Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've read a lot of this thread with great interest. I'm a guy so this isn't exactly on topic, but I can still give the OP some feedback because I am covered in tats, probably over 200 of em, I love em, but I don't expect everybody to like them. Have they hurt in getting jobs? It all depends and there was no trend from one employer to another. I have a couple of career paths, one blue-collar, the other more professional white-collar. Sometimes the very companies you would think would take no issue, like the accounting department of a construction company, were the first ones to not hire me. Yet one time a newspaper office had no problem with them whatsoever and I thought it would have been the opposite.
I am not a criminal, grew up working to maybe the lower end of middle class, and was never in the military. So what if I end up old with wrinkly skin, that's a popular one that we get a lot, so then I will have colorful wrinkly skin! I have names embedded in my tattoo, it's ok to do so, a tattoo often marks a passage of time or a period in one's life, even if that person is no longer a part of it due to death or otherwise. Just because a person is no longer, say, married to someone, doesn't mean they can't honor them or look back on that time in their life with fondness; not every marriage ends with broken dishes and "pee'd on fish" (guess the movie). I was never drunk, no serious artist in their right mind would tattoo someone intoxicated and sometimes forbidden by health regulations to do so, they will bleed all over the place, and artists take great caution as it is to prevent disease transmission. And I carefully planned all of my tattoos, several months of finding just the right image and concept. Several more months of planning and execution and healing. It's not a process that people rush, you only have one chance to get it right.
All my tattoos can be covered up, some might be offensive, but I'm careful to avoid those themes; none are jailhouse but much of the general public wouldn't know jailhouse and new school from traditional and flat-line.
Some people in relationships don't like them or indifferent, other's seek me out because of them. I actually try and date people with at least one tattoo themselves to avoid the usual nonsense stated throughout this thread. On the dating issue OP, many women and some men too use tattoos to cover up a patch of skin with a birthmark or scar or anything about themselves they might deem undesirable.
Body art in general has evolved quite a bit from the days when they were associated with those from the other side of the tracks. I've never understood why piercing ears and circumcision, which are far more of an alteration of the body, is acceptable and the norm whereas tattooing which technically is not a true modification is frowned upon. Different times and perceptions I guess; which vary greatly from society to society and country to country with India coming to mind, I don't know much about it but isn't the piercing in the nose how women in India wear wedding rings? Tradition there, but only a recent trend in western countries.
So back on topic, OP, the conclusion to all this is that we live in a different era now than we did two or three generations ago and I think a lot of it can be attributed to popular culture; like many other things in life we owe it to show business and media for breaking down barriers and stereotypes and replacing it with change, diversity, and new ideas. And if we look back, much of the great historical events took place because of a collective willingness to think outside the box, otherwise we might have never left the cave.
Last edited by Garethe; 09-17-2013 at 02:18 PM..
Reason: sp
The negative connotation surrounding tattoos is slowly disappearing.
When I got my wrist tattoo I asked the artist about it, wondering if it could be a problem with a career in law enforcement, and he told me so many police officers have visible tattoos now, it's totally different.
Okay, this is a sincere question from an old person (senior woman), and not meant to offend anyone--just looking for answers.
In my generation, tattoos were regarded with a very negative stereotype. They represented ghetto, thugs, criminals, or a macho military type, or a low rider. It usually meant they were tough and not very educated.
I realize times have changed, but what is the deal with young girls getting all these tattoos? Is there now a POSITIVE stereotype with them? Does it reflect creativity, rebellion, sexuality? I see these attractive young girls and women with many visible tattoos, and some of them are educated, so has the negative stereotype vanished?
And while you are at it, could you explain the attraction to body piercings also!
Thanks
Hi there, mountainrose. I cannot answer for teenagers or women in general, but I can answer for myself.
I got my first tattoo a few years ago and have gotten a few since. I think I was 36 or so when I got my first one. Times are changing, but they also remain the same. For some people, there is still the stigma with tattoos that there always was.
For myself, I know that I am not a thug or a criminal. I am just a person who wanted a few tattoos. I am an adult, and I made a decision to go ahead and get them. I do enjoy them and so do other people.
I will say that there are some out there that do not. Just because a person is educated does not mean they cannot have tattoos. I have had several conversations with my neurologist about tattoos. Another of my drs has tattoos.
I think it will probably take a few generations more for the stigma to disperse. If my kids or the young people in my family are considering a tattoo I advise against it. While I have tattoos and I feel some can be very beautiful, you are still judged. You are judged before the person knows a thing about you.
It depends on the person you come across as far as which way you will be judged.
I know nothing about body piercings. I do not like the facial and dermal piercings people get at all. I also do not like facial or neck tattoos, nor do I like hand or lower arm tattoos. That is just my preference. I do not judge a person by their tattoos and piercings.
