When Did Tribal Tattoos Become the Worst Tattoos?

[Wuvable Oaf]

So I've been noticing a lot of people think tribal tattoos are bad. I've been watching this show "Tattoo Nightmares" (on Spike TV) where they cover up bad tattoos and they act like a tribal tattoos are the worst thing you can get. So when did tribal tattoos become so bad?

I used to think they were cool, but over the years, they seem kinda unoriginal and generic, maybe because they were a fad (maybe still somewhat?) and many people have them. But I don't think their bad or a very poor choice.

So what do y'all think of tribal tattoos? Here's some examples of some designs:

[xbuzzerx]

It's probably not that they're suddenly ugly, it's that they're out of style. Tribal tattoos were SO mid/late 1990s. So the fad has just moved on.

[AshyPhoenix]

I don't think they're especially ugly, they're just outdated and meaningless. If someone could tell me a specific meaning behind their decision to get a tribal tattoo aside from "Oh, it looked cool", then I'd respect their choice to get one. However, the design of tribal tattoos doesn't really lend itself to any kind of meaning.

[pat grimshaw]

I can't see the picture but I don't need to.

Because I know that this year's fad is next year's embarrassment in American Capitalism's never-ending quest for novelty

[HoodedRat]

Tribal tatts, barbed-wire, Chinese characters*, Hebrew letters*, faux-celtic designs, all seem dated and un-imaginative nowadays.

*Unless you are Chinese or Hebrew.

[borg69unimatrix]

I'd rather see a tribal then a rose, sparrow, skull, cartoon character, butterfly,... or any other way over done tattoo's.

[maxpowr9]

I made a beef about this before but stars in particular are terrible. Tribal signs are just as bad.

[G-Lexington]

As others have pointed out, they were faddish. They're an emblem of a particular time, and that time isn't the present. Maybe they can cover them up for ten years, and then reveal them as "retro".

Does anybody get battleship tattoos anymore? That'd be retro and cool.

Lex

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Wearing Maori warrior tattoos when you've never even been outside of the US, is a lot like wearing Dutch wooden shoes when you are not in any way involved with Dutch culture.

[xbuzzerx]

Wearing Maori warrior tattoos when you've never even been outside of the US, is a lot like wearing Dutch wooden shoes when you are not in any way involved with Dutch culture.

I feel the same way about Chinese character tattoos on white guys. Massive pet peeve. I always used to say I wished an Asian tattoo artist would troll people and put naughty words on them since they'd never know the difference.

[pat grimshaw]

Perhaps Dutch wooden shoes will be the new fad? Or ugly jumpers?

[Beachguyj]

I like tribal tattoos, there's a bartender at a club I go to that has them and it looks hot. I think it's a cool look for the chest, arms and back. But only if it's done well. I saw a guy on a nude beach once that looked like he had bad magic market splotches all over his body. He was an asshole too, he was nearby and a friend and I were talking and he gave that fake smile like he didn't appreciate out conversation, plus he was with an "it" that even naked we couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, eventually we figured out it was an old queen man.

[thatgirl]

It's really silly to get tribal designs that indicate status or rank from a culture or tribe you don't belong to. But most 'tribal' tattoos are merely fugly nonsense meant to resemble a certain style, like Polynesian or Maori, etc. They're void of any traditional meaning which can be traced back to a tribal origin. It's pretty pathetic.

Anyway, nothing beats barbed wire tattoos. They easily trump fake tribal tattoos, in my opinion. So hideous.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I feel the same way about Chinese character tattoos on white guys. Massive pet peeve. I always used to say I wished an Asian tattoo artist would troll people and put naughty words on them since they'd never know the difference.

That's why I always mistrusted the 'Chinese' bathrobe my Mum bought for me.

Perhaps Dutch wooden shoes will be the new fad? Or ugly jumpers?

There is a black person with six-foot-long rastahair in my neighborhood who wears them in the street, and also another guy who painted them grey and wears them with a tunic made out of a garbage bag... so I haven't given up hope.

[tombastep]

I feel the same way about Chinese character tattoos on white guys. Massive pet peeve. I always used to say I wished an Asian tattoo artist would troll people and put naughty words on them since they'd never know the difference.

I actually came across a blog that -might- have been posted on here where it had pictures of people with Chinese character tattoos that didn't actually mean what the person thought it did.

