Saturday, July 26, 2008

Dissed By Richard Cohen!

To make sense of this post, it's best to read my earlier post, My Crazy Thursday.

From Richard Cohen at the Washington Post:

Tattoos are the emblems of our age. They bristle from the biceps of men in summer shirts, from the lower backs of women as they ascend stairs, from the shoulders of basketball players as they drive toward the basket, and from every inch of certain celebrities. The tattoo is the battle flag of today in its war with tomorrow. It is carried by sure losers.

About 40 percent of younger Americans (26 to 40) have tattoos. About 100 percent of these have clothes they once loved but now hate. How can anyone who knows how fickle fashion is, how times change, how their own tastes have "improved," decorate their body in a way that's nearly permanent? I don't get it.


How did he find out about me? What percentage of 70-something grannies get their first tattoo in their eighth decade? How much fickling can I do in the time I have left?

But the tattoos of today are not minor affairs or miniatures placed on the body where only an intimate or an internist would see them. Today's are gargantuan, inevitably tacky, gauche and ugly. They bear little relationship to the skin that they're on. They don't represent an indelible experience or membership in some sort of group but an assertion that today's whim will be tomorrow's joy. After all, a tattoo cannot be easily removed. It takes a laser -- and some cash.

Mine is an emblem of the city that I love. Will the fleur-de-lis stop being the emblem of New Orleans? Even if it does, it will always be a symbol of New Orleans to me. Will I ever cease to be a native-born New Orleanian? I think not.

If you read the entire column, you'll see that the tattoos are really about the economy and how we tattooed folks are dragging the country to its economic knees. Who knew? Perhaps I would have given the idea more thought had I known the gravity of the effect on the economy of the whole country.

How many years ago did Cohen stop being relevant? Many, I'd say. Too many. Time to hang it up, Richard. Who's the loser here?

Thanks to Oyster for the lovely compliment and for the link to Cohen's column. It's gold, pure gold.

Note: I edited this post to link to my earlier post on getting my tattoo.

39 comments:

  1. Next year you need to get a Tasmanian Devil tattoo.

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  2. Now there's a worthy idea, Lapin. I'll keep it in mind, however, I believe that I may be a single-tattoo person.

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  3. Fran, ain't he a doofus? He's surely scraping the bottom for subject matter.

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  4. Mimi, you tempting devil, you; is this in the "intimate" category?

    I can't make my dadgum mind, as usual. Maybe a waffle?
    Or, if I could find the right one, of St Mary.

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  5. "Will the fleur-de-lis stop being the emblem of New Orleans?"

    I always thought that it was the emblem of the Bourbon dynasty.

    Some years back I gave a Bastille Day party, with a tricolor properly posted over the porch. A judge invited to the gathering thought my Jacobin accoutrements too extreme, and marched over flying the fleur-de-lis, and insisted on drinking a toast to the long-dead monarch.

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  6. Johnieb, I neglected to link to the earlier post on my tattoo. There's a picture there. Sorry, it's not an "intimate".

    Rick, the Bourbons ruled New Orleans from it's founding in 1718 until Spain took control in 1763. There was a bit of back and forth at that time, because the New Orleanians did not want to be under Spanish rule.

    The tricolor was never as popular a symbol of the French heritage in New Orleans as was the fleur-de-lis. Folks from New Orleans would have been on the side of the judge.

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  7. Who is Richard Cohen? Should I know?
    Should I care?

    Wear that fleur-de-lis proudly.

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  8. You have a tattoo??!! Now we know you're a wild woman.

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  9. I am still toying with the idea of geting a fleur-de-lis tattoo, have been since September 2005. Maybe this year.

    It's great that you chose to mark yourself indelibly with an image that has meaning for you. I got my first tattoo when I was 36 years old, and I thought about it for almost 10 years before I did. Had I gotten a tattoo when I first thought about it (when I was 21 and in the army) I probably would've ended up with Wiley Coyote or some other cartoon flash that I would've gotten tired of within a few years.

