Backhand

image: No Regrets: The Best, Worst & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever by Aviva Yael & P M Chen, published by Little, Brown.

Mr. W showed me this image the other day at The Independent and my first instinct was, "My goodness, that must have stung!" Then, seeing the article it was connected to, I realized how such a mark was caused: via a needle and ink.

The article was called "Making Your Mark: The World's Most Bizarre Tattoos" and featured just that - strange tattoos. This one, however takes the cake. I wish I knew what she was thinking when she had that image placed upon her body, not to mention how the tattoo artist took the request.

One can assume that the tattooed woman in question is a fan of spanking. We can probably assume that, like many spankees, she enjoys viewing the marks left afterwards. There's something that makes me feel both sexy and proud when I look over my shoulder and see anything from the bright pink of a fresh play spanking to the white stripes left long after a caning has ended and the welts have faded. On the one hand, now everytime she admires her own backside, she'll have a mark to admire. On the downside, will the marks from a real spanking have the same impact as if they were the only marks on her bare bottom? They'll at least be unsymmetrical, and we all know that tops pride themselves on their ability to leave us in symmetrical pain. That handprint might confuse the entire canvas.

Is to ward off potential spankers? After a night out, she takes a man home, fearful that he may spank her, but when he sees that mark, he'll know she's already been punished? Or is to beckon them? Maybe her options were either a textual tattoo reading "Spank Here" or the hand, and she chose the hand. Even so, she'd still have to pull her pants down first, which doesn't seem like the thing one should do while still out at the pubs or clubs.

I wish I could ask her why she chose this. I know there are often intensely personal reasons behind the ink, and I am more curious about this tattoo than any other I've seen. Since third grade I have wanted a small Eye of Horus on the back of my neck, and I still haven't had the courage to commit to such permanence. What is the story behind this bottom hand?