Hi-Def Dish: Gay man shatters stereotypes in “NY Ink”
22.05.12
Tattoos mean different things to different people. TLC explores the phenomena of tattooing in both the gay and straight world in “NY Ink.”
The reality-TV format of “NY Ink” peeks into the Wooster Street Social Club, the premier tattoo establishment of New York City.
Of course the club is a gallery of sorts and as such, heaped with canvases of heavily inked skin. Gay tattoo artist and floor manager, RoBear, is no exception.
RoBear, aka “RoBeast” on his bad days, took a couple of minutes on a cold, Manhattan afternoon to talk about “NY Ink” and the mixed messaging that face a gay man in the often testosterone poisoned world of tattoos.
It’s a fact that tattoos moved past drunken sailors and low-life expression decades ago. Now, full-on tattoo sleeves run the gamut, adorning celebrities and cons alike. Tattooing is mainstream. It’s official. But still, there’s an awkward subculture to the world of inked skin, a subculture that has perhaps not caught up.
Source: San Diego Gay & Lesbian News