When the earliest Tattooed men and womens stories began reaching Western Europe they were generally assumed to be primitives lacking in intelligence or even barbaric because of their ritual tattooing practices. As some of those from tribes in Japan and India actually began making their way among modern and more civilized England often they were ‘allowed’ to mingle with upper society occasionally, but were most often used in shows that displayed them as non human and freakish. It is likely this same unacceptable judgmental idea that led to more recent ideas on what the people who would get tattooed were all about.
For many years it was almost unacceptable to even get a tattoo unless you were a part of an armed service, mostly navy men. And those were very often the bad boys as well. Most ‘good boys’ in the 1930′s and 1940′s didn’t even come home from wars with tattoos. Onto the 1950′s it seemed as if only the real bad boys and local brawlers were brave enough to sport their skin art. Into the 1960′s and 1970′s tattoos had only just begun to break out of the bad boy mold and began to creep into the other areas of society. By the early 1980′s it even began to be ‘okay’ for women to have a small tattoo in out of the way locations. That may not seem a big deal, but considering 30 years earlier it would have been astounding and rare to find a tattooed female at all, this was actually immense progress and a huge jump forward in the way society viewed skin art.And the amazing thing was that tattoos were no longer limited to rebels who lived on the edges of society. In my eyes, this made it harder and harder to decide who needed to be judged, always a great selling point with me. 
By the time we rolled into the 1990′s we barely even gave a second stare to women who had skin ink, and by then it was mostly to admire the work. And I recall in the late 80′s only a few years before having slipped from my house one night when I was 16 to return home later with my first minuscule piece of art on my shoulder, and waking up around 3am to my Dad yelling at me. My Dad you see, had not only been a Navy man, as well as the big boats bad boy who spent most of his time in the brig, but he had made it through the entire service without one single tattoo. I remember him grabbing my arm and actually trying to scratch the ink off. He told me that women just did not get tattoos. It wasn’t done. As he stormed from my room I remember yelling at him that I had gotten one and that I was a woman! Since then I have gotten a couple thousand more dollars worth of skin ink, and since then he has never said another word!
Well I guess I may not be the best one to go to for a generalize idea since I am so partial to tattoos on both sexes. But there are a few places on a man that I think most women do enjoy seeing and may find as quite a surprise on a man they have known but not seen their ink before. So listen up men! I would hope that no one would get a tattoo JUST to impress the ladies, but if you are going to take the tumble into the entrancing world of skin art, here are a few places and angles a woman enjoys looking at.
The shoulder and the top of the arm. This is NOT the bicep tattoo. This is BETTER. I won’t say all, or even most, but a good amount of women would agree with me that the top of the shoulder is a very sensual place for a man OR a woman!
The back shoulders! This again is not just on the back, but high up on the rear part of the shoulder as well.
Then last but not least is the belly tattoo. Yep, ladies who love tattoos can seriously appreciate a fine piece of skin art laying on a fine six pack any day. And who the hell else would I show but a wonderful friend of mine. Dave Batista. I’ve always told him there is just SOMETHING about that celestial sun circling his navel that is wildly incredible!!
All this hype about tattoos; celebrities flaunting new ones every day and people discussing their weird and whacko tattoos at water coolers. Ever wonder when and how it all started? Not the hype, I mean, but tattoos as an art form, and as an essential part of our creative history.
Early Tattoos from the Gods and Goddesses
The beginning of tattooing can be traced as early as Ancient Egypt around 2000 B.C. Female mummies have been uncovered with tattoos that match the patterns etched on figurines from the same period, some associated with the Goddess Hathor.
African tribes used to routinely scar parts of the body for ritual and identification purposes. These ritual cicatrices, or raised scars, would then be filled in with dark dyes extracted from plant sources. All male children of the Monomotapa (tribal leader) would be scarred with whorls of raised flesh on their cheeks, foreheads, and arms to identify them as the future tribe leaders.
In Japan, tattoos flourished during the Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun periods. Throughout the Yayoi period, 300 B.C. – 300 A.D., men in Japan and China decorated their faces and bodies to ward off serpents and evil forces and spirits. Native Americans were well known for their tattoos. In the ancient world, tattoos were used not just to identify people, but also to punish them! There were some interesting tattoo-based punishments on offer then.
In Europe, tattooing was an expensive art form, very elitist, and out of reach to the common people. Royalty such as King George V, Grand Duke Alexis of Russia and King Harold bore tattoos. Early Americans followed the European elitist response to tattoos.
World War Skin Art
During World War II, sailors and soldiers displayed their allegiances through body art. They bore names of their units, ships and divisions proudly. Tattoo shops were located on docks and near military bases and tattooing flourished. (Though I do doubt many of them were as patriotic as the shown face tattoo guy here)
The introduction of the electric tattoo gun caused the prices to drop and tattooing to be accessible to everyone. Everyone started getting tattoos; the Hippie movement of the 70’s brought flower power to stay in the form of colorful tattoos.
In India, lasting temporary body art is practiced using Henna, the green paste extract of a particular leaf. Women decorate their hands, feet and faces with intricate designs using this paste, which, when washed off, leaves behind delicate tracings in bright red.
Yes, you might elicit many a shocked gasp when you walk in flashing that bright tattoo on your collarbone, but now you know enough about our tattoo-beginnings to tell the gaspers you’re only following tradition! Surely, they can’t argue that point?
Everybody out there is getting a tattoo. With so many designs and possible layouts, it’s confusing as hell. Do you want to one of the millions out there with the same kind of tattoo? Alternatively, do you want something that’s uniquely you, as some celebrities have dared to be?
Many people compete for the best designs, and some people come up with their own designs to avoid having the same tattoo that someone else already has. How do you design your own tattoos?
Let’s start at the basics. A tattoo is an expression, in art form, of your personality. Many tattoo parlors categorize their design albums based on personality types. Delicate tattoos, power tattoos, tribal tattoos, chopper tattoos – the list is endless. Again, these are designs that are made by someone and for sure, someone else out there has it already.
Come up with your own tattoo! Don’t just get the face of your beloved inked on your shoulder. Dig into your roots, find out more about your family, listen to your dreams, and understand what makes you unique.
Decide on a unique placement for your tattoo! A tattoo doesn’t become unique based only on its design. The execution forms a huge part of its appeal. Always wanted to be an outlaw? How about getting a gun tattooed to your belly, and make it look like it’s stuck into your jeans, just ready to be pulled out?
Then there’s this ‘way to go’ slap tattoo on this girl’s ass cheek. Honestly, I’m wary of what this will resemble when shes an 80 year old grandmother, but for now, its damn nifty! Some unique designs can seem to be a tad extreme, but they represent unique creativeness anyway.
Well … Okay then! I can honestly say that I see no reason to ever have a tattoo of a flexing bicep, even if on a flexing bicep. I think this may be what testosterone overload can cause. I can’t tell if this guy is angry/pumped up or about to crack up about his own lack of judgment.
Yep, he has a toaster tattooed on his arm. Unless he is some kind of sous toaster chef I see no reason for this to be a tattoo ever. Funny, but I would swear he was thinking the same exact thing as this picture was snapped.
Hey, give her credit for having a sense of humor about being born with webbed toes I say!
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