“scarifying and fetching off a great part of the Skin.”

June 3, 2014 8:24 AM

Indelible Ink: The Deep History of Tattoo Removal

By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, documentation of tattoo removal was often found in accounts of Europeans in contact with cultures overseas—particularly, although not exclusively, societies in the New World. The failed effort to remove the English pirate’s facial tattoo was not the only attempt at such a procedure in the early modern Atlantic world. A number of French, Spanish, English, and Native American sources suggest that people of the period could regret their permanent body modifications just as much as modern people do. Tattoo removal in the past, however, reflected something more powerful than transient personal taste.

Tattooing Is A Method Of Decorations Which Recently Has Been Puushed Too Industriously Here

via Needles and Sins

posted by the man of twists and turns (9 comments total)

The other week I got sieg heiled (and "fuck you"ed) by a guy with swastika tattoos on both cheeks. I wondered after if there would ever come a point for him when he'd look in the mirror and want them gone, like the captives in the article.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:46 AM on June 3, 2014

The other week I got sieg heiled (and "fuck you"ed) by a guy with swastika tattoos on both cheeks.

There are three basic camps among tattooists when it comes to swastikas:
1. Hell no.
2. Sure, whatever.
3. Okay, but let's make it really big and prominent so everyone knows what an asshole you are.

I think that guy probably went to a #3.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:52 AM on June 3, 2014

This is a fascinating subject, thanks for posting!

I wondered after if there would ever come a point for him when he'd look in the mirror and want them gone, like the captives in the article.

The documentary Erasing Hate deals with just that.
posted by otio at 9:03 AM on June 3, 2014

The Tampa Bay Times just published a story the weekend about a young man who went to some extreme lengths to remove his facial tattoos. It's a heart-breaker.
posted by photoslob at 9:38 AM on June 3, 2014 [3 favorites]

Scrub scrub scrub!
posted by blue_beetle at 10:03 AM on June 3, 2014

Ink above the neck: never, ever a good idea.
posted by gottabefunky at 10:44 AM on June 3, 2014

Wish I could invest in tattoo removal -- it's going to be a huge industry. But since a doctor has to do it (at least, in the US) I'm not sure how to proceed.
posted by Rash at 10:45 AM on June 3, 2014 [2 favorites]

Or you could go whole hog, as it were.
posted by sneebler at 12:00 PM on June 3, 2014

The making of an impressive tattoo: Satine's Phoenix [nsfw]
posted by homunculus at 1:51 AM on June 8, 2014