Stereotypes come along with the little fairy on your back and the heart with "mom" on your arm. As said in the movie "Wedding Crashers," "Tattoo on the lower back, might as well be a bullseye."
It takes a split second to look at someone else's tattoo and make a snap judgment or criticism, but it takes months and even years of preparation for the wearer. Since the ink is permanent, the consideration that goes into choosing between a butterfly or a Chinese letter is taken very seriously.
"The outline of a star on a girl's foot," according to Mike Lopes of Body Language in Storrs, is extremely popular.
Butterflies are the most popular design right now according to tattoonow.com, which features different designs that visitors can print out and bring to their local tattoo parlor.
Most people sport branding that has symbolic value.
"I want something that means something," said Megan Klein, a 3rd-semester undecided major.
The worst is to have a tattoo that is average. Because, according to the movie "American Beauty," "there's nothing worse than being ordinary."
But what may be symbolic and unique to you may also be symbolic and unique to somebody else.
"I've done like 12 or 13 Red Sox logos in the past three months," Lopes said. "I did three in one day."
As long as you love it, who cares if every other girl on campus is sporting the same skin stain.
"The three suns and moon on the small of my back is cliché I know," said Nicole Rapp, a 5th-semester psychology major. But said she loves it all the same.
Along with choosing the perfect design comes the dilemma of size, placement and color. These factors all play into attractiveness. A tattoo on the opposite sex is one major factor that impacts whether or not they are appealing. Many already have a set stance on how much ink they can tolerate or desire on their partner.
"If she has one on the back, its ok, other than that I'm not a huge fan," said Eric Wolf, a 7th-semester communications and advertising major.
Although ink may not be desired on girls, they are definitely appreciated on males.
"Yea sure, just not when they are everywhere, I do like a little ink though," Rapp said.
Large doses of ink are not desirable.
"Not like a whole arm," said Katherine Azzinaro, 3rd-semester undecided major.
The prices of these permanent expressions can be expensive as well. The artists charge by the hour and the cost "totally depends on time," Lopes said. With the average artist costing around $100 to $150 an hour, a tattoo usually costs around $75 to $250 total.
At around $140 total for her tattoos, Rapp said they were "definitely worth the money."
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