[maxpowr9]

I actually came across a blog that -might- have been posted on here where it had pictures of people with Chinese character tattoos that didn't actually mean what the person thought it did.

I have made this statement before and after 6 years, I still want to get 虹色 on my right, inner ankle. I know that it means "rainbow-colored". Course the reason I do not have it yet is because my mom is vehemently against tattoos and I try not to anger her.

[G-Lexington]

Hell, people can't even spell their tattoos correctly in their native tongue, from what I've seen. So it wouldn't surprise me if they got the "wrong" Chinese or tribal tattoo from what they wanted.

I actually had a T-shirt made in kanji that read "Ignorant Foreigner". It was fun just because people who could read Japanese would hesitantly approach me, wondering if they should tell me...

Lex

[Just_Believe18]

Tattoos, for the most part, are unattractive and not cool. Do you seriously think the average person gives a damn about your "creative" tattoo that somehow means this inspirational symbolism in your life?

I kid you not, I once met this guy who had an initial of a name tattooed on his inner thigh because that tattoo symbolized the name of his dog where its head was on his lap as it died.

[xbuzzerx]

Tattoos, for the most part, are unattractive and not cool. Do you seriously think the average person gives a damn about your "creative" tattoo that somehow means this inspirational symbolism in your life?

I kid you not, I once met this guy who had an initial of a name tattooed on his inner thigh because that tattoo symbolized the name of his dog where its head was on his lap as it died.

I try not to be too openly judgmental because tat people tend to be really really defensive/quarrelsome about it, but I agree. I realize having a tat doesn't tell you anything about the individual but I can't help but see someone with big or prominent tats and get a certain trashy impression of them.. and a sense that they don't value themselves very much. It's definitely a prejudice but that's just the impression I have when I see prominent ones.

That plus I think it's addictive because you can only very rarely find people with just 1 tattoo. They get another, and another, and want everyone to see and comment on them all the time.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Tattoos, for the most part, are unattractive and not cool. Do you seriously think the average person gives a damn about your "creative" tattoo that somehow means this inspirational symbolism in your life?

I kid you not, I once met this guy who had an initial of a name tattooed on his inner thigh because that tattoo symbolized the name of his dog where its head was on his lap as it died.

You completely missed the point.

[stacy]

Jesus. I have stars, a butterfly, Chinese characters AND a skull. Should I just hang myself now or wait for one of you to do it?

:/

[LilBit]

Jesus. I have stars, a butterfly, Chinese characters AND a skull. Should I just hang myself now or wait for one of you to do it?

:/

Li'l Bit thinks you should get a rose on your boob. :~D

[stacy]

Li'l Bit thinks you should get a rose on your boob. :~D

That would hurt very much. Very very much. *shudder*

[xbuzzerx]

Jesus. I have stars, a butterfly, Chinese characters AND a skull. Should I just hang myself now or wait for one of you to do it?

:/

No, you don't have a tribal tattoo.

[LilBit]

That would hurt very much. Very very much. *shudder*

What about a Cracker Jack tattoo? You could have a different one every day! :~D

[G-Lexington]

Tattoos, for the most part, are unattractive and not cool. Do you seriously think the average person gives a damn about your "creative" tattoo that somehow means this inspirational symbolism in your life?

I kid you not, I once met this guy who had an initial of a name tattooed on his inner thigh because that tattoo symbolized the name of his dog where its head was on his lap as it died.

I think that's beautiful.

Lex

[stacy]

No, you don't have a tribal tattoo.

I have the name of someone I no longer talk to in elvish AND a Harry Potter spell as well. I think those trump tribal. I should just go ahead and get the rope ready.

What about a Cracker Jack tattoo? You could have a different one every day! :~D

Ah, good thinking. I'll get right on that, Rose

[borg69unimatrix]

I think people should be required to read this Dr. Seuss book before getting a tattoo:

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars,
The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.
The stars weren’t so big; they were really quite small.
You would think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.
But because they had stars, all the Star-bellied Sneetches would brag,
“We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”

[xbuzzerx]

I have the name of someone I no longer talk to in elvish AND a Harry Potter spell as well. I think those trump tribal. I should just go ahead and get the rope ready.



Ah, good thinking. I'll get right on that, Rose

Don't tell mom the babysitter's dead reference is an automatic pardon for all past wrongdoings imho.

