At a young age, I was taught that tattoos are bad - that they only serve to permanently mark your body for the sake of being "alternative" or "rebellious." When I turned 18, I got a tattoo of my late father's initials on my ribs, and amongst other things, it is one of my favorite things about my body.

There is no reason to shame people for expressing themselves through artwork on their bodies. Tattoos resemble hobbies, passions, love found and love lost. They represent an appreciation for artistry or religion or self. Oftentimes people frown upon tattoos, but what is it really that is being frowned upon? Is it the courage of young men and women to advertise their own being upon their bodies? Or is it solely the idea that something permanent could not be loved for so long?

Tattoos are unique and individualistic. The reason for their being is solely for the person to whom they belong, not to any naysayer or religious pariah. Just last year a friend of mine scoffed and said "I could never get a tattoo, they're so trashy." Yet that comment, although so assuredly said, was perplexing to me.

Trashy is defined as something of poor quality, perhaps something perceived as less than. Yet tattoos are chosen with care and placed with precision. They are beautiful in design and complex in meaning. The only lack of quality comes from the viewer's eye. Everything is about perception, whether one chooses to perceive something as mundane as a tattoo as harmful to the eye or alluring is up to the viewer. Acceptance is a virtue.