LOL! I love that article. I'm kind of torn on the issue, though. On one hand, I can understand where the artist is coming from, considering it is somewhat insulting, in my view, to carelessly use something from another culture because you think it is "cool." Make no mistake about it, most, if not all of the folks that get a tattoo of Asian lettering don't care about or understand the culture at all. They just think they are cool. I have a few tattoos myself, and their popularity makes me somewhat angry. A tattoo should be something that has meaning to you, not just something you get to be "cool."
After all, you are going to have it for the rest of your life. "Cool" changes, but if something has meaning to you, it always will. Not only that, but it seems like everybody gets tattoos these days, and that is so lame! Don't get me wrong, it is okay to get a tattoo that you think is cool. Why would you get one you didn't like?
I'm just opposed to folks who get them just in a vain attempt to be cool. I never used to wear short sleeves. I'd always have long sleeves, even in the summer. Later, I got a tattoo on my arm (then, eventually another), but I still don't wear short sleeves. Why? I got the tattoos for me, not to look or be cool. I got them because [highlight]I[/highlight] think they are cool, not because I want other people to think they are cool, or I am cool for getting them.
However, on the other hand, these people paid for a service only to be taken advantage of, and in a permanent way too. The artist is running a business, and should be professional. If this bothered him THAT much, the professional thing to do is to refuse to do the tattoo, citing that he thinks it is disrespectful. I don't know. I'm somewhat torn on this issue.
As much as I understand the artist's feelings, though, I have to slightly lean towards siding with the customers. It certainly isn't fair of the artist to pass judgment like this. I am sure that at least a few folks get Asian letter tattoos out of respect of the Asian culture instead of in spite of it. How can he be sure that isn't the case? They may still not be able to read the letters, but that doesn't definitely mean they are doing it without any respect to the culture.
I kind of think of it like getting a tattoo of Mickey Mouse. On one hand, somebody getting this tattoo could be a lame-wad who just wants a tattoo to be cool. On the other hand, it could be somebody who really likes Mickey Mouse, and doesn't care that it is something you wouldn't expect to see on a tattoo, because it is what he/she wants. If these two people both walked into a tattoo parlor asking for that same tattoo, you may jump to the conclusion that they are both lame, but if you actually bothered to find out instead of judging, the second person has the right attitude. Woah. Sorry. I got lost on a tangent there. This is just a topic that really grasps my attention.
![[lol]](/data/assets/smilies/lol.gif "[lol] [lol]")
