I can’t guess at why anyone else gets their tattoos, or what Amy Winehouse was thinking when she got hers. But I think what’s great about tattoos is the fact that you have to choose to get one – and what you do with that choice says a lot. It can turn out ugly, or it can turn out beautiful. For me, choosing a tattoo isn’t unlike dressing for yourself. Only with a tattoo, you have to take that much more care because it’s permanent.

PS: I don’t really hold it against you that you instinctively dislike tattoos. I myself detest body piercings. Though that is my own bias as the result of a childhood incident where a parentally-enforced ear-piercing went horribly wrong and became infected (surgical intervention was needed later).

You speak of not knowing why someone would go through that pain to have words or pictures engraved on their skin. But maybe, just maybe, those people – women, men, whoever – have decided that those words or pictures have enough personal significance to them that they’d want them permanently on their bodies for the rest of their lives? Sister Wolf herself has a tattoo in honour of Max, which I think is beautiful both in sentiment and execution. For that, the physical pain might seem like a worthy trade-off.

In full disclosure – I do have a tattoo. A small one of a doodle I used to do in my notebooks, because I couldn’t afford anything bigger at the time. It hurt less than having a blood test, and I’m happy with it – it reminds me of the girl I was all those years ago. I’m planning another, but will have to save up to go to a proper artist for it because it’s bigger and involves colour.

But, you see, I am really confused as to why women want to deface their bodies.

OK. You see, I see it as a kind of walking graffiti and, obviously a whole lot of people don’t.

You may see it as art, I don’t know. I don’t know what anybody is trying to prove by going to all the trouble of having some words or pictures painfully engraved on their skin.

And I would like to know. See, that’s the thing. I am interested in finding out why women have tattoos. Any women, any tattoos. Do you have tattoos? What was your reason? Are you still (if you ever were) happy that you had it/them done?

Amy Winehouse’s tattoos, unsightly as they are to me in the first place, also seem to be pretty amateurish and I simply would like some insight, if it is at all possible, into her reasons for doing this.

I don’t know – and I doubt that you know.

But, I am not trying to offend anybody, living or dead, I am intrigued and would appreciate a civil response, if one is available.

I thank you for your interest.

How dare he turn it into some preachy shit.

Poor Adele, trying to not absorb any of the “douche”. I hope she went home and scrubbed herself down.

The irony being MTV hasn’t know what is musically relevant for about 20 years at least.

Thank you for the recap, I knew the show would do nothing but irritate me.

Poor Adele she is fabulous and poor Amy having to endure a tribute from Russ. Ugh.