Would You Love A Heart Tattoo?

When you hear the word "tattoo", what design first springs to mind? Unless your parents had tattoos, the first design to spring to mind would be a heart tattoo. A proud sailor with sleeve rolled up over a Popeye like forearm displaying a great red heart with a fancy ribbon in front of it with his sweetheart's name emblazoned on it. When the incredibly popular animated character Bart Simpson chose to get a tattoo behind his parents' back, he chose a heart tattoo with the word Mother on it. However, he was yanked out of the tattoo parlor with only MOTH inked on.

Declaration Of Love

The heart shape is often associated with romantic love (even though the heart shape is not the shape of an actual human heart - fortunately). One of the reasons heart tattoos are so popular is that they can often act as much of a "I'm taken" brand as a wedding ring. And you can't loose a heart tattoo as you can a wedding ring. Getting a heart tattoo with your beloved's first name on it is considered a romantic gesture, because it implies commitment. (That, and you're willing to put up with any kind of pain in order to declare your love for So and So).

Portable Memorial

Some people associate the heart shape with any kind of love - familial, platonic, whatever - and not just for romantic love. As a way of grief, they can choose to get a heart tattoo with the name and birth and death dates of their dear departed. This tattoo is considered socially acceptable in many societies, especially if it is on a place like an arm or over the person's own heart so a shirt will cover it up. This can help in the grief process.

The Heart Shape Itself

Another reason heart tattoos have been and will always remain popular is that they are easy for the tattoo artist to draw. Depending on the size and complexity of the heart tattoo, it usually can be applied at one sitting. This saves time, money and a considerable amount of pain on the tattoo-ee's part. A heart shape is also non-threatening and a calming image rather than a tattoo of say, a zombie rising from the grave. Of course, if that zombie is holding a goofy valentine heart, then maybe that will lessen any viewer's fears of what kind of psychopath you might be. But still expect them to lock their car doors as you walk by.

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