In an exclusive poll conducted via Toluna.com, respondents were giving the doll a decided thumbs down.  The poll asked if it bothered you that the new Barbie has pink hair and tattoos.  A majority of the respondents, more than 42 percent, said they were upset with the new dolls attire and tats.  Only slightly more than 30 percent said they like the new look. The remainder of the respondents had no opinion.

A Dog Named Bastardino?

The new Barbie was created by Italian designer Simone Legno, has a short pink bob, permanent Barbie doll tattoos covering her neck, chest, and shoulders, leopard print tights, and a black tunic top etched with a heart-shaped skull and crossbones logo. She comes complete with sunglasses, a purse, and a little dog dressed as a cactus that goes by “Bastardino.”

The marketing for the doll suggests its aimed at adults. The doll is sold on Barbiecollector.com, the section of the Barbie.com website that caters to adult Barbie collectors. It isn’t featured on the Barbie section of the main Mattel site, nor sold at children’s retail toy locations like Toys R Us and Target.  Yet, it’s doubtful the doll won’t find its way into the hands of children.  And, this isn’t the first time a Barbie has sported ink: In 2009, Mattel released Totally Stylin’ Barbie, which came with stick-on tattoos. Unlike the new version of the doll, Totally Stylin’ was specifically marketed toward children. It also came under fire upon release, but the doll’s defenders likened her wares to temporary tattoos.

Bloggers Speak Out

The blogosphere is quite busy with comments about Barbie’s new look.  One blogger said “a lot of parents say its a bit too much encouraging young girls to start exposing their bodies at too young an age while others say “so what?” And if you didn’t know it – that’s why Ken and Barbie split up – he couldn’t handle the tattoos! Would you buy your daughter/granddaughter a tattooed Barbie, or would you prefer the traditional Barbie?”

Another blogger took the road of being tolerant when she said, “Barbie is all about what children dream and aspire to be. I think it is great that Barbie can get a tattoo if she wants, that’s what life is all about and if a little girl/boy dreams about having tattoos then they can live vicariously through Barbie!

“Furthermore, we should be teaching our children tolerance of one another’s differences, not teaching them how to judge other people based on appearances. I have a couple tattoos myself and I can tell you that I am shocked by the number of people who want to judge me because of my body art. Before they know my name, what I do for a living (I am A LIBRARIAN for God’s sake!), whatever, they see my tattoos and judge me as a lowlife scumbag. It’s ludicrous! I think it’s great that Barbie is as diverse as everyone else on this planet and I don’t think we should condemn her or her manufacturers for it.”

No blog comments were found from Ken.

What are your thoughts about Barbie’s new look?  You can vote on it by clicking on Toluna.com.

Click here for more articles by The Writin’ Cowboy.

What is more popular these days than getting a tattoo, like your favorite celebrity has, but the downside is that you are stuck with it, once imprinted into your skin, and if you start to go off the joys of having it, tough luck. What it, though, as some scientists are claiming could soon be a possibility, you could have a tattoo that changed whenever you wanted it to, at the proverbial flick of a switch?

Over the past decade, research has been going on, at a frantic pace, into so-called polymer displays in combination with micro-electronic circuitry on a truly minute scale, recent developments meaning that putting electronics, onto and into our skin, able to be programmed to display chosen images that image match moods or compliment clothing, may soon become a reality.

Called Active Skin Technology, this groundbreaking concept has many applications that could make life in future much more interesting, and getting ready to go out a matter of pressing a few buttons to achieve the desired look. It is now possible to build a wide range of computer chips smaller than human skin cells, which would be applied through printing or blasting, in large numbers, into upper layers of the skin, and the possible uses for such technology are staggering.

You could have medical sensors implanted, monitoring blood chemistry continuously, relaying data to local hospital computers via mobile phone links, the computers remotely controlling drug dispensing, via especially printed membranes, with pores electronically opened and closed for accurate dosage of drugs.

There is no reason why, given the wonders of nano-technology, that we could not have computer keyboards printed into our wrists, lighting up only when touched, and almost invisible in the dormant state. Everything you need, from MP3 player to cell phone, could  be included, the circuitry made of groups of invisibly small devices, with displays based on small organic LEDs.

Light emission is not uncommon in nature,and these organic LEDs could be placed either as simple single indicator lights or entire computer displays, so that wearers would, in effect, have TV screens printed on the backs of their hands.  The possibilities for so-called living tattoos, as you can imagine, are quite breathtaking, and the art of body decoration would be headed in completely new directions

Linking active skin technology to cosmetics, and perfumery, seems a logical step, as examples of successful nanotechnology use are to be found with the cosmetics industry already.  The most logical move would seem to be the inclusion of programmable nano-particles in make-up.  Simply changing the surface texture can effect changes in color, so instructing nano-particles to  re-arrange themselves could achieve this same result.

