The tattoo is still on my back, a sun and moon. Nothing spectacular and not necessarily even that important to me anymore. But back then it was something. Back then, it was as wild and free as I felt.
That is, until I saw Becky Lowman at the bar the next night. There she was, showing off her own Saran-ed tattoo, the plastic wrap clinging seductively to her hip. Just inside her hip bone was a brand new, inked up, three-inch of permanence Miller Lite bottle tattoo. My wild and free quickly melted away to that wild and free.
Oh sure, I laughed. Who wouldn't? A Miller Lite bottle? Because (in her words) it was "her favorite" (duh)? The thing is, Becky Lowman was just as excited about and proud of her tat as I was of mine and as another friend was of his Tasmanian Devil and another friend was of the Greek letters of his fraternity. We all bought in on the self-branding and so none of us, no matter how diverse our designs, were that different from anyone else.
That was 14 years ago and as I've pondered adding to my tattoo in the last year, I've often wondered whatever happened to Becky Lowman and her beer bottled hip. Does she still have that tattoo? Did it become more of a 40-ouncer with any pregnancies (a terrible question but the fear that led me to getting my own tattoo on my back) or did it become just another corner in a fully-stocked bar that wraps around belly and down her thigh?
Or could it be that the Miller Lite bottle has long been lasered away? It has me on (oh yes) pins and needles.
Becky Lowman wouldn't be the only woman in the world to have a once well-justified and excitement provoking tattoo removed (and probably not the only one to have a beer bottle blasted off either). In fact, a new study from Texas Tech University (where you can bet the Taz on your bippy that plenty of students go under the needle before they graduate) shows that the women studied were much more likely to get a tattoo removed than inked up men.
The study was small -- 196 patient participants at four clinics -- but marked 69% of those people seeking laser removal as being women. The study's authors say women seem to get more negative comments and bear the brunt of more social stigma for having tattoos, which could lead to the decision to have them removed.
While my thoughts about my own tattoo have certainly evolved over the years, I don't have any intention of taking it off of my body. If anything, I'd like to have it become a part of a bigger, more beautiful piece that stretches further across my back and represents more of who I am now. I haven't taken the step to walk into a tattoo joint just yet, but the thought is there. Maybe I feel that way because it's a sun and a moon and the bigger picture doesn't have to become 100 bottles of beer on my bod (or similar). Maybe if that was my Miller Lite fate, the laser would be more appealing than more ink.
Booze, Tasmanian Devil or The Ex's Name: What about you and your crazy tattoo?
Why would you consider having it removed? Would it be worth the pain to have it gone?
Read more while you ink up or laser off:
[photo credit: Getty Images]
