Tattoos, anyone?

[JoeWras]

To display a visible tattoo is an intentional act to make a statement or be noticed.

Same goes for loud pipes on motorcycles, straight pipes on cars, drifting in intersections, and so on.

These things will provoke conversation and judgement.

 

[marko]

I think most (not all) NFL players have tatoos? Most have collage degrees (but maybe that doesn't mean well educated), most have pretty good incomes. (At least while they are playing) and "class" is pretty subjective. But I get your point.

Yes, I think we can put high earning/well educated professional football players in a separate category.
Full disclosure: nephew #6 works for the New England Patriots organization. (not an athlete, not tattooed, lol)

 

[rodi]

Many of my peers have tattoos. My bff has three and they each have meaning and bring her joy. A good friend who is a successful author and serious gym rat has the must beautiful tattoos.... Large floral tats. She did a panel at comic con a few years ago and wore a cute cocktail dress that showed the tats on her arms, thighs, and chest. She is very thoughtful and intentional about what tattoos she gets and who does them . My cousin's son is an artist and makes a living as a tattoo artist.

I don't have any but I appreciate well done tattoos on others.

When I started working as an engineer they were stigmatized in the workplace. But back then male engineers had to wear ties and women had to wear dresses and stockings. By the time I retired ties were only for salespeople, jeans were the norm fur both genders, and tattoos were common among the engineers.

Times and norms change.

 

[Redbugdave]

I would never get a tattoo. Used to be mostly felons, the military, and native peoples had tattoos. But it looks like times have changed. I guess its a way for some people to "stand out" and to be noticed for something. Maybe Joe Camel, or the Marlboro Cowboy might be a good tattoo. Sorry for the sarcastic humor...

Lately there has been medical research into tattoos and there are links to malignant lymphoma besides just infection. Here's just one article on such:

Tattoos Linked to Increased Cancer Risk, Scientists Warn

Regret was for many years considered the most severe side-effect of tattoos.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[dixonge]

I just don't understand what is so wrong about being "normal", embracing the way we were made.

Having read this entire thread, I don't recall anyone saying that 'normal' was wrong. Did I miss something? Why would you think that people talking positively about tattoos somehow equates to claiming that non-tattooed, 'normal' people are somehow 'wrong?'

Just like the movie "Memento". He tattoos his reminders on his body. (Good movie, BTW.)

Man, I was thinking about that movie just this morning on my walk! I decided I need to rewatch it. I went down that rabbit hole after seeing an old friend of mine who is suffering from alzheimer's and is just so, so scatterbrained now.

 

[Gumby]

The last movie I watched that featured tattoos as a plot point was The Master Gardener, starring Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton (2022).

 

[ModestNestEgg]

"Embracing the way we were made" hasn't been a thing for a very long time. People use makeup to enhance and alter their appearance and have since ancient Egyptian times. Have you noticed the fake lashes women are wearing nowadays? People have used hair dyes for longer than I've been alive- they just used "normal" colors like brown, red, blonde. Plastic surgery is common- facelifts, rhinoplasty, lip injections, boob jobs, etc. I would argue that a "breast enhancement" screams "look at me!" just as much as a tattoo, and probably costs a lot more. Is it more acceptable? All of these are ways to change your appearance and suggest an unhappiness with one's self. But I guess if you have bigger boobs or brighter blonde hair to look at that's OK?

I guess we all grow up with what we think is "normal" and then have problems embracing stuff that is "normal" to the next generation.

This discussion has been interesting. And yes, I see lots of judgement. If you don't agree with me, maybe go back and review your own posts a little more objectively.

I understand, and I probably am one of those judgemental posts that you mention. I mean no ill will towards anyone here or anywhere with them. One thing that I tried to emphasize in my post, and I'll do it again is that I haven't noticed a correlation in people who have tattoos and their level of kindness or character being lower than those who don't. In fact, when a relative was hospitalized with a serious health condition, one of the nurses had tattoos that were on the lower part of her neck that made her appearance look a little intimidating. But she was the sweetest person to my relative, and had a very sweet and compassionate personality. I know of other examples, but that is one that jumps out.

