[iamhuman]

.........sports cars, younger partners etc.

Do all of these things mean that someone is fighting growing old (mid-life crisis) or is it O.K. to do any of these things up and until any age?

[VF1J]

Why would it not be O.K.?

[Jro]

The human excitement graph traverses from high to low with age. Usually tattoos, piercing, sports cars and younger partner etc. all this things attracts the younger soul, or the person with high excitement or enthusiastic. If the energy is not diminished till the later age, and the soul is still full of energy, then it fits the bill. If one has kept his body to suits his soul energy then it will be easier.
The point what I am trying to make is that, as long as the soul is young and has the energy to handle these things then there is no age limit.

[katrin]

I think there's a difference between keeping a young aura by purchasing a tattoo or sports car and keeping a young aura by trading up for younger partners.

I don't believe people should be treated as disposable, inanimate objects. Of course, if there are relationship issues, that's different.

[SarcasticVlad]

Just because society set up some "rules" about old people why should we follow those rules? Who are they to tell us what to do with our lives? Who are they to tell us what is right and what is wrong? I have a pretty good idea of right and wrong and I don't need anyone else to tell me that.

If an old person wants a tattoo on their crotch it's their business. If it makes them happy who are we to say it's wrong? So no, no one should be able to tell you what to do just because you're too old. Same goes for relationships. Old people worked their entire lives and they deserve some freedom and peace of mind when they retire. So if a 22 year old college girl will make an old man happy let him enjoy himself.

[karenann33]

While I have chuckled at some of my old bosses getting sports cars I didn't fault them for that. I think it's very normal.

Now on the going after younger women thing I truly think how many middle aged men can actually pull that off? Most I've seen don't go that route. They start working out, eating better, they hit the gym, buy that car, get a tattoo or a piercing but not change partners.

[vampyremage]

I think its really going to depend on personal maturity. Does an individual have enough knowledge and maturity to take care of a piercing? Some few may have that at 14. More may have it at 16. Some won't have it until they reach 24. With that said, of course its not very likely that society is going to prevent anyone from getting a tattoo or piercing that they want after they reach the age of majority in whatever country they live in.

Making it mandatory to at least have written parental permission to get a piercing or tattoo before an individual reaches legal age I think would be a good first step. The fact is, in most places the body modification industry has little to no regulation. While a good shop may put limits on its clientele, preventing someone under the age of 18 without parent permission to get a tattoo or piercing, if the teen is determined they are only going to go to some unsafe scratcher because there are so few regulations on the industry as a whole. That scratcher is not only going to negatively effect the teen themselves by getting a crappy piece of work, but it also has the much broader effect of giving tattooing and piercing a bad name. I think a lot of the negative reputation that tattooing and piercing has is because of those shady scratchers putting crap and oftentimes blatantly unsafe work on people without the knowledge, caring or patience to find a good reputable studio to do good work.

I think a lot of the stories you hear about people wanting to remove their tattoos years later or people getting piercings that end up horribly infected are because the lack of regulation on tattoos and piercings mean that these scratchers continue to exist. Maybe with a little basic regulation, such unsavory and immoral individuals would be forced out of business and maybe even punished for their unethical practices.

[ManWithNoName]

I don't really think there is inherently anything wrong with getting a tattoo. I would never get one personally cause who I am is constantly changing and so I could never think of one thing I'd want to get tattooed on me to represent me.

As for an older person getting a tattoo it might mean they are in a kind of mid life crisis it might not. I think that all depends on the person although I'd have to say more often than not I'm inclined to believe that person is going though a midlife crisis where they realize they are getting older and yet don't want to come to terms with the reality.

I have always seen these attempts to be perceived as younger and hip kind of sad and embarrassing. I'm not saying you have to act 'old' or even act your age, but if your carrying out the same stupid behavior that an 18 year old would, sorry, I'm probably not going to respect you as much. If your 18 it's somewhat expected cause you haven't had enough time yet to realize or learn from your mistakes. But if your 40 or 50 you've defiantly had enough time to learn from your mistakes and hopefully become a more mature person who is aware of their flaws and limitations.

We change as we grow and at the end of it we will eventually die. This is an unavoidable fact of life and a large part of life is spent trying to understand and come to terms with this. Sometimes coming to terms with it means coming to a crisis and getting a tattoo, or a sports car, or a younger partner, and there is nothing really wrong with this as long as the person does actually come to terms with it all and the crisis is resolved. However, if they ignore it all and the crisis is never resolved then they usually end up holding onto delusions, which as I said I feel is kind of sad and embarrassing.

[iamhuman]

	Originally Posted by VF1J To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Why would it not be O.K.?

