Why Tattoos are so Goddamed Hot!!
What is it that makes tattoos, particularly erotic tattoos, so intriguing to some people, and so off-putting to others? There are lots of associations and meanings assigned to them and those who have them, of course, with generally disreputable origins ranging from drunken sailors to biker gangs and prostitutes.
Then there is the closet tattoo enthusiast such as businessmen or lawyers who gets erotic tattoos on more hidden skin as a way of 'going against the grain' or expressing a hidden side without risking their professional respectability.
There is something empowering about claiming absolute ownership of our bodies, free of the judgment of others and the restrictions of a culture that is profoundly suspicious of the body, its desires, and its pleasures. The idea that our bodies are fully available to us to use however we choose -- to offer us pleasure, well-being, and identity (and babies only when we want them) -- is still a controversial one in this culture.
"Your body is like a house [you] live in," according to Fakir Musafar, one of the most outspoken proponents for body modification and erotic tattoos, in a brilliant interview published by ReSearch magazine. "It's your house, and you can do with it as you please. If you want it pink, you paint it pink. People like Australian aborigines know something that people here don't know, and that's the reason they can poke holes in the body, they can tattoo it, they can decorate it.