How do you feel about tattoo blogs?

[Delicious]

Where non tattooers critique people's tattoos that they submit?

Great example is this : http://critink.tumblr.com/

I find it really pretentious on her part. I have seen a few of these around the internet and it's baffling. The girl who runs the blog that I posted doesn't think people should get flash off the wall or any sheets, etc...

[Johannes]

i find the whole blog disturbing.

[Delicious]

yes! And read this bullshit

We’re going to talk about racism now

Because 90% of the opinions that end up in my inbox aren’t critical of my critiques, tattoo history, or anything else I feature. They’re denials of racist imagery. And when I call someone out on racism, the anger is always directed at the accusation of racism—not the racism itself.

Now I disagree with the theory that white people, including myself, should feel bad about something our ancestors did (ie: slavery, genocide, etc). There is not some mystical racist gene that we are all born with. My family are immigrants, so should I feel guilt over slavery which “my people” did, while my gene pool was in backwoods Eastern Europe until about 50 years ago? I don’t think so.

But that isn’t to say that I have cart blance to say or do racist things. The idea of “white privilege” it that we still benefit from racism every day because of what has happened historically.

Let’s go through some examples of how, as a white person, your tattoo imagery cannot only be incredibly offensive, but you yourself benefit from such offenses:

Sugar Skulls: Sugar Skulls are fucking cool. There is no way around that. It’s a really expressive religious ceremony that, for other cultures, we have no equivalent too. But to use them in tattoos without meaning or history is to absolutely privilege your own ideas over another culture’s. Does their intent not matter compared to your own? Even worse, these “sexy” sugar skulls are a way of turning a religious tradition around and sexualizing a caricature of that culture’s women. And how do white people benefit? By making Mexican culture some “other” that can be used or discarded however you like, you are undermining the agency and humanity of the people who created it! This may not hit as close to home for non-American leaders, but white Americans benefit in huge ways because of Mexican immigration. Mexican workers are hunted by the police, the FBI, and even by vigilantes with guns. They are forced to work dangerous, low-paying jobs to subsidize everything from food costs to childcare. White bosses make huge profits off of farm workers working for less than minimum wage, and white women are returning to the work force post-child birth because they can hire someone of color to watch their children for less than they make.

“Sexy Indians”, Dream Catchers, etc: The portrayal of Native American cultures as homogeneous (warbonnets or dreamcatchers as broadly “indian” verses culturally specific) is to deny that they were separate, independent nations. To deny this is to deny the illegal invasion of those lands when we massacred their people and took their land. The idea of creating a caricature of that culture portrays them as a dead thing—something in the past that no longer exists. And how do white people benefit? All the natural resources we take from the US belonged to someone else. They were taken by our government. If we were to pay back all that we stole, prices for everything would go up. Hell: if the government were to give it back to the people they stole it from, what would happen to us? Native “reservations” are also one of the only places where you can gamble legally in the US, yet many remain some of the most impoverished places in the continent. Just like European Jews were allowed to money-lend during Medieval Catholicism, they serve a social function now but can be easily disposed of when needed.

Kanji or Chinese Symbols: Once again, it’s not your culture. These, in my opinion, aren’t as outrightly appropriative as other symbols taken from other cultures because they don’t involve caricatures of that people. But when, in fact, the majority of symbols put on as tattoos are incorrect in part or entirely—what’s the difference between this and saying something like “chee chong chee” and claiming your “speaking Chinese” as a joke? It’s a bad, tasteless imitation. But how do white people benefit? Once again, viewing a language or people as “other” dehumanizes them. Imagine a factory, in your state or providence, where workers are locked in by management, paid less than a living wage working 10+ hrs a day, often denied pay, are in unhuman conditions… there would be a fight against it! And yet, these same conditions are the day-to-day lives of most people who make our clothes. But they’re often portrayed as “lesser” and, if worthy of any attention, worthy of pity. Racism is used to keep us from respecting their rights and supporting their labor fights while we benefit through cheap commodities produced at their expense.

Confederate Flags, Nazi Symbols, White Power Symbols: These are racist, right? Everyone can pretty much agree here! The difference is they are overt: they state, I believe I am better than other people because of my race. But I’m listing this here because, as outlined above, claiming “I can say/do as I like” ALSO puts your own wants or interpretations over those of another culture. You might not be announcing “I am better because I’m white” over a loud speaker, but your actions certainly do.

However, white people also suffer because of racism. Not in the way that people of color do, but economically—yes. For American readers, think about how badly racism has affected minimum wage laws. Everyone makes less, across the board, because if “we don’t work for less then we can’t compete with the Mexicans.” Like there is some American “we” and non-white, foreign “they.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d rather see undocumented immigrants making a living wage than I’d like to continue seeing these CEO’s paychecks get fatter and fatter. And yet, this division is justified entirely by racism! Fight it now before it comes back to bite you too.

Lastly, “reverse racism” is bullshit. “Your’e being racist against white people.” It’s the same logic that claims a minimum wage worker is being unfair for hating the CEO of their company while the CEO profits off of their work. Don’t blame the victim!

If you want to seriously learn more, I recommend reading news from BlackAgendaReport.com; picking up the book How a Minority Can Change Society; the book 1491; or hit me up and I can give you some more specific recommendations.