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  10. Allen, I will. I consider it a badge of honor to be dissed by Richard Cohen. He's no one you should know or that you need to know.

    Jane, yeah, wild.

    Bubs, go for it. You won't be sorry. You deserve to have one with all the help you've given to the folks down here. If I had gotten a tattoo when I was 21, I'd have been an outcast. I shudder to think of what I would have chosen.

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  11. "Rick, the Bourbons ruled New Orleans from it's founding in 1718 until Spain took control in 1763."

    Oh, Mimi, you know my French ancestors were up here first - at Natchitoches in 1714, before New Orleans existed, and they brought the fleur de lis, of course. Why is it that people from N'awlins believe that it all centers around them? (not picking on you, it's a common thing).

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  13. Jim, down boy. Did I say anything about Natchitoches? In truth, there are none so parochial as certain native New Orleanians. We knew Baton Rouge was over there, but the rest of the state might as well not have existed for all the attention we paid. I plead guilty.

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  14. Mimi, to follow up, I thought you might enjoy this poem. It was written sometime in the 1940's or 50's, and I regret that I have lost the name of the author.

    'Natchitoches'
    Time is absentminded, and leaves things lying around, out of place.
    What else would these wrought iron fleurs-de-lis be doing here?
    These magnolia trees have bloomed and dried two hundred times
    Since a bareheaded, knotty-armed Frenchman beat that crude iron into a lace lily.

    Time is a careless thief, but kindly, leaving clues whereby we track him.
    Otherwise,
    We might forget the unknown actors who have read lines in the drama
    That this same earth, same sky once sandwiched:
    Savages just learning what clocks and beds were
    And Frenchmen pitching heritage against the wilderness
    With powdered wigs and wrought iron fleurs-de-lis.

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  15. Before this I was thinking of getting another one. But, with the potential harm to the rest of society... maybe I should reconsider.

    I don't really think it's wise to get a tat until you're older. thirties even. But, I still love mine.

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  16. An advantage to waiting until later in life to get a tattoo is that you know the damned thing's not going to be sagging all over the place by the time you hit 50.

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  17. Jim, thanks for the poem. I'm going to squirrel that one away. Who knows? one day I may need a few words about Natchitoches. You folks not in the know, the name is pronounced "nack-i-tush". Is that close enough, Jim? You're the expert, after all.

    Lindy, take care. The economy has already taken a plunge after my tattoo, so perhaps you'd want to give it a little time to recover. Yours, plus mine, plus Bubs' could shake the whole earth.

    Lapin, there is that. I doubt that my ankle will sag much. Where would it go? Onto my foot, I suppose.

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  18. I don't see anything wrong with a small, discrete tattoo....not that I would want one myself, but that's' fine.

    On the other hand, enough is enough. since turning 18 just 9 months ago, my stepdaughter has decorated her body with many large, ugly tattoos which include lurid cartoon characters, runic script in German, a map of the state, and other markings. All large, most obvious (upper chest, upper back, forearm), most guaranteed to sag in a few years, and all quite desecrating of her young self.

    To complement them she has pierced numerous visible and not-so-visible body parts and put large holes in her ears called "plugs".

    At this point it's nothing less than self-mutilation and we have no idea how to stop it. Because, as she flouncingly tells us, she's 18 and can do what she wants to her body.

    (Of course, the irony is that the only boys that are attracted by all this are not the sort of boys she finds attractive. Ya think?)

    So, Mimi, in my round-about way: when are you getting your eyebrow ring?

    IT

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  19. IT, I fear that one day your stepdaughter will be very sorry about what she has done to her body. One is enough for me. I can't say why I wanted even the one, but I did.

    My niece was joking and asked me when I was getting my nipple rings, and I said, "Ouch! Never!" To the eyebrow ring, I say the same. I can't imagine doing that. I have one piercing in each ear, and I have no desire for more. I was in my 50s before I got up enough courage to have my ears done. I don't like needles.

    Sometimes I surprise myself, and my desire for the one tattoo is a mystery to me. That I did it at my age is shocking even to me. It must be that the unconscious is a powerful force.