A lady applying makeup in the morning can take some time. A digital mirror, pre-programmed, would show her various make-up designs, and after applying, none too carefully, the smart make-up, she picks what she wants from the mirror choices, and the makeup configures itself to achieve that, using the (active skin underlay, which is, of course, invisible.

This active makeup can, according to her selected  regime, change through the day, as she wishes it, the same applying for video nail varnish and perfume used. Active skin can include a warming element, able to vaporize different perfume components on request, altering the scent. The ultimate aim, of course, is to link nerves to electronics, something that could be very close to being fully realized. It would then be possible to ‘meet’ in virtual environments, and to ‘feel’ the handshake you both imagine offering.  This would entail the need to print active skin over hands and fingers, but it is not difficult to imagine how much further it could be taken.

Greatly enhanced reality in computer games is inevitable, quality and range of inputs set to improve to the point of having a 21st century future in electronics that is both fascinating and slightly scary. The scenario of the computers at war with humanity in the Terminator films was quite disturbing, but here we are seriously looking at making ourselves part machine, in the furtherance of technology.

I have to admit that I am certain any woman you ask would be eternally grateful for the cosmetic advances discussed here, and being able to use the communicate even when on a beach miles from anywhere sounds great, but all the same I wonder if the steps the scientific world are so excited about are not perhaps that little bit too far.  Only time will tell.

How many of you have a tattoo – even one that only your lover sees because it’s normally covered by your clothes?  Chances are most of the young guys who read this because skin decoration is back in vogue.  A tattoo is a fashion must these days.

It was found in 1996 that tattooing was the sixth fastest growing retail market in the USA. 10% of teenagers had them despite it being illegal in 18 different states and within a year one new tattoo business parlor was opening every day somewhere in the country. Kids feel like the trailblazers of olden times but they are way off beam.

People have been doing it in one form or another for over 5,000 years.  An Ice Age man – 5,300 years old – was found in Austria and he had tattoos on his knee and back.  The Egyptians are known to have practiced it between 4000 and 2000 BC, by which time it had spread across southern Asia into China and Japan.

It was Captain Cook who introduced it into Europe in 1771, having seen the Tahitians doing it, but he was also a bit behind the times in some respects.  The ancient Egyptian art was well known to early Celts, Picts and Gauls in Scotland, while Saxons, danes and Norsemen covered their bodies in tribal symbols.

What you need to remember though is that these were real he-men because they underwent some terrible pain to get their tattoos.  South sea islanders used sharpened combs of bone or shell – tapped into the skin repeatedly with a wooden mallet using pigments of soot mixed with fat.

This intensely painful method held sway until the 1890’s when American Samuel O’Reilly invented the electric tattoo machine. What had previously taken many agonizing days could now be done in minutes and he was soon earning himself $100 a day.  There was still pain but nothing like what had gone before it.

Modern machines are much more user friendly – pumping needles into the skin 3000 times a minute and applying ink to the ‘Dermis’, the permanent skin layer that lies  below your outer one – which tends to flake off at the rate of 1million cells every 40 minutes.  Dermis cells stay with you for life.

Arms and hands are the most popular places to get a tattoo though shoulder blades are a big hit with the girls.  Some organizations like the Japanese Mafia – the Yakuza – and the Hell’s Angels have members who all wear symbolic tattoos on their bodies.

30 or so customers are enjoying free meals for life at the Casa Sanchez Mexican restaurant in San Francisco because they let themselves be decorated with the company logo.  The outcry when Mattell announced the imminent release of a tattooed Barbie was hilarious.  Kids want tattoos anyway because their favorite pop and sport stars have them.

Modern methods mean that nothing is impossible for a good tattoo artist so you can be as adventurous as you like.  It may be good to know that laser surgery is pretty effective at removing them painlessly these days but tattoos are high fashion now.  The boss might, on seeing yours be inclined to ask enviously where you got it done, instead of berating you for it.  He may really envy your artful skin.  How things have changed.       

The main thing is to have enough money and space on the body. – said Bukovich.

Miyenko Parserisas Bukovich is expressing his love for the actress in such an extravagant way.

Bukovich was so impressed by the game of Hollywood stars in the movie “Erin Brokkovich” that in the very next day after watching the movie, he made first tattoo.

Poor paperboy spends almost all his money on new tattoos depicting Roberts.

Bukovich himself says that 82 tattoos – this is not the limit.

His goal is to cover his back, arms and torso, so that there will be no free centimeter.