I learned early on in life that I should not judge a book by it's cover and this falls directly under that old saying.
Last edited by Pikantari; 09-17-2013 at 03:40 PM..
So what if I end up old with wrinkly skin, that's a popular one that we get a lot, so then I will have colorful wrinkly skin!
Your whole post was good but this made me LOL!
I got my first (of four) tattoos at age 21 and I am approaching wrinkly-age at age 55 and not only do I not regret it for a second, at my age quite frankly I am pretty much past worrying about how my older skin will look with tats. Older and perhaps wrinkled, but with a tattoo. *shrug*
And for those saying that it's de facto a sign of being "hillbilly" or "uneducated" or "low class" or whatever, phooie but you are wrong. A swastika on the forehead, obvious jail house ink, names on your neck, facial teardrops, sure. All tattoos make a statement and those statements can be tasteful and inoffensive (and easily hidden when need be) or offensive and indicative of time not-well-spent.
Anyway, I won't judge you for being too much of a lock-step conformist to NOT get a tattoo, as long as you don't judge me for getting one.
Speaking of judges, I know of one who has a tattoo. I also know two doctors (one a Navy veteran) with tattoos. I know an RN with a tattoo. I know an engineer (my ex husband) with a tattoo, and a physicist with a tattoo, and a philosophy professor (my brother) and a very high-powered advertising executive (my other brother) with a tattoo. That's just off the top of my head.... None of these people are criminals or uneducated.
And while you are at it, could you explain the attraction to body piercings also!
Thanks
I have one in my eyebrow and one in my nose. I got them when I was 20 because I liked the way they looked, and if I ever changed my mind I could just take them out. Nine years later, I still wear them all the time because I still like the way they look. I've had to take them out while working various jobs here and there (curiously enough, I had to take them out at my silly second job at the mall, but not my grown-up office job ), but I keep them in otherwise. If I had the money for such things now, I might get the nape of my neck done, but sadly I'm no longer 20 and single. I'm not a fan of big gauges, or piercings completely covering the face, but I don't judge the people who have them. It's just a matter of taste. It doesn't mean anything about who they are as a person.
What the heck is with all these tattoo questions?!
Anyway, there's no stigma with tattoos for young woman except for the stigma from senior citizens and the more conservative baby boomers. Frankly, that's not who we're trying to appeal to, so their repulsion doesn't carry much, if any, weight.
Body art (i.e. tattoos and body piercings) are just another way of expressing oneself. That's really all there is to it.
What the heck is with all these tattoo questions?!
Anyway, there's no stigma with tattoos for young woman except for the stigma from senior citizens and the more conservative baby boomers. Frankly, that's not who we're trying to appeal to, so their repulsion doesn't carry much, if any, weight.
Body art (i.e. tattoos and body piercings) are just another way of expressing oneself. That's really all there is to it.
I will have to disagree. There very much is a stigma with tattoos on any person, and that is the very reason there are all the tattoo questions. It is the reason people still wonder why we get them, and it is the reason they still attach tattoos with low class people, criminals, etc.
The stigma still exists and it is not only with the elderly.
It does not matter who the tattooed person is trying to appeal to or if they are trying to appeal to anyone at all. The fact of the matter is that there is always someone out there. Someone watching and judging and making decisions based on your outward appearance. The person does not need to be a senior citizen or conservative baby boomer. It can be anyone.
As long as there are people judging you for whatever reason, you better bet the way they feel is going to be carrying weight somewhere.
Well as us older folks die off, perhaps it won't matter. But the reality is that for now the Boomers are in positions of power and hiring and many, including myself, judge candidates on their tats. Two equal candidates and i simply wont hire they guy with the sleeve. Now they can scream all they want about that being closed minded, but it is what it is. SHallow? Maybe, but its the truth...it does make a negative impression for many people.
And for those saying that it's de facto a sign of being "hillbilly" or "uneducated" or "low class" or whatever, phooie but you are wrong.
In your opinion perhaps, but you state it as fact. In my opinion you (not you personally) are aloser if you are all inked up and I do immedeately think uneducated, blue collar, hick. Hence, I am right. lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
at age 55 and not only do I not regret it for a second, at my age quite frankly I am pretty much past worrying about how my older skin will look with tats. Older and perhaps wrinkled, but with a tattoo. *shrug*
A swastika on the forehead, obvious jail house ink, names on your neck, facial teardrops, sure. All tattoos make a statement and those statements can be tasteful and inoffensive (and easily hidden when need be) or offensive and indicative of time not-well-spent.
), but I keep them in otherwise. If I had the money for such things now, I might get the nape of my neck done, but sadly I'm no longer 20 and single. I'm not a fan of big gauges, or piercings completely covering the face, but I don't judge the people who have them. It's just a matter of taste. It doesn't mean anything about who they are as a person.
