Rosa also observers a unique trait among the gays that sets them apart from their heterosexual counterparts: an inherent sense of style and aesthetics-and a willingness to collaborate with the tattoo artist. "They're very serious about layout and designs," explained Rosa, which I guess, is sexier "than the run-of-the-mill hetero customer." Thank heaven, then, for sweeping generalizations: those little nuggets of truth gleaned from highly unreliable (but surprisingly accurate) observations.Īsked to speak about gay men and tattoos in general terms, Rosa notes "In general, the gay male will definitely be very conscious of how it's going to look to another man." It's also generally true that the gay man's abilities in the realm of fashion and tasteful aesthetics makes him a particularly savvy tattoo customer. Today it is pure camp.īut just as one's sexual identity is sometimes hard to define or confirm, it's equally challenging to paint a picture of the gay tattoo customer. In the early 1950s the craze was parodied in this production number from the 20th Century Fox film There's No Business Like Show Business with Ethel Merman and Mitzi Gaynor. The Camp Factor :: Before the current Ink revival, tattoos were long associated with sailors. Clearly, Rosa is a guy who doesn't pry or speculate-because it's a safe bet that any tattoo parlor located in NYC's uber-queer Chelsea neighborhood is going to have more than 20 percent of its client base as gay. The images are small and delicate." Queers who veer to the queeny side get "stuff more on the delicate and girlish side flowers."ĭarren Rosa, owner of NYC's Rising Dragon, estimates that nearly 60 percent of his customers are from Chelsea, and at least 20 percent of those are gay. Muscle bears and muscle guys usually get them on upper arm arm bands-or on the back, shoulder or upper pecs-places where the tattoos are going to be seen when they're walking around with their shirts off."Īnd the club-oriented tweakers? "They tend to get lower back tattoos, kind of like the teenage girls tattoos on vanity spots like the butt check or the upper pelvis. On the matter of gays and tattoos, Strongarm says, "It depends on which gay men we're talking about. Gauge Strongarm of Gotham Body Piercing & Tattoo (located in San Francisco's Castro) says the shop's gay clientele accounts for more than 60 percent of their business.
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Happily, we've moved on to a bold new era of snakes on penises, angel wings,"insert here" signs on butt cheeks and, yes, anal tattoos. But as EDGE recently found by talking with tattoo artists whose studios are located in gayborhoods, we've come a long way from the days when pink triangles and rainbow tattoos were all the rage. On the other hand, maybe the fact that we'll use any feeble excuse to take our shirts off in public just makes it seem as if we have more tats than the general population.Īnd why not? The permanence, commitment and bold declaration of a tattoo is a fitting metaphor for men who live out, loud, proud lives in which sexuality is at the forefront of their identity.
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Once the deed is done and you put it out there for the world to see, there's no turning back except for laser removal and reparative therapy (and while the former may work, the latter is pretty much discredited, unless you're Ted Haggard).Īlthough hard statistics are elusive, an anecdotal survey recently taken at a mixed straight/gay summertime cookout revealed that a disproportionate number of gay men seem to be owners of inked bodywork. Being openly gay is like getting a tattoo.