I've done my best to work on having my judgment end at the aesthetic aspect. I can get around having a negative preconception of who the tatted up person is as a person, but I can't alter my perception of something that I think doesn't look aesthetically appealing no matter what I do to try to trick my brain into thinking it looks appealing. So I can't make any promises there. But I can see a beautiful diamond in the rough behind that subjectively rough looking appearance.

 

[tmm99]

I must admit - I have a severe aversion to tattoos - especially big ones. Where I'm originally from, Yakuza members were the only people who wore tattoos. I was told that criminals were branded by tattoos in Japan hundreds of years ago (I haven't done any Google search on this...), and I believe Yakuza members started wearing tattoos to somehow identify themselves (much like the gang members in the US nowadays get a tattoo of certain symbols). I don't know if this Yakuza tattoo tradition still persists today, but I know that many public baths/hot springs in Japan still do not allow people with tattoos. (I imagine it's less controversial to say "no tattoos allowed" than "no Yakuzas allowed".) I don't think this rule applies to foreign tourists, but if you ever go and visit those places and you have a tattoo that cannot be easily covered up, you may want to inquire in advance.

I remember my mom used to rent a small space on the side of her retail store to "those" folks during the holiday season so they could sell holiday decorations. I think this was when I was a university student. This guy's arms were covered with colourful tattoos of flowers. (You see people like that selling food at street stalls during outdoor festivals too.) We all knew why he had those tattoos. That he was a Yakuza member working for a Yakuza group. Not sure what he would have done if my mom said no to the rental. I imagine nothing would have happened, but anyway, she said yes. This lasted for a few years.

 

[Gumby]

I must admit - I have a severe aversion to tattoos - especially big ones. Where I'm originally from, Yakuza members were the only people who wore tattoos. I was told that criminals were branded by tattoos in Japan hundreds of years ago (I haven't done any Google search on this...), and I believe Yakuza members started wearing tattoos to somehow identify themselves (much like the gang members in the US nowadays get a tattoo of certain symbols). I don't know if this Yakuza tattoo tradition still persists today, but I have recently seen at the entrance of public baths and hot springs signs that read something like "No tattoos allowed." I don't think this rule applies to foreign tourists, but if you ever go and visit those places and you have a tattoo that cannot be easily covered up, you may want to inquire in advance.

I remember my mom used to rent a small space on the side of her retail store to "those" folks during the holiday season so they could sell holiday decorations. I think this was when I was a university student. This guy's arms were covered with colourful tattoos of flowers. (You see people like that selling food at street stalls during outdoor festivals too.) We all knew why he have those tattoos. He was a Yakuza member working for a Yakuza group. Not sure what he would have done if my mom said no to the rental. I imagine nothing would have happened, but anyway, she said yes. This lasted for a few years.

We are going to Japan in November, and I have been reading in preparation, so I saw that tattoos are not welcome at onsen. We have booked a couple of hotels/inns connected to onsen and I am eager to try them.

 

[tmm99]

We are going to Japan in November, and I have been reading in preparation, so I saw that tattoos are not welcome at onsen. We have booked a couple of hotels/inns connected to onsen and I am eager to try them.

Japanese hot springs/onsens are really nice. My favourite is rotenburo (open-air bath). I hope they let you in.

 

[Sunset]

Never got a tattoo.. What if I changed my mind about the tattoo

Checked into a hotel, employee had a lot of tat's. One was the Eiffel Tower, so I asked if she had ever been to France, It was a memorial tattoo for her dead brother... Awkward... Wonder how many times she has to explain that through her life. Total conversation killer.

 

[Amethyst]

A heavily tattooed woman at my gym was wearing a T-shirt that stated, in very large letters, TATTOOS ARE TRASHY.

Irony...I guess?

 

[levindb]

Can we add facial/body piercings to this thread...or should that be a separate discussion?

