I don't mean for this to sound like a targeted diatribe, but my own body art has meaning. None of these were chosen from a wall of flash because I thought they were cute. They are a means of cultural preservation and a source of familial pride.

If this is a difficult concept for some of you people to grasp, I'm sorry for you. I would hope that you are enlightened enough to understand that tattooing predates ubiquitous preconceived Western notions and has a deep, often spiritually-based, meaning and history.

But then again, I guess you can't teach people culture.