    The artist who did mine was pretty well covered, and I don't think it's at all attractive. No one noticed mine at church today, and I'm not telling. I'll let folks discover it for themselves.

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  20. "nack-i-tush" it is. You are redeemed!

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  21. what!? you are still my hero, Mimi.

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  22. Whew! (mopping my brow) I'm glad I got that right, Jim.

    Awww, Diane, thanks. With friends like you, why would I care about Cohen?

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  23. Mimi, you go, girl!!

    As a woman whose ears were not pierced until her 60th birthday (a while back!) because she was waiting for diamond studs (got 'em!!), I am now considering my own discreet tattoo
    (probably above my white-cotton-panty line) on my hip... any suggestions???

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  24. Anon, thanks. Since it took me ten years to make up my own mind, I have nothing to offer you by way of a suggestion. Sorry about that. If you go ahead, time it right, so you won't plunge the country into a deep depression.

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  25. Hey, just use my main criteria for the ones I have..."How stupid will I look in the nursing home with this design?" and then go for one that you can answer the question "not stupid"!

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  26. Kirke, excellent! Words to live by.

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  27. I'm here via Fran.

    I don't think you could have picked a more fitting tattoo.

    Cohen is of another time. His judgment on this is suspect.

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  28. Also here via Fran--
    What an asshat that Cohen is. I love his line "They don't represent an indelible experience or membership in some sort of group"--which of course refers to how military men always get tats about their service (because THAT'S original). And he'd never mock our brave soldiers! Just you Gen Y jerkoffs getting your bodies defiled! And obviously he's counting YOU in that group, Grandmere---perhaps you should be flattered that he thinks you're so young!

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  29. FranIam sent me...

    Cool tattoo!
    You go, girl!

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  30. Welcome DCup, DGusman and KarenZipDrive. The "D"s come in pairs today. What I'm puzzled about is how Cohen knew on Tuesday that I would get the tattoo on Thursday. I didn't even know.

    His columns are too often so very silly. It's a wonder to me that he gets paid big bucks by a major newspaper for the drivel that he writes.

    Thanks for visiting and leaving a word. Fran's a doll, ain't she?

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  31. FranIAm (who I get to meet Wednesday!!) sent me.

    Your tattoo is lovely! Tasteful and historic.

    I would love to get a tattoo, but with my history of side effects these last 10 years, mine would probably get infected and grow hair.

    Poor Cohen needs to get a tattoo.

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  32. Welcome, Presbyterian Gal. Fran's link really drove up my numbers of visitors. She's a force.

    I was a little concerned about infection, not from the artist, because he used the proper routines to guard against infection, but in the aftermath. I have a scab now and no sign of redness, so I trust all shall be well.

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  33. Admiring a well-done tattoo is a great ice-breaker where I work. I see tats on arms, legs, necks, skulls. Even saw a guy with an under-the-chin tat last Sunday. Saves himself time shaving, I think.

    Best tattoo idea I've ever heard of but never seen? just above the right ear, a fuel gauge, with the needle pointing to empty.

    You have to come to prison to see stuff like this.

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  34. Shannon, I see that you're a prison chaplain. Welcome. You surely do God's work. I'd think that a compliment on a tattoo would be a good way to start a conversation. I suppose with your folks a fleur-de-lis tat would be pretty pedestrian and unimaginative. And it took me ten years to come up with that, and then by being a copycat. Thanks for visiting and leaving a word.

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  35. I never cease to shake my head at those who wag their fingers at the tatooed. (My older brother has about 12.)

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  36. Batocchio, to each his own, no? Neither my tattoo nor your brother's tattoos hurt anyone.

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  37. I think your tattoo is great. I am highly impressed! I think you point out the most important thing - the tattoo needs to be something meaningful to you and something that is unchanging. (e.g., getting the name of a boyfriend tattooed on when you're in 8th grade, not such a good idea).

    I think the fleur-de-lys is lovely!

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  38. Mauigirl, thanks. It looks much better now that the scab has sloughed off. The colors are softer.

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