The year before my son turned 18, he constantly pleaded to be allowed to a tattoo¹, but I refused to sign permission for one. He argued that soon he would be a man and he should be able to make adult decisions. Sure enough, a few days after his 18th birthday, he come home with a tattoo. Although I was not happy about this, I was curious to see what symbol of masculinity he had chosen. There, on his shoulder, was a two-inch image of Mickey Mouse.

我儿子十八岁前的那一年，他常常向我提出准许他文身。但我拒绝允许他这样做。他争辩说他不久就要成为男子汉了，并说他应该能够作出成年人的抉择了。果然，十八岁生日的几天后，他文了身，回到家里。尽管我对此感到不高兴，但出于好奇，我想看看他选择了什么雄性象征物。原来是他在肩上文了一个两英寸长的米老鼠像。