Kylie Jenner "Sanity" Phonetic Hip Tattoo

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Kylie Jenner has the phonetic pronunciation of “sanity” inked on her right hip. It is written as “\‘sa-nə-tē\“ using the Merriam-Webster dictionary respelling system. The tattoo is a reminder to stay sane despite the crazy world that she lives in. She told V Magazine:

“There was a time when I got [that tattoo] that I felt a little bit like I was going insane. Or, I was going to.”

“I thought about it for a while. I just like the word ‘Sanity’—just stay sane through it all. A lot of young stars who grow up in the spotlight have a really hard time. I didn’t want that to be me.”

The red ink tattoo was done in November 2015. “I needed it at the time,” she says. At that time her overly plump lips were the punchline of many jokes (she more recently told Allure “I definitely made my lips a little too big at one point”) and she had finally come clean about the fact that she’d gotten injections. She was also starting to speak out about the bullying that she faced in order to help her fans, along with sharing other people’s stories through her anti-bullying Instagram campaign #IAmMoreThan. Growing up with constant criticism left Kylie struggling to discover her true sense of self. She told Interview Magazine:

“Ever since I was 9, since the show started, there’s been so much bullying towards me. Like, every single day I see something negative about me. And it’s just completely torn me apart. I feel like I’ve lost so many amazing traits because I’ve listened to stupid people, ignorant people who are bullies.”

“I always just try to stay sane and not read comments. It’s hard though. You get interested.”

As for why she chose the dictionary-style “\‘sa-nə-tē\” rather than simply writing the word, no one really knows. Her tattoo artist Bang Bang explains “It’s a really easy tattoo to misinterpret, so I think that she wants to explain it on her own terms.” Kylie got connected with the artist through her then-boyfriend Tyga, who knew one of Bang Bang’s repeat clients Chris Brown. She and Bang Bang hit it off and she even tattooed her initial “K” with a crown on his leg. “We clicked right away. She had a really clear idea of what she wanted to get, so I got straight to work,” he says. Kylie posted videos on her Snapchat of their tattoo session but waited a while before revealing what tattoo she got for herself.

She later updated this tattoo by added the word “before” in front of it.