I was reading a post on another thread that alluded to these particular behaviors as 'mid-life crisis' and that they were engaged in to avoid growing old and enlightened. I was thinking it sounds like a form of agism in that it's O.K. for younger people to do these things, but if older people do them, then there's something wrong with them.

---------- Post added 02-28-2011 at 08:29 AM ----------

Originally Posted by SarcasticVlad To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Just because society set up some "rules" about old people why should we follow those rules? Who are they to tell us what to do with our lives? Who are they to tell us what is right and what is wrong? I have a pretty good idea of right and wrong and I don't need anyone else to tell me that. If an old person wants a tattoo on their crotch it's their business. If it makes them happy who are we to say it's wrong? So no, no one should be able to tell you what to do just because you're too old. Same goes for relationships. Old people worked their entire lives and they deserve some freedom and peace of mind when they retire. So if a 22 year old college girl will make an old man happy let him enjoy himself.

Or if a 22 year old collage boy will make an old woman happy, then let her enjoy herself.

---------- Post added 02-28-2011 at 08:31 AM ----------

	Originally Posted by karenann33 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	While I have chuckled at some of my old bosses getting sports cars I didn't fault them for that. I think it's very normal. Now on the going after younger women thing I truly think how many middle aged men can actually pull that off? Most I've seen don't go that route. They start working out, eating better, they hit the gym, buy that car, get a tattoo or a piercing but not change partners.

Why do you assume it's middle aged men going after younger women and not middle aged women going after younger men?

[antistu]

Yes, legal age 18. Same to vote and join the military. Free will is a bitch, let them get that kanji symbol or tramp stamp.

I have covered and reworked almost all my ink I got when I was younger.

[1superkawaii]

Strange question. I assume your going on some sort of social standard. I think that it does not matter because does not hurt anyone. So the people in question should do what they want. Life is short why bother trying to conform to others silly standards, do what you want.

[iamhuman]

Originally Posted by ManWithNoName To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I don't really think there is inherently anything wrong with getting a tattoo. I would never get one personally cause who I am is constantly changing and so I could never think of one thing I'd want to get tattooed on me to represent me. As for an older person getting a tattoo it might mean they are in a kind of mid life crisis it might not. I think that all depends on the person although I'd have to say more often than not I'm inclined to believe that person is going though a midlife crisis where they realize they are getting older and yet don't want to come to terms with the reality. I have always seen these attempts to be perceived as younger and hip kind of sad and embarrassing. I'm not saying you have to act 'old' or even act your age, but if your carrying out the same stupid behavior that an 18 year old would, sorry, I'm probably not going to respect you as much. If your 18 it's somewhat expected cause you haven't had enough time yet to realize or learn from your mistakes. But if your 40 or 50 you've defiantly had enough time to learn from your mistakes and hopefully become a more mature person who is aware of their flaws and limitations. We change as we grow and at the end of it we will eventually die. This is an unavoidable fact of life and a large part of life is spent trying to understand and come to terms with this. Sometimes coming to terms with it means coming to a crisis and getting a tattoo, or a sports car, or a younger partner, and there is nothing really wrong with this as long as the person does actually come to terms with it all and the crisis is resolved. However, if they ignore it all and the crisis is never resolved then they usually end up holding onto delusions, which as I said I feel is kind of sad and embarrassing.

So you see getting tattos, piercings, sports cars, and younger partners as attempts at trying to be percieved as young and hip?

What if the person doing all of these things was 'acting maturely' and not acting any younger than their age?

[vampyremage]

I don't see how tattoos and piercing need be considered anything resembling a midlife crisis. I know a couple of really awesome women in their 40s and 50s that have been getting tattooed since they were in their 20s and continue to do so for the love of the art. I think what makes body modification different than the above examples is its permanent or at least semi-permanent nature. A tattoo done at the age of 18 is still going to be there at the age of 40, except with a whole lot of pain and money spent to get it removed. Just as its getting more and more common for young people to go out and get tattooed, I think its also getting more common for older individuals to get tattooed as well. I expect that I will still be working on my tattoos when I'm 40 and if my project isn't complete by the time I'm 50 I'll still be getting tattooed then to. Of course, I'm really hoping it doesn't take that long to complete but regardless of how long it actually takes, I am going to be one colourful and art covered senior citizen!

[Indubitably]

I'm going to have to agree with Vampyremage on this one, sports cars and tattoos are apples and oranges. There are many cultures, including some western subcultures, in which tattoos are considered a sign of distinction and experience, rather than youthful indiscretion (and as a matter of fact, there are places where having a tattoo inked before you have "earned" it can get you shot, or worse).

Claiming that a tattoo is necessarily an indication that someone is going through a midlife crisis is kind of like saying, "a man has his bar mitzvah when he is an adolescent, a bar mitzvah is a religious gathering, therefor a man who attends a religious gathering is acting like an adolescent".