tattooing as self determination

after giving it some thought, i think the ontological basis of tattooing is:  the assertion of self-determination ... hmmm ... perhaps that is the root of all contemporary pop cultural body modification? 

when it is not self determination, the only thing a tattoo can be is a penalty, inflicted involuntarily ... right? 

if it is such, then as a professional tattooer, should i not accept any and all tattoos that someone self determines? if i refuse to tattoo someone as a tattooer, am i not tattooing someone from a haughty or egotistical position? 

this has come to mind through my previous post, and from the way that people react to me when i refuse to take on certain tattoos ... and another part comes from some customers who were in the shop the other day.

  

they was yardsailing for tattoos.  

... business was slow.  

so i tattooed them (a husband and wife).  

she kept insisting that she would go first.  

i told her: i would need to do her second, her husband's tattoo would take less than fifteen minutes, and her's was going to take at least forty. 

i asked if he had been in the shop before.  

he said yes indeed, he had come in to price tattoos that i wouldn't do.  

when it was time to tattoo his left scapular with some kanji, he was apprehensive, wary about taking his shirt off ...  you see, he was covered in swastikas! 

well. not really covered. he had only four tattoos, each one a swastika: 

a swastika with a red and black flag over his left pec (heart) 

one with shadowing in its spokes over his right pec, 

then one swastika capping each shoulder. 

i was like, yeh, where'd you get those buddy?

"down at [a local rat's ass shop]" ... (i thought he would say someone's kitchen).

i thought: oh ... as a tattooer who is aware of the magical aspects of tattooing, isn't it fitting that he has chosen to put the kanji for 'death' over his 'receiving' side?  

i enjoyed that!  thinking: yes, may this be death to your hating!  (was that unethical of me?)

while i was tattooing the wife, a mother came in with her seventeen year old son, wanting to sign for a neck tattoo.  i told the mother i would not be tattooing her son's neck period. she was offended.  after she left with her son, the couple pressed me as to why i wouldn't do certain tattoos. 

i told them i didn't care what people chose to put on their bodies, or where they choose to put them, but i have to uphold my principles, and abide my boundaries, not value the money i could put in my pocket over them.  

they insisted i was making their decisions for them.

i tried to explain i was making decisions for myself, for my own sense of ethics.

(i find myself wondering if this is not a righteous position ... if it is true that tattooing boils down to self-determination).  there is a part of me that says no, it is something else as well.  

it must be ...

question:

what is tattooing if it is more than self-determination?

is it because i believe in the magical aspects, the ancient roots of tattooing, that i can justify my righteousness?

i do not admire righteousness in others, so why should i tolerate it in myself?