Branded as Scholars

An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education on academics and their tattoos, featuring yours truly and accompanying photos. Read here.

Comments

[Scott]

Bah...subscription only. Forget it.

I've always held a bit of a jumbled mess of ideas and opinions about tattoos. On the one hand, your body and your life are yours to do with as you please, and it's nobody's business in the least if you want to tattoo yourself. OTOH, I see tattoos as external evidence of someone who likely has one or more of the following character traits: poor impulse control, identity insecurity, psychological shallowness, or aggression.

I'm just glad I resisted the impulse to get any tattoos while in my teens or 20s. Any design I would have based on what I thought was important to me then would surely have resulted in regret now that I'm older, and now that I'm in my mid-30s, I've decided that tattoos are simply too silly to bother with. I know who I am, and I don't need to present any front to the world anymore to prove anything.

[liberty]

I think they are an excellent way to bond your younger and older self, and am quite happy with mine which I got at 16 & 24. But I have never really understood getting the ones hanging in tattoo shop windows. It only makes sense if its something you design or have designed for you personally. Pete's is very cool I think. It suits him, and I doubt he'll regret it (in the foreseeable future).

[Mario Rizzo]

Of course, it is embarrassing when someone has a tattoo with the name of an ex-girlfriend. I have often thought of investing in whatever business specializes in tattoo removal. But efficient markets (gulp) and all that.

[Nick Matyas]

It's really a awesome posting.
You are always an excellent writer.
Keep up the good work Man!!

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