Kevin Barrett 
The decision to get a tattoo is not one that should be taken lightly. After all, not only are tattoos painful and sometimes quite expensive when they’re inked into your skin, they’re notoriously difficult and expensive to remove. Often, it takes several treatments to remove a tattoo, depending on the color of the inks used in the tattoo and how old it is. Speaking of age, tattoos are also known to fade, so they might actually require a bit of maintenance.
All of that said, there are a lot of people out there who love the look of ink on their partner; furthermore, a tattoo can be a great way of honoring a loved one or remembering a dearly departed friend.
There are some tattoos that look better on women, and some that look better than men. In general, for example, men do not get butterfly tattoos. There’s nothing with doing so, they just don’t. However, if you are a reader of the male persuasion, here are nine tattoos you might want to consider.
1. A Skull
Skulls as a symbol typically represent mortality and death—the latter of which generally not something we as human beings want to think about on a regular basis if we can help it—but they sure do look pretty cool as a tattoo.
Skull tattoos are pretty popular, and there are a number of reasons why. For one, because they remind us of death, they also remind us that life is short and that every day that we’re alive should be treasured. Interestingly enough, there is a region of the human brain dedicated to recognizing faces, and as a species we can’t effectively separate the image of a skull from that of a human face. For that reason and others—such as the size of the eye sockets—skulls are weirdly pleasing visually to human beings. So while you may be getting a skull tattoo because you’re a morose individual, you might also be making yourself a more attractive one in the process if the skull tattoo is in an obvious location.
2. A Dragon
Let’s be honest here: dragons are awesome. Whether a guy wants to slay one to save the pretty princess or be one so that we can blow fire on our enemies and burn their homes to a crisp, men have and likely always will have an affinity for the legendary creatures. There’s a reason why they’ve been a part of stories since, well, human beings started writing stories.
Even if dragons are often female—and they frequently are in popular culture, seeing as they’re known to lay eggs—they’re ferocious, fierce creatures that can breathe fire. What could be more manly?
It is worth nothing that dragons aren’t always destructive creatures. In certain cultures, they’re considered wise and benevolent; while those aren’t necessarily traits attributed to manly men, they are indeed both traits that all men should have.
3. A Bluebird
Okay, it feels kind of weird to suggest that a man should get a bluebird tattooed anywhere on his body, especially not on a location visible to the general public. Most men, when they think of bluebirds, think of birds that help Disney princesses do her hair while she sings about how she wants more out of life. Or maybe that’s just me. Regardless, bluebirds aren’t really considered manly creatures.
But weirdly enough, they are manly: they’re associated with sailors, which is definitely one of the more masculine professions! They’re basically pirates, after all. Sailors get bluebirds tattooed on themselves—generally on the chest—after sailing 5,000 miles. The sailor then gets another one on the other side of his chest after 10,000.
In case you haven’t been convinced that bluebirds are manly little things, according to Iroquois tradition, they have the power to cause the spirit of winter—the Iroquois call that spirit Sawiskera—to flee in fear as well as cause ice to recede.
Loading…