Author Topic: Tattoos: A journey of HIV acceptance (Read 13674 times)

drewm · « **on:** August 10, 2011, 12:45:41 pm »

Tattoos like Howard's biohazard symbol are especially common in men who have sex with men, the subpopulation that bears the highest burden of new HIV infections in the United States. Men who have sex with men accounted for 61%, or 29,300, new HIV infections in 2009, federal health officials said last week. And although the number of new HIV cases has remained stable in the general population, new infections rose among young, black gay and bisexual men from 2006 to 2009.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/10/hiv.tattoos/index.html

Basquo · « **Reply #1 on:** August 10, 2011, 12:53:10 pm »

Glad you posted this, Drew. I just saw the article on CNN. Perhaps this should be moved to the Living With forum?

Inchlingblue · « **Reply #2 on:** August 10, 2011, 07:43:16 pm »

Conley, a sociologist by training, knows of 45 to 60 others in online forums who have tattoos involving a biohazard symbol or a scorpion, another sign of having HIV in the gay community. The stinging tail of the scorpion alludes to the virus, he said.

I didn't know about the scorpion.

leatherman · « **Reply #3 on:** August 10, 2011, 08:00:21 pm »

Quote from: Inchlingblue on August 10, 2011, 07:43:16 pm

I didn't know about the scorpion.

i never heard that one before either.

my biohaz tat, which I got nearly a decade after being diagnosed with AIDS, is officially a decade old today (8/10/01)!! WooHoo!

Raf · « **Reply #4 on:** August 10, 2011, 08:36:24 pm »

Yeah, it's was a nice reading! I'm a tattoo fan since I was 17, and actually it's a good idea to get a tattoo simbolizing HIV, and I always liked the red ribbon so maybe in the future, when I have come to terms with my Dx, I'll get it on my back or chest (err..my arms are already full at the moment).

Inchlingblue · « **Reply #5 on:** August 10, 2011, 08:43:33 pm »

I don't think they mentioned the plus sign, isn't that also an HIV tattoo?

odyssey · « **Reply #6 on:** August 10, 2011, 09:56:26 pm »

I was thinking of getting a poz-related tattoo while we're in Seattle. Not a very big one, but just a little something. Hmmm....

drewm · « **Reply #7 on:** August 10, 2011, 11:08:21 pm »

I want a tramp stamp

leatherman · « **Reply #8 on:** August 10, 2011, 11:18:03 pm »

Quote from: odyssey on August 10, 2011, 09:56:26 pm

I was thinking of getting a poz-related tattoo while we're in Seattle. Not a very big one, but just a little something. Hmmm....

I've always got a wish list of tats (just not the $$ to fulfill the list); but after reading this article, I would like a red ribbon tat.

wolfter · « **Reply #9 on:** August 11, 2011, 05:20:11 am »

I would love a tat, but I'm too much of a wussy. I've checked a couple of times in the past, and they require you to be totally sober, so there goes any chance I might have. Hell, I need a couple of glasses of wine when I have body waxing done.

Basquo · « **Reply #10 on:** August 11, 2011, 08:30:54 am »

You could take a seative and they probably wouldn't notice, but I've been sober for mine and after a while you sort of go into a zone anyway.

leatherman · « **Reply #11 on:** August 11, 2011, 10:07:17 am »

Quote from: wolfter on August 11, 2011, 05:20:11 am

I would love a tat, but I'm too much of a wussy.

that's not quite as bad as crying about taking a pill-a-day for life

but I never thought that tats, while sorta painful, were as painful as people think. of course, some of that is dependent on where you have the tat put. Fatty areas are less painful than boney areas. Plus as Basq said, there's sort of a pain-induced endorphin-released zone you can drift into during the process. While the outlining hurts more than the color-fill areas, eventually the area gets sorta numbed by the pain and you hit that zone.

Of course, sometimes too it's not painful at all. I had a terrible time holding still when the tattooist was doing my armband. As she inked the underneath side of my arm, I could hardly stand it - because it tickled!!

odyssey · « **Reply #12 on:** August 11, 2011, 12:50:45 pm »

Maybe we should have a group tattooing outing during AMG 2011? Some moral support might help those among us nervous about the process. We could all get little red ribbons. Wouldn't that be a great group activity?

mecch · « **Reply #13 on:** August 11, 2011, 01:39:06 pm »

I like tattoos on others. Don't want any on me.

Since William F. Buckley was the first begabung to suggest the AIDS tattoo, I've never liked the idea. But whatever works for someone, OK.

