Tattoo is the magic word. It hits people in a way that no other visual medium does. And it is not simply visual, but visceral. Everybody has an opinion about it and everybody has a gut reaction. And because they are permanent, tattoos raise all these issues about life and death.
Don Ed HardyYou put a tattoo on yourself with the knowledge that this body is yours to have and enjoy while you're here. You have fun with it, and nobody else can control (supposedly) what you do with it. That's why tattooing is such a big thing in prison: it's an expression of freedomโone of the only expressions of freedom there. They can lock you down, control everything, but 'I've got my mind, and I can tattoo my bodyโalter it my way as an act of personal will.'
Don Ed HardyA tattoo is an affirmation: that this body is yours to have and to enjoy while you're here. Nobody else can control what you do with it.
Don Ed Hardy