Since my tattoos are so often visible I’ve grown accustomed to hearing that question, “did that hurt?” or a variation of it most everywhere I go. I’m safe at family functions because although the rest of my family is not as tattooed as I am, or in most cases not tattooed at all they’ve all asked me about the pain level of my tattoos years ago or were smart enough to know that yes, tattoos most certainly do hurt.
Today though while I was laying in the chair at my hair dressers getting my brows hot waxed and then slowly painfully plucked to perfection it occurred to me to wonder why no one asks if THAT hurts. I have my brows waxed to look like a natural shape so it isn’t like I’m pencil thin brow girl or Vulcan straight brow girl… but my brows are well shaped and nicely done and I’ve received compliments on them from others. Not by a ton of people. Only my husband and a few girl friends, but still. Brows waxed, look nice, people notice.
No one ever asks if it hurts.
Well even though I get irritated and a little huffy when someone asks if it hurt to get tattooed (or pierced) I think someone should ask me about the pain involved in waxing…
When I was in labor with K one of the Labor and Delivery nurses, upon seeing my back tattoo, told me that this would be a breeze compared to getting a tattoo… I looked at her cross eyed and slightly wild with irritation and asked her how many tattoos she had.
None. Zero. Zip. Zilch.
And how many times had she given birth? You guessed it. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. NEVER.
She was lucky I was busy trying to push a kid out of my body and I didn’t have the time to kick her ass because given the amount of pain I was in during labor (my epidural failed) I kind of felt like hurting an idiot might be a good thing to do.
Does getting my brows waxed hurt as much as child birth? No, no it doesn’t, but it hurts a hell of a lot more than getting a tattoo on your spine, thanks for asking.
CamiKaos 
whenever i’m at the beach, people always ask if my Brazilian hurt
I totally agree. Tattoos are more like irritating sunburns but with a better satisfaction. The ultimate question for those seeking to get a tat or a wax….would you rather be pricked or plucked?
I have SEVERAL visible tattoos (sleeve on one arm, forearm on the other says “geek” and knuckles are tattood) so I’m quite familiar with the “does that hurt” question. My standard response now is, “Not any more.”
I have a very high pain tolerance and I still don’t think I can sit through a tattoo.
you just want a reason to complain. when are you gonna tell everyone it’s just sharpie marker?
I can safely say that having a Gall Bladder attack hurts more than anything you mentioned here. So don’t have one.
Happy New Year!
My wife recently discovered threading. I don’t ask her if it hurts because she enjoys it so much that she ran out of unwanted hair on her own body and started in on mine. I didn’t even know that I HAD unwanted hair. Oh, and threading hurts a LOT.
oh… really… I love this post. So much that I read it… then sat here and read it out loud to CSB… then read it again, then read the comments out loud to CSB.
Yes, tattoos hurt… piercings hurt, childbirth hurts… but really. Its all about perspective. I was sitting in the dentist’s chair the other day thinking, “its not as painful as a tattoo… but at least with the tattoo I get something pretty in the end.”
I do agree though, the waxing of certain sensitive areas hurts a hell of a lot more than a tattoo.
Waxing bloody hurts. I have a tattoo and I’ve had several piercings. I’ve been waxed in a few places (ironically never my eyebrows…that’s the only part of my body that knows when to stop growing hair) as well and in my opinion, waxing ties for pain only with the after effects of getting one’s tongue pierced for the first time (I had mine done 3 times and only the first time did it swell and hurt afterwards).
My tattoo, ears and eyebrow piercings were a cake walk in comparison.
Oh I would have wanted to slap her. Tsk.
if i’d known you waxed, i’d have ASKED!!! seriously i wanted to knOW!!! i was looking at a wax list just hours ago!
now i don’t think i’ll do it.
I usually ask out of curiosity because over time, I have found that what hurts one person might not hurt someone else.
As for child birth, I’ve never done that (or been responsible for that) but I am sure it can hurt. I have had kidney stones (possibly the worst pain a male can go through apart from being kicked in the groin) and the doctor mentioned that one woman who had gone through both child birth and a kidney stone said that the pain from the stone was much worse.
Pleasure and pain, I suppose!