[stacy]

^Thank you for getting the reference, I never know if I am being obscure.

I don't think I'm better than anyone because I have tattoos. But I am pretty sure most of you feel you are better than me because you don't.

I accept that.

[bankside]

I don't relate to most of the "symbolic" reasons people get tattoos. Just seems pointless to me. For example, I remember every detail of every second of the room, the vet, the emotions on a loop in my mind, the faces of my family, the time it took to take effect, and the tears of resistance. My brain would explode just sitting there having "X Marks the Spot" tattooed on my thigh, just with the redundancy of it all.

And yet I find it a touching story, in that it represents someone's manner of showing he cared.

Mostly I find the symbolism pointless; I don't find one tattoo more "meaningful" or "authentic" than another. If as a matter of aesthetics you think it looks good, that is sufficient justification in my mind. I doubt I'll agree, but it's your hide.

[xbuzzerx]

^Thank you for getting the reference, I never know if I am being obscure.

I don't think I'm better than anyone because I have tattoos. But I am pretty sure most of you feel you are better than me because you don't.

I accept that.

I don't think that. I acknowledged my internal perception when I see tats as a prejudice. I know plenty of people with tattoos who aren't attention whores or really trashy. But I guess just the way I was raised and the way you see tats in movies and stuff, I just always associate it involuntarily with bikers and clove cigarettes and awful orange hair dye and a lot of things that don't necessarily go hand in hand with anything.

It's just a prejudice. I hope you'll forgive me if it seemed like I was judging you or anyone personally.

[stacy]

I don't think that. I acknowledged my internal perception when I see tats as a prejudice. I know plenty of people with tattoos who aren't attention whores or really trashy. But I guess just the way I was raised and the way you see tats in movies and stuff, I just always associate it involuntarily with bikers and clove cigarettes and awful orange hair dye and a lot of things that don't necessarily go hand in hand with anything.

It's just a prejudice. I hope you'll forgive me if it seemed like I was judging you or anyone personally.

Sorry my reply to you and the reply to the general consensus in the thread including borg's Seuss poem where the Sneetches with stars think they are better than those without got mixed together.

I understand the stigma of tattoos. I knew exactly what I was doing when I went in to have them done. Every time.

I am an overweight, wheelchair bound 41-year-old white chick. You want to believe I'm an orange haired biker, be my guest.

[stacy]

By the way, to stay on topic, Wuvable are the tribal tattoos being covered because they are badly done or simply because they are tribal? I have seen a couple of the episodes and the one tribal flames tattoo they covered was just really badly drawn.

[thatgirl]

I don't think I'm better than anyone because I have tattoos. But I am pretty sure most of you feel you are better than me because you don't.

I accept that.

As long as you don't get one of barbed-wire, I will refrain from looking down on you.

Seriously though, I'm generally not a fan of tattoos and I'd never get one myself but I'd never look down on someone as a whole simply because they have a tattoo. Even if they have a tattoo which I find to be distasteful, unattractive, etc, I would probably find myself inwardly judging their taste in tattoo designs but nothing more than that...

But, some people do really look down on others for having tattoos, they see them as being "low class/trashy." This attitude goes a long way back...History of Tats 101, they were associated with people on the fringes of society. etc

[stacy]

^I know I am being all silly in this thread but honestly there are things I do not intend on getting tattooed ever. Anything tribal (they are considered out of style), barbed wire, anyone's name spelled out where I can't pretend it says something else, a sun around my belly button or a tramp stamp.

I can't control what anyone thinks of me because I have tattoos. But I obviously am not concerned or I would have refrained. I waited until I was 35 to get my first tattoo. It is a Chinese character. I first started wanting one when I was 21. I wanted Keanu written in Japanese letters. Thus why I waited 14 years before I got one

[RaKroma]

Tribal tattoos became worst when white people started getting them.

[thatgirl]

I first started wanting one when I was 21. I wanted Keanu written in Japanese letters. Thus why I waited 14 years before I got one

I would totally try to understand a Keanu tat. I used to crush so hard on that man...

Tribal tattoos became worst when white people started getting them.

LMAO.

Honestly, any design that becomes trendy for a period of time suffers the same fate.

