by Kris Richter

My artist, B.J. Nigh, talked me into getting my first tattoo. I liked it, so I went back. I liked it again, so I went back again. The next time I went in, he suggested a new tattoo. “Skull flowers,” he said by way of a greeting as I approached his station where he was currently tattooing. “What?” I asked. “Skull flowers! Let’s do a skull flower,” he said.

I went to my first tattoo convention in Council Bluffs, Iowa, about seven years ago with my boyfriend at the time. We got there in time to walk around once or twice before the tattoo contest started. I wanted to take B.J. home a trophy! And I did. I ended up winning first place in the Best Small Black and Grey category for the safety pins on my arm.

When I walked off stage, I was handed a card with a picture of International Tattoo Art magazine. It said I had a photo shoot, if I wanted it, with Bill DeMichele, and to be at this room at this time. I was sooo excited! I went to the photo shoot and Bill told me how much he loved all the work I had. He asked me about my artist, and I told Bill that B.J. would be tattooing at the APT in Kansas City the following weekend.

I went home and I was on cloud nine! I called B.J. to tell him the news, and then I went back to normal life. The following Friday, however, I got a phone call from B.J. while I was at work. He said Bill found him at the convention and wanted to photograph me again. So, with almost no money, I made the 3-hour drive to Kansas City. This convention was even bigger than the Council Bluffs one. I met a few people, since I stayed the weekend, and I had a blast.

Bill ended up inviting B.J. to tattoo at Lyle Tuttle’s Old School Tattoo Expo a few months later, in November. We were both stoked; this was huge! This was about the time B.J. suggested the Skull flowers.

We outlined the first one, on the ball of my shoulder, a few weeks before the convention. Now, this was the 2nd Annual Old School Expo, which means it was still held in the City Museum in St. Louis. (It’s now held in the hotel.) The City Museum was such a magical place. It’s literally a giant play place for kids and adults alike. (If you’ve never been, I highly suggest going!) To hear the sound of so many tattoo machines, and hear the on-goings of the convention in that atmosphere was incredible.

Our booth was set up in a nice spot, near the door in one of the rooms. The first day, I sat down to get tattooed. I sat for 6 1/2 hours, my longest sit, to complete my first skull flower. I was shocked at the amount of people who continuously gathered around our booth to watch the progress. We finished in time to enter the Best of Day contest, and… WE WON! The rest of the weekend I walked around the convention with the piece everyone was talking about, and it sparked conversations with people who remain good friends of mine to this day.

[Keep Reading...]

by Rachelle Suicide

A column which highlights Suicide Girls and their fave groups.

This week, Rachelle Suicide sizes up SG’s All Boobs Great And Small Group.

Members: 4,988 / Comments: 10,300

• WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: Breasts are like snowflakes, each one different, unique, and beautiful in it’s own way. This group has everything: web cam boobs, Suicide Girls’ boobs, great cleavage, tattooed tits, side boob, under boob (my personal favorite view), small, medium and large breasts. Who wouldn’t love it?
• DISCUSSION TIP: Everyone has their own personal preferences on boob size and shape, be respectful. This is a positive, fun group –– negativity isn’t tolerated.
• BEST RANDOM QUOTE: I don’t know why but I love seeing a girl scratch an itchy boob, or adjust their bra strap. Call me a perv if you must, I just think it’s cute, sometimes they make really cute faces when doing so. Anyone else in this boat?”
• MOST HEATED DISCUSSION THREAD: The “Boobs That Made You Join!!!” thread contains some of the hottest Suicide Girls AND their boobs! Very hot.
• WHO’S WELCOME TO JOIN?: All Boobs Great and Small is for boob enthusiasts who appreciate all shapes and sizes.

[Keep Reading...]

by Bob Suicide

I don’t plan on ever growing up, though I do plan on single-handedly keeping the vinyl toy industry in business for many years to come. You name it, I’ve got it –– or it’s on preorder. However, even my embarrassingly childish addiction has standards. I have Legos, GI Joes, Transformers, Star Trek and Star Wars figures and replicas, plus Munnys and Dunnys of all sizes, but, I’m not –– and never really was –– a “Barbie girl.” I had a few as a kid, but even then I was more excited about my X-Men and Power Ranger figures than any doll.

However, I recently admitted a secret shame: “Typically, when I go to the toy store (which is often) to look for totally justifiable and not at all embarrassing toys, I make a small but shameful detour down the doll aisle.” And, recently, I even bought a few. Not Barbies, but Mattel’s similar line of dolls: Monster High.

