Janes used humor to describe her "failed" tattoo as a Rorschach inkblot. This was a light-hearted, comedic way of showing how what she wanted (something delicate but strong -- like an iron-wrought fence) could turn out so wrong. Dolgoff's humor is more situational -- popping Vicodin to get through a tattooing. The humor works for both pieces, because it lightens the mood: Janes refers to herself as a "badass" in a playful but serious way and Dolgoff shows a softer, more sensitive side to getting a tattoo. I don't think they would need to be forgiven anymore. Today, so many people have tattoos that it just seems like something that is accepted. Especially as the younger generation grows up, the tattoo taboo will recede into the past like an ancient memory. It is almost like a rite of passage today -- or an expression of creative genius, as Dolgoff notes. So in this sense, the tattoo could be seen as a rite, commemorating something in one's life -- or it can be seen as an artistic expression.

3. Jane took her friend with her to get tattooed and buried her "ugh" feeling when it was over (her second -- not her first). Dolgoff popped Vicodin for her ankle tat. Jane was more idealistic and hopeful (as well as careless and thoughtless -- which is what made the disappointment all the more piercing). Dolgoff was definitely more considerate and calculating about her ankle tat (it represented her twin daughters). Thus, it is not surprising that their experiences were different. Yet both remained meaningful to the authors as Jane stated, "I choose to look at the tattoo as a reminder of who I was and who I am now" and for Dolgoff it is the same: her tattoo allows...

Jane is convincing, mainly because she only rues it at first, but as she matures she begins to accept that she hasn't always made the best decisions -- and the tattoo becomes a symbol of this -- sort of like Sir Gawain and the symbol that he wears as a reminder. I don't think Jane is still trying to convince herself -- I think she embraces who she is, tattoo and all. As she herself states, "I liked the person I had become and accepted all the decisions I had made along the way, including the tattoo." If this is not a genuine sentiment, I don't know what is.
5. Both arguments are compelling. People can have different reasons for getting tattoos -- they don't have to be the same. Jane's personality is different from Dolgoff's, so that explains their differing reasons, and neither is more compelling than the other. For Jane, she was just a person who secretly identified as a "Sonic Youth -- listening, beer-swigging badass" beneath her nice and lovely exterior (and the tattoo thus symbolized this). For Dolgoff, her tattoos commemorate important events in her life, and this fits with her personality, which likes to uphold "major emotional milestones."

6. I don't have a tattoo and never wanted one -- mainly because I don't want some permanent image stuck on my body, which I had placed there during one moment in my life. Tattoos just don't fit my personality. Besides, I'd be afraid of what it (and I) would look like 30 years down the road. It's almost like aging as a person but being stuck in the same clothing you wore in high school. I feel like one should develop and…