Edit: I should clarify that I don't mean white people ruin everything. lmao I mean race doesn't have anything to do with why tribal tats have gone out of fashion in the mainstream. Too many people find something cool, then it becomes uncool because there is a backlash of some sort. That's just how trends go.

[LatimerRd]

The tattoo industry has attempted to deal with the fad/fashion/how could I ever have been so stupid? issue by selling people on the idea that even if a tattoo comes in time to look stupid, it will remind the person of and commemorate a particular time in that person's life. The body as scrapbook, I suppose.

I don't understand why someone hasn't come out with a line of great looking temporary tats. The temporary ones I've seen are hideous. I bet there's some real money to be made if done and marketed correctly.

[stacy]

I would totally try to understand a Keanu tat. I used to crush so hard on that man...




LMAO.

Honestly, any design that becomes trendy for a period of time suffers the same fate.

Edit: I should clarify that I don't mean white people ruin everything. lmao I mean race doesn't have anything to do with why tribal tats have gone out of fashion in the mainstream. Too many people find something cool, then it becomes uncool because there is a backlash of some sort. That's just how trends go.

First saw Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in 1988 and was hooked on Keanu (still am, but not as obsessively) ever since. In college I became friends with a girl who was from Japan and made her write out the name for me so I could practice it. I still know how to write it.

Not getting it tattooed on my body though. I have standards.

For your enjoyment: http://www.conspiracykeanu.com

[DigitalFudge]

People just can't deal, so they hate

[xbuzzerx]

People just can't deal, so they hate

Where'd you get that, a fortune cookie made by Justin Bieber?

[DigitalFudge]

People just can't deal, so they hate

Where'd you get that, a fortune cookie made by Justin Bieber?

Exhibit A

[thatgirl]

First saw Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in 1988 and was hooked on Keanu (still am, but not as obsessively) ever since. In college I became friends with a girl who was from Japan and made her write out the name for me so I could practice it. I still know how to write it.

Not getting it tattooed on my body though. I have standards.

For your enjoyment: http://www.conspiracykeanu.com

, Omg. I am glad you kept your fangirl impulses in check. The reasoning behind that is too funny. But if you had gotten it you'd probably lol at your younger self every time you'd glance at it. Instant bittersweet comic relief.

And @ that site.

The tattoo industry has attempted to deal with the fad/fashion/how could I ever have been so stupid? issue by selling people on the idea that even if a tattoo comes in time to look stupid, it will remind the person of and commemorate a particular time in that person's life. The body as scrapbook, I suppose.

I don't understand why someone hasn't come out with a line of great looking temporary tats. The temporary ones I've seen are hideous. I bet there's some real money to be made if done and marketed correctly.

These days they can just get it lasered off or have nice cover-up work done. Of course that would be costly but...I would never be able to take a "just deal with it" approach towards a tattoo I've grown to hate. It would annoy me so much. I'd have to get it removed or something. It's stressing me out just imagining it.

Honestly, I think I am quite content with having henna done. It's pretty and temporary. Whenever I do it for special occasions, I enjoy the look of it on my skin but I take comfort in the fact that it's not permanent.

[Paws]

Tribal tattoos are to the 90s, what stars are to the 00s.

[JayHawk]

Getting a tribal is so yesterday..... kinda like getting a Romney campaign slogan on your face....LMFAO

[xbuzzerx]

I saw that guy before in the news somewhere.... I can't even notice the tattoo because he has the worst haircut I've ever seen in my life.

[TheFallenAsexual]

^^That guy is incredibly unattractive as is. If he wants to remove himself further from the playing field, I'm happy for him.

The problem with tattoos that are trendy or fashionable is that all fashion eventually go out of style.

[yhtang]

I have made this statement before and after 6 years, I still want to get 虹色 on my right, inner ankle. I know that it means "rainbow-colored". Course the reason I do not have it yet is because my mom is vehemently against tattoos and I try not to anger her.

Please double check - as is, 虹色 means red. 彩虹 means rainbow. There is no real translation for "rainbow-coloured" in Chinese, the closest would be "colours of the rainbow" which would be 彩虹颜色.

[thatgirl]

Please double check - as is, 虹色 means red. 彩虹 means rainbow. There is no real translation for "rainbow-coloured" in Chinese, the closest would be "colours of the rainbow" which would be 彩虹颜色.

Wow. Good thing you caught that for him.

So much room for error with these tats.