Julia Roberts has not given any official comments about such original manifestation of love.

Being covered in tattoos is one thing, but a fully colored neck tattoo reading “FREE BIRD” might be one that Chris Andersen is going to regret some day.

Moving right along. Say, who wants ice cream? Anyone? Famous rapper Gucci Mane wanted some ice cream, on his face. You can’t make this stuff up. Gucci Mane recently got a tattoo of an ice cream cone with three scoops, on his face. Looks delicious Mr. Gucci!

Next on our list is one of the stars of the Jackass series. No were not calling him a Jackass, he called himself a Jackass. Steve-O, decided to get a portrait of himself on his back as a joke. Joke is on you Steve-O, literally.

We’ll round out this series of awful tattoos with the worst of all, in my opinion. Rapper mogul, Baby, apparently has more money than he knows what to do with. I guess when you have a ton of money and way to much time on your hands you go get tattoos of stars on your head. Check out this beauty!

Hope you enjoyed checking out these well thought out tattoos.

Ilse was a large woman and had a free run of the camp, she would whip prisoners with her riding crop as she rode her horse. She used some of those prisoners for her own sexual needs and her most horrifying habit was collecting lampshades, book covers and gloves made from the skin of prisoners with tattoos.

At her trial one prisoner testified that all prisoners with tattoos had to report to the dispensary for an inspection of the artwork upon their bodies. Those with the designs she liked the best would be killed by injection and the desired piece of skin would be removed and treated before being turned into her sadistic trophies.

Colonel Karl Koch was arrested by the SS for stealing, his craving for riches led him to steal from wealthy Germans. He was tried, found guilty and hung in 1944. Ilse Koch was found guilty of her crimes against humanity at the Nuremburg war crimes trials and sentenced to life in prison. The American Military commander then reduced her sentence to four years for a lack of evidence. His decision caused uproar and was the subject of an investigation. She was released, but the West German authorities re-arrested her and sentenced her to life. She committed suicide while in prison in 1967.

Considering that the oldest mummified remains ever discovered had earrings and that a 5000 year old corpse discovered in 1991 bore 57 tattoos, body modification is far from being a new practice. Surprisingly, though, considering many people’s aversion to body art nowadays, it seems that it has actually become less acceptable through time. In ancient times, piercings were often used to display social standing, religious belief, and to increase sexuality. In ancient Egypt in particular, piercings were hugely popular among those of a higher class, with elaborate earrings being seen on wealthy men and women alike. Certain piercings were even only allowed to be worn by the royal family: if anyone other than the Pharaoh tried to have their navel pierced, they risked execution. Even children underwent piercing rituals among the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska, who would add as many holes to their young relatives’ ears as possible to increase their social rank. In modern times, body art is rarely used for any function other than for purely aesthetic reasons. However, some Hindus believe that nose piercings can aid women in childbirth and are also a sign of honour for the Goddess of marriage.

The Western world has less of a colourful history concerning body modification than some cultures, and the practice only gained significant popularity in the USA and Europe during the punk phase of the 70s and 80s. However, our advanced technology and comparatively unrestrictive culture has allowed us access to forms of modification that would once have been unthinkable. Cosmetic surgery is one area in particular which has allowed numerous image-conscious people to reshape their bodies, enhance facial features and make themselves appear younger. Sometimes the quest for artificial beauty can go horribly wrong, with one of the most famous examples being the alarmingly altering face of the late Michael Jackson over the years. However, for some, beauty is not the goal they wish to achieve, and an appearance which would be considered disturbing by most is in fact what they strive for. Dennis Avner, also known as “The Stalking Cat”, is a prime example of such an individual. Determined to resemble a tiger as closely as possible, Avner has spent a huge amount of money on alterations such as upper lip splitting, tooth sharpening, and whole-body tattoos in a bid to create a feline appearance. In keeping with the theme of transforming into a non-human creature, a Texas resident named Erik Sprague has used extensive body modification to earn his nickname of “The Lizardman”. His procedures have included forehead implants, tongue-splitting and tattoos of green scales to look more reptilian than human.

