Comments on: Tattoo Etiquette: A Public Service Announcement

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:48:00 +0000

You know, I went to delete this like the trollish comment it is, but since the person who accused me of plagiarism is deleting all dissenting comments on her blog post and not replying to polite emails (which isn’t weird or suspicious *at all*), I figured I’d better go ahead and reply to this comment here.

So, let’s get the facts straight:

Someone who wrote two articles similar to my two tattoo etiquette articles (who wrote them on a private membership site that is not Google-indexed), two months after my two articles were published, accused me of plagiarism. Even while admitting that her posts were published *after* mine.

For me to have successfully copied her articles in the way she describes, I would have had to be a member of this site (that I had never heard of before yesterday), copied and re-edited her posts to be written in a style consistent with mine, and backdated them for reasons unknown (after all, at this point in time, I was regularly updating this website, as you can see by the posts before and after – unless you think I plagiarized my outfit posts too). Then, after doing that, I created and backdated allll of the above comments that were left on the day I posted this article or in the few days afterwards* and made sure that they were being left by people who have actual names/identities/websites.

AND THEN, after I went to all of that trouble (again for reasons unknown – I’m not sure what exactly I’m supposed to gain from this), I got several other individuals in on this giant conspiracy to plagiarize from someone who wrote an article on a private site, and had all of them create posts that linked to my post, that were all made to look as though they were published before the articles that I plagiarized from. (Like all of those articles and tweets that are listed in the trackbacks below the comments.) Including, for example, this one, written by a professional blogger that I’ve had only cursory contact with via Twitter:

http://galadarling.com/article/carousel-week-ending-2nd-october-2009

Getting all of those people in on my plan to plagiarize was quite a feat! I sure did cover my tracks well!

Are you familiar with Occam’s razor? Because I’m thinking the simplest explanation here is that people with tattoos run into the same irritating lack of etiquette in the same irritating ways (as evidenced by the multitude of comments here from other tattooed individuals who’ve had the same experiences). And then some of them write about it.

Either that, or it’s a giant internet-wide conspiracy to plagiarize your friend. You can be the judge.

*Backdating comments, as far as I know, is impossible using WordPress or Disqus. Just FYI.

**Gala’s post links to the article on the old domain before I changed names, but if you’re feeling powerfully curious you can check it using the internet archive to see that the date, content, and comments are exactly the same:

http://web.archive.org/web/20091105195131/http://www.declinedesigns.net/index.php/2009/09/02/tattoo-etiquette/

And if you’re REALLY curious, you can see this post for a reference to the domain name changeover: http://www.wicked-whimsy.com/index.php/2009/11/06/wicked-whimsy-is-now-live/

And this one for a reference to the old name (and mention of the new name): http://www.wicked-whimsy.com/index.php/2009/10/23/decline-designs-state-of-the-blog/

Whenever she feels like it, I’ll gladly accept her apology for accusing me baselessly!

By: Plagiarism and the Blogosphere: Sometimes the Internet is Smaller Than You Think « Paradigm Amalgamation: Art, History, Politics, Fashion, Culture

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:19:33 +0000

[...] here’ s a link to the blog post I find suspiciously familiar. Especially the ordering and structure of the [...]

By: Curioser and Curioser

Curioser and Curioser — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:33:00 +0000

Funny. I saw a very similar post to this on an alternative site. In fact, some of the wording is identical. You wrote all this by yourself, right? Because you’re not a plagiarist, right?

By: Destinations Holiday

Destinations Holiday — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:28:10 +0000

LOVE your article! So TRUE! My sis has a fairy on her back shoulder and I am sick of people’s rudeness towards her tattoo. I have often said it is her own body!

So I just forwarded your post to my sis.

Thanks for sharing!

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:16:59 +0000

Just came across this post–it’s fabulous! My partner is a tattooist, and I am heavily tattooed, so I jokingly mentioned that he should get permission from you to post this in the shop

It’s odd, living in a medium-sized midwestern town, one would imagine that one would get comments and stares…but my experience has been that it’s a novelty, and people are curious, but not rude. Of course, that could all change, and I like to think that I’d be ready if it does. Thanks for the good responses, too!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:58:23 +0000

I have a very small tattoo of my name in Hebrew on my inner left wrist and I CONSTANTLY get asked what it means. Though explaining it gets tiresome (especially b/c I'm not Jewish and for some reason that perplexes people), I don't really find their question prying. My husband, on the other hand, would probably be annoyed if people asked him about his tattoos b/c their meanings are more personal. .-= Rachel´s last blog ..30 Minutes Left =-.

By: Learning & the Renaissance Soul : Wicked Whimsy

Learning & the Renaissance Soul : Wicked Whimsy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:03:28 +0000

[...] monitoring my appearance and speech to be taken seriously within academia. And we all know I have serious issues with people restricting what I do with my [...]

By: alliXT

alliXT — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:56:19 +0000

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I’ve just found your blog, but as a (heavily) tattooed woman I very much appreciate the etiquette post. Usually my tattoos are covered up but everyonce in awhile they’re visible and I’m shocked at how strangers will just reach out and grab my body or make a smartass comment I don’t need. Nine times out of ten there’s no malicious intent behind it, but the more people read posts like yours, the better the situation will get. BTW – I am loving the DIY or Die tat!

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:34:52 +0000

Hi there. I just kind of stumbled upon this blog and I like what you have to say. When I got my last (and favorite, so far) tattoo my sister’s boyfriend oh-so-bluntly said “You’re never going to be able to get a job!”

I said, “Um, I already have a job and do you really think I’m that stupid that I haven’t thought it through already?” The tattoo is on my arm and my work uniform has sleeves, so there isn’t a problem. I also checked around and it looks like just about any part of your body is safe except for the face, neck, and hands. Yeah, maybe if I get a job requiring a tank top then MAYBE then it’ll be a problem. But this moron thinks that I haven’t considered that possibility before getting the tattoo. I’m willing to deal with someone telling me that I can’t be a lifeguard because of my tattoo.

Conservative, non-tattooed society seems to think that people who get tattoos, especially women who get tattoos, just do it on the spur of the moment because they are feeling wild or something.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:50:50 +0000

Bill – good answer. I always respond to comments about the body being a temple with “Yes, so I’m decorating it!”

Thank you Charles!

Audi – I agree with you; I don’t so much mind stares or curious questions, I figure it kind of comes with the territory. And I think people who do get pissy about non-asinine questions probably didn’t think through getting a large/visible tattoo. I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with rudeness of a daily basis any more, one more reason to love Austin!