like, 4000 calories a day. So I’d rather just get tasteful sleeves to remain Alphafuxx and be done with it

      • Anonymous says:

        I want to look like a slightly more buff esoteric tattooed version of Ryan Gosling in Beyond the pines, so far so good.
        Gonna add some more asap, there is a cool tattoo artist living nearby that i’ll hit up.

        when I got my first tattoo the artist said something along the lines of "you look like the next time i see you that arm is gonna be even bigger", somehow managing to be both a mire and inspiration.

  6. Anonymous says:

    A tattoo is permanent cuz the area will scar over and the scars hold the ink. The top layer of skin will scab over and fall off (taking care of it during this period, using ointments, keeping it out of the sun, not picking scabs etc will heavily effect how the final turns out) and the actual permanent tattoo will me more faded. Over time, depending on a number of factors a tattoo will fade a bit as the body reabsorbs some of the scar tissue and you will likely need to have it touched up every now and again every few years or so. That’s why the more simplistic the design the less care you need to put in and the better it’ll turn out and why I actually had to simplify my stuff for my portfolio and eliminate a lot of lines cuz the ink will blow out a bit as it’s deposited even with very skilled artists with a steady hand.

    Anyway, that’s all from me, just be smart and don’t get gaygy shit but whatever you get know it’s permanent, it hurts and that’s how it’s supposed to be. It should be important enough to justify all that, that’s a paraphrasal of what Sailor Jerry himself said.

  7. Anonymous says:

    "Yes, I’d like to add that in Japan tradition in general is in a downfall and my Zen master there he is alone, (funnily enough I have a Zen master, a flute master, a tattoo master, a master for sword so it’s quite crazy). But most of those guys have the opinion that the future of their trade lies in the West, like when my Zen master comes to London for a retreat in the realm of meditation for example, he’s now 80 and he needs someone to take over his temple and there is no-one – he is alone in Japan."

    – Alex ‘Kofuu’ Reinke AKA Horikitsune
    apprentice of Horiyoshi III

    • Anonymous says:

      >ywn be a weeb tattooist in Japan, studying with Horiyoshi III and continuing the legacy of one of the eldest documented tattooing cultures
      feels bad

  8. Anonymous says:

    Generally don’t like tattoos in general and don’t see how someone can like something enough to get it on their body. Like, can’t you just get the design tattood on a piece of leather and hang it on the wall? Or just get the art done on a piece of canvas?

    When girls get large ones it always seems like a form of self harm for whatever reasons.

    Also if you do get a tattoo, I don’t believe in the special menacing bs. How good it looks should be what matters the most. All the obscure explanations is just a cope that theyre almost always just a socially influenced meme. Notice how ppl in similar age groups of different generations all have similar styles of tattoos even down to the location?

    Even ppl who got tatts in the past whether for traditional culture or cos they were in the army or whatever just goes to show it was always a peer pressure socially influenced meme, yet ppl nowadays seem to get offended when you mention that its socially influenced.

    • Anonymous says:

      >Notice how ppl in similar age groups of different generations all have similar styles of tattoos even down to the location?

      wow, its almost as if people’s aesthetic tastes are influenced by the time and place they exist in!

      • Anonymous says:

        >wow, its almost as if people’s aesthetic tastes are influenced by the time and place they exist in
        Exactly so it’s funny when ppl try to come up with their special meaning copes instead of just admiting they got the tattoo cos they thought it would be cool and that they were influenced by others into getting tattoos

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