Barbie has often been the target of body and self-image criticism. Thanks to her impossible anatomical proportions, moms across the globe decry the doll’s destruction of their child’s self-esteems –– but always after purchasing one or two because their daughters just had to have one. All the while, the overwhelming majority of girls rabidly desire and play with their dolls completely oblivious to the negative stigma their parents place upon them.

What I lack in “Barbie” fandom I make up for in love for Tokidoki designer Simone Legno, who recently released his own Tokidoki branded doll: the first officially tattooed Barbie. (There were two prior dolls that came with stickers mimicking temporary tattoos, but, since we’re getting technical, anything non-permanent doesn’t count.) With his amazing sense of art and style, Simone has done an amazing service to promote the acceptance of the beauty of tattoos within mainstream society. The doll is a perfect blend of the Tokidoki and Barbie brands. He’s mixed them together in a way that doesn’t compromise either. Part of me looks at that doll and says, “Fuck yeah. She looks cool.” Everything about the design is beautiful and “hip.” There’s an amazing attention to detail and the tattoos in particular portray Simone’s love of Japanese art that underlies all of his work.

There are few things in our American culture that are so identifiable as products of the “American Dream.” Coca Cola’s one and Barbie is another. They’ve been around for ages and while they maintain a classic aesthetic, they subtly evolve as the societal outlook changes. As tattoos are becoming more culturally accepted, it’s exciting to finally have a Barbie with tattoos. It’s exciting to think one of the largest toy manufacturers in the country, which boasts the country’s best selling doll –– a doll that has been defining standards of beauty for decades –– has now embraced tattoos. And, by dint of wearing those tattoos, Barbie and her parent company have declared tattoos to be both feminine and beautiful too.

As a kid, I never looked to my Barbie dolls for aspirational images of who or what I could be or how I should look and, honestly, I don’t think most kids do. Toys are toys. Toys don’t shape a kid’s personality. Children pick toys that reflect their own inner character traits. I didn’t look at my Wild C.A.T.s Zealot figure thinking I was going to become a covert warrior-spy. I liked that figure because I was already a strong girl with a penchant for the wilder side. As an adult however, I find the reverse bleeding into my conscious and I see why parents can easily label a doll as a “role-model.” So I’m pleased –– and even slightly inspired –– to see my formerly subversive love of lowbrow art and tattoos proudly emblazoned on one of America’s biggest icons.

But, another part of me can’t seem to get over the fact that, with the overabundance of pink and the perfectly bobbed hair, she’s eerily similar to Paris Hilton, which is not the best foot forward when it comes to portraying tattoos within the mainstream. If Barbie is an aspirational ambassador, the way parents like to portray her, I can understand the concern they might have for a day when “socialite” replaces “princess” as the number one thing little girls want to be when they grow up. But the same can be said of many of the Barbie dolls on the shelf. When each doll comes with matching purse and a mini dog that fits inside, when the “Dream Mansion” has its own massive walk in closet for shoes, it’s unfair to single this one doll out as the harbinger for the tacky, classless persona of a famous for being famous reality TV star. If this doll gets a scarlet “H,” they all do.

My ultimate gripe is with the “minivan mom’s” rallying cry that tattoos set a bad example for young girls. The gist of their complaint can be summed up by a comment from the Ms Twixt website for parents of Tween-age girls:

“Encouraging children that tattoos are cool is wrong, wrong, wrong.”

In reality, this doll isn’t meant to be a walking ad for the tattoo industry; It’s not even meant for children. It’s a $50 doll, and like the original plastic lady who inspired her, Bild Lilli, this Barbie is clearly marketed to the adult collector. While I can happily whip up a scenario whereby the fact that Barbie, as a shining example of the American Dream, has endorsed tattoos means that body art and modification is beautiful (as I just did), the truth of the matter is this is just a piece of lowbrow art which happens to take the form of a doll. While the doll is a highly publicized and identifiable one that’s typically marketed to children, the reality is two business saw the opportunity for a branding partnership and a hot pop-art designer modified an existing product for a high-end and limited run directed and solely marketed at collectors. No child is going to run their sticky fingers across a Tokidoki Barbie box on a WalMart shelf and the creators never intended that scenario to occur.