Someone get this girl off her white horse and white guilt. Jesus fucking Christ!

[BoMcConaghie]

stop drawing attention to this shitty blog.

[Graeme]

The only tattoo blog I am interested in is Shawn Porter's Occult Vibrations:

Occult Vibrations

[CultExciter]

I also enjoy @Our Endless Days blog.

[Graeme]

I also enjoy @Our Endless Days blog.

Yeah that one is good. I also like Swallows and Daggers though I feel that with Instagram there's less of a point in blogs that are mostly pictures of tattoos. Needles and Sins can be pretty good too.

[tatB]

Dermagraphique: A Tattoo Critique is a good (in my opinion) blog by a tattoo artist.

[Johannes]

so, if let's say me myself would get a sugarskull tattoo...it means that i'm totally hating on hispanic people and are responsible for them not getting paid as much as white folks? oh i'm also stealing culture. I better only get viking tattoos since we haven't really got any other tattoo related imagery in sweden thats part of our "culture". or maybe an ikea or abba backpiece? atleast I would'nt be rascist!

and yeah occult vibrations is cool. those old videos! excellent!

[Tifffany]

LOL I have 2 sugar skulls... so do they cancel each other out or am I doubly racist? I love when people look for things to be upset about.

[slayer9019]

@Delicious

a couple things at least from me

If there is a bad blog out there, don't go to it. When they lose traffic, they will give up on the site. Simple as pie.

Honestly your second post on this tread felt like the reason you actually setup this thread. It was a weird post that doesn't really fit into this forum (at least in my opinion).

Also tattoo imagery/symbolism (or any imagery/symbolism for that matter) only conveys what the viewer adds to it. A good example, the swastika. It has it's good and bad place in the world. (For more info read this thread).

[Delicious]

I will admit I was kind of aghast and upset with some of the things said, which is why i started the thread... But I do like the idea of ignoring this until it dies the death it deserves.

sorry guys for my middle of the night rant! getting upset at the internet + little sleep makes me a stupid poster.

Back to my corner to brood in silence for now :P

[Our Endless Days]

with my blog, i only try to draw attention to quality tattooers that deserve mentioning. i really try to keep it positive and don't think that i've said anything negative about a tattooer or their work on there. i really don't want to bash someone or something. i'd rather just not give it any attention. as someone mentioned, mediums like IG and Tumblr may make the blog a little obsolete due to the pictures that i post, but the reason i started it was so i could write about tattooers and what not. the few times i've wrote even something small on my Tumblr, no one pays any attention to it. people just wanna see pics on there.

also, thanks to those that read my blog. and yea, OV is an awesome blog. everyone should read it.

- - - Updated - - -

also, that critink tumblr is fucking garbage. just don't even bother with it.

[Dan S]

@Johannes, an ABBA backpiece...man, you don't have a hair on yer ass if you don't go for that!!!

[rarehardtofind]

The only tattoo blog I am interested in is Shawn Porter's Occult Vibrations:

Occult Vibrations

This.

[Graeme]

Also even though it seems like he's not updating it anymore @Petri Aspvik has/had a good blog about serious tattooing:

Pitch black 1891

[Delicious]

Thanks for the links to the good blogs, I am seriously enjoying browsing!

[Petri Aspvik]

Also even though it seems like he's not updating it anymore @Petri Aspvik has/had a good blog about serious tattooing:

Pitch black 1891

Thanks :) Haven't had anything to write about and I don't want to write for the sake of writing shit :P

[Shannon Shirley]

@Delicious please take a pill,all that BS about appropreation and your opinions about racism, and you post a Ganesh tattoo?

[Shaun1105]

@Delicious please take a pill,all that BS about appropreation and your opinions about racism, and you post a Ganesh tattoo?

Though it wasn't entirely clear in his post, @Delicious was quoting the Critink blog author's views on racism, etc., etc.

[Shannon Shirley]

aahhh. I guess I was confused.

Though it wasn't entirely clear in his post, @Delicious was quoting the Critink blog author's views on racism, etc., etc.

[Delicious]

@Delicious please take a pill,all that BS about appropreation and your opinions about racism, and you post a Ganesh tattoo?

for one, I am a girl lol. and for two, I thought it was utter bullshit from that blog, those are not my opinions

[Shannon Shirley]

I don't think I said anything about gender?I apologize, I dont really rubberneck much,If I read that a blog sucks I probably won't look at it. I thought those were your ideas,Its easy to confuse old white people.hehehehe

for one, I am a girl lol. and for two, I thought it was utter bullshit from that blog, those are not my opinions

[David Flores]

For the record the first time I came across this thread, I thought @Delicious had lost her mind, until I figured out she was talking about some blog. I'm not even that old.

I think the problem with blogs is even if you don't have to have any credentials and you can just act like an authority on a subject you know nothing about.

[Tick]

It really sounded like somebody was writing an essay for school or something. It was a pretty rudimentary outline for a research-type essay, and was pretty poorly written. Maybe high school, or crap, even college. They probably chose the topic of Racism and Tattoo for their class, and then took shots in the dark at supporting the argument they had already proposed to the teacher. Personally, I didn't finish reading it, and didn't check out the mentioned blog, though.

Either way, it was retarded.