Joe K · « **Reply #14 on:** August 11, 2011, 02:08:29 pm »

I use tats to express myself because ultimately they are body art. My first tat, after diagnosis, was that of a climbing panther on my left upper arm. To me it signified the strength and cunning I would need to live with HIV. It had many meanings and it worked for me. My next tat, stretches across my shoulders and there are pics of it, below. I then moved on to both outside arms, across the tops of the shoulders and had both sides joined with flames climbing my neck.

No matter how you look at it, tats will hurt, because you are using a needle to implant ink below your skin. My most painful tats, were the flames up my neck and it took me two sittings for just the outline and I have a very high tolerance for pain. It's also not an intolerable pain and after about 5-10 minutes you start to drift into that "sorta numb pain" zone that other posters have mentioned. If you are so worried about getting a tat, ask an artist to see the equipment and get a good explanation of what happens. My first artist did a small amount where I would get my tat, without using any ink. Once I felt the sensation, my fears were few, because it was tolerable to me.

No matter what you choose, never, ever, get a tat when you are drunk. Alcohol thins the blood, which can present many problems, plus you need to remain very still while being worked on, unless you relish the idea of your tat going outside the pattern. This is not something you can wash off, so think long and hard, find a GREAT artist and pay particular attention to the healing process, because any tat is there for life.

It appears pictures are not displaying correctly. I will leave the picture links in hope that this is just temporary.

Back tat relaxed:

leatherman · « **Reply #15 on:** August 11, 2011, 05:32:40 pm »

Quote from: killfoile on August 11, 2011, 02:08:29 pm

It appears pictures are not displaying correctly. I will leave the picture links in hope that this is just temporary.

Back tat relaxed:

actually, you just had the coding messed up. This is what's there now:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://[http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m485/jkillfoile/IMG_0136_crop.jpg/img]this part (http://[http://i1128) which has an incorrect brace and double "http://"
and this part (jpg/img) without the first closing img-tag brace
were wrong. It should have looked like this:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m485/jkillfoile/IMG_0136_crop.jpg[/img]and with the incorrect braces in the coding of the first picture, the processor was unable to correctly identify the coding for second picture - which was actually coded properly. it is very easy to get the braces and urls wrong plugging in pix and links.

and here are the pictures you were hoping to post

:

Back tat relaxed:

Back tat, arms extended:

and here's my decade old biohaz tramp stamp

and because of this thread, I've been trying to decide just where I would have a red ribbon tatted.

Joe K · « **Reply #16 on:** August 11, 2011, 05:36:57 pm »

Thanks for clarifying what I did wrong. I'll know better to self code my own links.

Ann · « **Reply #17 on:** August 12, 2011, 10:09:48 am »

I've been trying to move this thread into the Living forum since it first turned up. So far, while the software puts up a redirection thread, the actual thread itself stubbornly remains in the OT forum. Oh well...... 'scuse me while I go delete yet another useless redirection thread.

odyssey · « **Reply #18 on:** August 12, 2011, 05:12:42 pm »

Quote from: Ann on August 12, 2011, 10:09:48 am

I've been trying to move this thread into the Living forum since it first turned up. So far, while the software puts up a redirection thread, the actual thread itself stubbornly remains in the OT forum. Oh well...... 'scuse me while I go delete yet another useless redirection thread.

Ann-

It seems this thread is surviving just fine right here in Off Topic! For heck's sake we might forget it exists if it gets moved to Living With... Oh well... whatever happens happens, right?

GSOgymrat · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2011, 09:59:41 am »

An HIV-related tattoo seems practical if one is serosorting. I wonder if a tattoo would help avoid legal prosecution in terms of disclosure laws?

odyssey · « **Reply #20 on:** August 14, 2011, 02:08:44 pm »

Quote from: GSOgymrat on August 14, 2011, 09:59:41 am

An HIV-related tattoo seems practical if one is serosorting. I wonder if a tattoo would help avoid legal prosecution in terms of disclosure laws?

Yeah... maybe I should get a quote of Ann's whole "if you consent to have unprotected sex you consent to the possibility of becoming infected... " or whatever that is you say Ann. Brillliant! That should keep those peskies neggies from wanting unprotected sex with me!

odyssey

Ann · « **Reply #21 on:** August 15, 2011, 11:32:12 am »

Quote from: odyssey on August 14, 2011, 02:08:44 pm

Yeah... maybe I should get a quote of Ann's whole "if you consent to have unprotected sex you consent to the possibility of becoming infected... " or whatever that is you say Ann. Brillliant! That should keep those peskies neggies from wanting unprotected sex with me!

odyssey

That would be... "To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Or perhaps caveat depascor.

odyssey · « **Reply #22 on:** August 15, 2011, 07:24:50 pm »

Hopefully tattoo artists don't charge by the word, ehh?

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Author Topic: Tattoos: A journey of HIV acceptance (Read 13674 times)