The doll aside, why is “encouraging” children to get tattoos wrong –– other than the fact those kids are going to be really bummed when they ride their trike up to the local shop to get their very own body mod and get turned away when they don’t have proper ID. There are laws set in place to ensure underage children can’t get tattoos. Doodling on skin with a sharpie never hurt anything but the occasional couch or really nice shirt (somthing I did ALL the time as a kid). Showing a child a picture of a doll or a person with a tattoo on them doesn’t immediately mean your toddler’s going to come home from preschool with a set of sleeves. Many of their real-life role models –– who are seen as wholesome and positive influences –– have them. Justin Bieber has a tattoo (don’t judge me for knowing that, I already feel enough shame!), and the only negative thing he’s ever inspired kids to get is really stupid haircuts (and his albums!).

Maybe the real answer is to let kids be kids, people be people, and dolls be dolls.

Related Posts

Confessions Of A Hardcore Gamer: The Rise of My Nightmares –– That I’ll Be Petting Kinect Puppies Long After Sega’s Zombie Horde Goes To Ground
Women Prefer Gaming To Sex – But There’s a Frigging Difference Between Fragging and Farmville
Damn You Zuckerberg!
You Might Be A Nerd If…
Confessions of a Shy Gamer
Red or Blue, Wonder Woman’s Boots Were Made For Walking
The Geek’s Guide to Getting Down Vol. 1 (A Brief Introduction)
The Geek’s Guide to Getting Down Vol. 2: Fragging and Other Group Activities
The Geek’s Guide to Getting Down Vol. 3: Co-Op Mode
The Geek’s Guide to Getting Down Vol. 4: The Blue Pill Or The Red Pill
The Geek’s Guide to Getting Down Vol. 5: Experiencing Pon Farr? Bring deodorant

by Blogbot

A column which highlights Suicide Girls and their fave groups.

This week, Eden Suicide tells us why the Tattoo Group has made its mark on her.

Members: 10,764 / Comments: 118,201

• WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: I find really interesting to read the different reasons behind this life changing choice. Tattoos can tell you a lot about who wears them. And I love to see pictures of tattooed people!


• DISCUSSION TIP: Learn how to use the SG search button and how to use Google Image search to find reference material.
• BEST RANDOM QUOTE: “I have a camel… on my toe.”




• MOST HEATED DISCUSSION THREAD: “New Tattoos” – and “Tasteless Tattoos” is growing really quickly

.
• WHO’S WELCOME TO JOIN?: Everyone who loves tattoos, people with tattoos, tattoo artists, or are just tattoo curious.




[Keep Reading...]

by Blogbot

What Suicide Girls are putting on – and taking off…

Regardless of the season, corsets are a cinch when it comes to sexy and sensual (un)dressing.

[Keep Reading...]

by Blogbot

A column which highlights Suicide Girls and their fave groups.

This week, Damsel Suicide tells us why she gets all tied up in the Dreadlocks

 Group.

Members: 1057 / Comments: 3,640

• WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: It offers lots of tips, methods, and advice. Every set of dreadlocks is unique, and there are so many different ways to maintain them. Some people are anti-product and choose the natty route, while others enjoy the benefits of using wax and other dreadlock products. Either way, if you see a set of locks you think are beautiful, it’s nice to find out how they keep them that way!



• DISCUSSION TIP: Respect the opinions and differences of others. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to do dreadlocks, only a variety of methods that all work equally. Different strokes for different folks!


• BEST RANDOM QUOTE: “My mane is my source of power. I am able to do superhuman things that I couldn’t do otherwise.”




• MOST HEATED DISCUSSION THREAD: Synthetic Dreads…People who have spent years developing their dreadlocks claim synth dreads are the easy way out, while people with synth dreads argue they are still dreadheads. Either way, having synthetic dreads does NOT make you a pussy bitch.


• WHO’S WELCOME TO JOIN?: Appreciate lovely locks and natty ladies? Come on in and appreciate the nappy goodness…




[Keep Reading...]

by Blogbot

SG / Artist Name: Hezza Suicide a.k.a. Majo Rey

Mission Statement: Having experimented with other kinds of clothes I began my lingerie line in 2004. I was always a lingerie consumer, but couldn’t find nice things over here (I live in South América). After working in a big factorywhich made swimwear, I decide to start with my personal own line, and launched my brand Majo Rey. What I do, or want to transmit to the people who consume the brand, is the spirit of being young and sexy. It’s important to feel comfortable and sexy at the same time. The brand has a lot of myself in it; It’s for powerful, independent women with a rock & roll spirit.