Dennis Avner, aka “The Stalking Cat”

Besides this somewhat species-confused minority, a large number of people who are perfectly happy being human turn to body modification simply as a way to stand out from the crowd. The art is, in fact, one which is honoured worldwide through the existence of online body modification communities and a variety of events dedicated to the practice. One such website, bmezine.com, features a host of images submitted by its much-tattooed and pierced members, as well as user-submitted personal experience stories and information on a range of modification types. A brief look at the image gallery will show the uninformed viewer just how extreme body modification can be: procedures include voluntary amputation, castration and permanent scarring of the body, known as scarification. A social event among body modification enthusiasts will sometimes involve people being dangled from the ceiling, held only by large hooks which are pierced through their skin and attached to a pulley rope. This practice is said to induce feelings of intense euphoria and has a link to shamanism, being used in some countries as a spirituality ritual. “People will go to any lengths if they think it’ll raise eyebrows,” said Paul Tanner, a tattoo artist with over 20 years of experience. “Just as you think body modification can’t become more extreme, someone will do something to themselves that sounds like it belongs in a gory horror movie.”

Of course, as with any interest which could be viewed as abnormal, body modification has its opponents. People who are against the practice believe that those who undergo extreme modifications are disturbed individuals who should be given help instead of being allowed to indulge in their twisted desires. Many believe that those who have life-altering procedures such as voluntary amputation suffer from Body Dysmorphic Order, a condition which causes the individual to obsess over what they see as a defect with some part of their appearance. Moreover, there is the frequent issue of people with visible body modifications being discriminated against when it comes to finding a job. “Would anyone want someone with extensive tattoos and piercings to perform surgery on their loved one or decide their sentence in court?” said April Warner, an opponent of body modification. “If people want to disfigure themselves, they are clearly in no state of mind to function in important careers.”

Those who believe that body modification is reflective of mental health problems may not be entirely wrong. A recent survey carried out by Dr. David Lester, an expert in the study of suicide, showed that only 34% of 4700 people with some form of body modification said they had never considered committing suicide. Other dangers are also present when undergoing body modification, such as piercings presenting a risk to certain nerves and oral piercings potentially being swallowed.

Whatever your view on body modification, it is certainly not something that will be going away anytime soon. Approximately 16% of Americans have a tattoo – roughly three times the percentage of people who had tattoos in 1936. And with the modern day craze for self-expression and the pursuit of an ideal appearance, body modification seems like an obvious solution to our image-conscious society.

The fun part of this style is that I’ve worked in the restaurant industry, professionally, for about 10 years. You know how that goes. No visible tattoos, no body piercings, etc. etc. Recently, I took a job as a banquet server and the dress code for that is completely outside my comfort zone. Aside from the typical no piercings/tattoos rules; I’m not allowed to spike my hair, I have to wear a tuxedo (minus the coat) and I have to wear makeup to cover the tattoo on my left hand. I expected all of these things, and I’m not complaining about them. After all, I didn’t have to accept the job.

Earlier today though, I had to go into the office and fill out some more paperwork. I prefer freelance style jobs where I can work my own schedule without committing to a whole week long schedule, so I work for a staffing agency. These people haven’t seen me since the day I was in training – and that day I was fully in uniform.

Today being a day off, I walked into the office in my street clothes. You could see my sleeves, all my jewelry was in, I was wearing a bandana and generally looked like the comfortable bum I am when I’m at home.

The office manager had no idea who I could possibly be, nor why they had hired me. She looked at me for a good 2 minutes and finally she said “Who are you? What do you do here?” After I told her my name and that I was a banquet server, she stared at me blankly: “Really? Are you sure you work for us?”

“Yes ma’am. I clean up very well. You wouldn’t recognize me in uniform.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Trust me. I passed the training class 2 weeks ago. I don’t think I could pull off that uniform, though” I told her as I pointed out the short sleeved country club uniform.

We joked around about my appearance and how much it must have hurt for a few more minutes and I left.

After all the years I’ve been modified and worked in professional environments, it never ceases to amaze me that people can’t believe that I work for their companies. Hopefully, one day all that will change. My body is my temple, I’ll worship how I choose.

Poetry: a curling German script on her left arm quotes the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her “favorite philosopher,” commenting that his “philosophy of solitude” spoke to her. Following is a translation: “In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?”—Rainer Maria Rilke

Little Monsters: Gaga often refers to her fans as her ‘little monsters,’ and got a tattoo with that inscription as a tribute. The inscription is located right next to her Rilke quote, and sits in a rolling script perpendicular to it.

Flowers: Lady GaGa’s shoulder sports a white daisy design, in the same style as her daisy and rose tattoo along the bottom of her back. Lady Gaga does like to add to her tattoos, and during the Bad Romance video it was evident that she had added the words Tokyo Love to her existing shoulder tattoo. Of the flowers on her lower back, Gaga already had some tattooed before she managed to get Kat Von D to add to it.

Dad: when Lady Gaga’s father had open heart surgery last October she told him she was going to get a tattoo for him. Apparently he told her , “Well, you’re running out of real estate, so don’t get it too big.” The tattoo is a heart with the word DAD inside.

Image via Wikipedia