 

[Gumby]

Japanese hot springs/onsens are really nice. My favourite is rotenburo (open-air bath). I hope they let you in.

I have no tattoos, so I am confident they will.

 

[JoeWras]

I must admit - I have a severe aversion to tattoos - especially big ones. Where I'm originally from, Yakuza members were the only people who wore tattoos. I was told that criminals were branded by tattoos in Japan hundreds of years ago (I haven't done any Google search on this...), and I believe Yakuza members started wearing tattoos to somehow identify themselves (much like the gang members in the US nowadays get a tattoo of certain symbols).

This reminds me graffiti. Growing up in Chicago, graffiti was serious business for gangs. It makes my blood chill. People wandered into gang squabbles and got targeted for no reason. It was dangerous.

Then I visited Athens, Greece, and every square meter of buildings and walls is covered. At first I thought I landed in a gang war area. Then I got used to it, although our tour guide never really gave us much explanation.

Now with the decline of enforcement, my current city is starting to get plastered in graffiti.

I guess I'll get used to it.

 

[NanoSour]

Don't see the point.

 

[Aerides]

To display a visible tattoo is an intentional act to make a statement or be noticed.

Same goes for loud pipes on motorcycles, straight pipes on cars, drifting in intersections, and so on.

These things will provoke conversation and judgement.

For many people, especially those younger than us, it's no more than the statement made by getting dressed, or a hairdo, or an piece of jewelry.

 

[tmm99]

I have no tattoos, so I am confident they will.

Oh, my bad. Definitely try different rotenburo then.

 

[street]

I do like the looks of small and one tattoo and not a problem if people have them. For each their own I don't see them any different because of them.

I just wouldn't want one.

 

[doneat54]

To display a visible tattoo is an intentional act to make a statement or be noticed.

Same goes for loud pipes on motorcycles, straight pipes on cars, drifting in intersections, and so on.

These things will provoke conversation and judgement.

Wow. Yes. Well said. I could post a list of 100 (or more) things that I would rather spend money on (or even the time/pain to tat) than ink. And don't EVEN get me started on that loud pipes/Harley thing. Or as I call them, "LOOK AT ME!!!!!!" pipes.

 

[Redbugdave]

To display a visible tattoo is an intentional act to make a statement or be noticed.

Same goes for loud pipes on motorcycles, straight pipes on cars, drifting in intersections, and so on.

These things will provoke conversation and judgement.

Absolutely. People wanting attention they can't get any other way. My reasoning...A way of fulfillment do to a lack of other personal accomplishments.

 

[Amethyst]

Then I visited Athens, Greece, and every square meter of buildings and walls is covered. At first I thought I landed in a gang war area. Then I got used to it, although our tour guide never really gave us much explanation.

My tour guides in Greece and Peru, where graffiti abounded, said it was because "too many people have nothing better to do." Perhaps a euphemism for high unemployment?

 

[Badger]

The only tattoo I ever had was in the early 50's. It came in a Cracker Jack box and my mom made me wash it off that night.
I don't care if someone wants a tattoo but it just isn't for me. Some are actually attractive but way too many are just haphazardly scattered over the body.
I also don't have piercings, stretched out earlobes, brandings, or sharpened teeth but maybe that is your "thing". Just keep in mind you don't have a say when you are being judged.

 

[marko]

My tour guides in Greece and Peru, where graffiti abounded, said it was because "too many people have nothing better to do." Perhaps a euphemism for high unemployment?

This is fairly common in most of Europe, even 30 and 40 years ago. When friends would visit us in France, we'd have to remind them that it's normal and doesn't indicate a bad neighborhood. We lived on the same block building as Francis Coppola and we had the front of the building spray painted.

 

[Koolau]

What I have found interesting is that many "attention seeking" folks (facial or gang tats or wild colored hair or loud pipes, etc.) seem to resent it when anyone actually NOTICES them. What's up with that?

Do what you want, wear what you want, just don't get upset if someone notices you for it. It's part of the human condition to notice differences. It's one of our built in defense mechanisms. YMMV