Anyone else anti-tatoo?

[monkeybug]

Can you see these guys dancing?

Yup! They are dancing up a storm!
Maybe my little bananas got bad "jail house" tattoos and now they just don't feel like dancing?
Or they found out I have something against looney tunes and they are big bugs bunny fans?
Either way, my bananas just aren't happy campers apparently!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I don't like them and to me they make the person look dirty. You see so many overweight women with tattoos on their calves, it just looks awful.

Odd. So what's more offensive to you, the weight or the tattoo?

 

[disykat]

I am really surprised this thread has turned out the way it has. I never expected so many people to take other people's dislike of tattoos as a critcism of them as people rather than just a criticism of the tattoos.

I wear Crocs sometimes. I've seen plenty of threads right here on the Dis where people carry on about how much they hate Crocs. They say Crocs look sloppy and that wearing them make the wearers look lazy and unconcerned about their appearance. They say Crocs are ugly. Do I take it personally? Of course not. In fact I can admit they might have a point - Crocs certainly aren't the most stylish choice of footwear. But I like them and I'm confident enough in myself to deal with others' dislike of my footwear. They aren't saying I am lazy and sloppy, they are saying my footwear makes me look that way to them. They have every right to form whatever impression of me that they want to based on my physical appearance. I assume they would reevaluate that opinion when they get to know more about me.

The same goes for things like printed T-shirts. I've seen tons of people on here say they don't like to see things like that on adult women. They feel those shirts look tacky and juvenile. That's their opinion and they are entitled to it. I don't care if they think that. In fact I'm wearing a Cheshire Cat shirt right now. If someone thinks it's tacky, it's not going to bother me any. I knew before I put it on that some people wouldn't like it, but I do like it and that's all that matters.

We form impressions of each other based on all sorts of things. If you form an impression of me based on something I do to myself intentionally - like the clothes I wear or the hairstyle I choose - that isn't going to offend me. I may not agree with your impression, and maybe you will abandon that impression once you get to know me better. I think glittery makeup looks juvenile and thick eyeliner looks a bit trampy. I have a friend who wears both. Do I think she's juvenile and trampy? No, of course not - but that's what I associate with that makeup, for some reason. I love her anyway, even if I don't like her taste in makeup. And no - I've never told her I feel that way about her makeup, because that would be rude. She could hate my wardrobe, for all I know, but that doesn't matter to me. She cares about me and doesn't insult my taste in clothes, so I don't care if she secretely hates them.

Tattoos are just another thing people intentionally do to themselves, just like clothes, makeup, hairstyles, jewelry and any other form of self expression. Not everyone has the same taste. We can dislike someone's chosen form of self expression without disliking the person who is wearing it. You might hate my Crocs and think they make me look sloppy, and I won't take that personally. Just because I might think your tattoo is tacky doesn't mean I think there's anything wrong with you, and you shouldn't take that personally either.

Great post.

 

[Metsfan520]

Good thing I'm not anti-tattoo, my boss & my supervisor both have them!

 

[JessicaR]

This was a sad thread.

I work for hospice. Some of my patients are in their 80's and beyond. Tattoos are simply another conversation starter for me with my patients. All of my patients are just beautiful people in the twilight of their life span and I'm so fortunate to be invited to spend some of their precious remaining time with them.


Hepatitis A is the strain found in contaminated food and water.

Hep B and C are found in blood products. I'm trying to imagine how someone with HepA could catch it from getting a tattoo unless they were eating a salad with unwashed vegetables while sitting a a tattoo parlor getting their ink?

Or how a foodservice worker with a tattoo could possibly pass their own hepatitis on to a dining establishment customer? Hep B and C require body fluid to body fluid for transmission. You could get Hep B or C from dirty needles, but how would you get a dining customer to get their own body fluids exposed to it to contract it?

As far as attraction of tattoo art, it's like those capri pants. Some people look great in them, others not so much.


Remember gaucho pants? When I was a kid I thought they looked neat..... on other people.

On me? Ugh.


I've been a nurse for over 20 years. You want me in capris or gaucho pants now, now matter how unflattering. 12+ hours shifts for 20+ years made these legs so ugly even I would consider whole leg tats to spare other people from seeing all my veins!


Perhaps I'm oversensitive. Perhaps it is my line of work. I love every one of you, with ink or without. I appreciate the opportunity to read this board with my morning cup of coffee before I go to work. I enjoy spending a few minbutes of internet time with other Mickey Mouse fans like myself (why do you think I moved to Tampa?).

I've been collecting pictures of the pets of my hospice patients for some future project.

Maybe I'll start collecting tattoo pictures next. With a story about each of them.

This was so touching. I enjoyed reading it very much. Thanks for sharing. It takes a special person to do what you do. Your patients are blessed to have you!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I am sure he wouldn't. But he carries that picture with him always. It won't crack or peel or get lost. If his wallet is stolen, that picture will still be there.

Obviously those who are anti tattoo are never going to change their minds, which is sad to me. Why can't we all just accept people for who they are? Many people on the DIS are up in arms angry that people talk badly about ill behave children, people in ECVs, people that are over weight. I guess tattoos are in that same love hate category.

I am anti tattoo. Not anti person.
Just because someone has a tattoo, it doesn't mean I won't or don't like them. My niece has several, yet I still love her and would do whatever I can for her, whenever. I've known other people who have had tats, but still associate with them.

I, as well as several others here, are smart enough to get past our slight prejudice of tattoos to see the real person behind them.

 

[dcentity2000]

I view it as a form of cosmetic surgery. It's up to the individual when it comes to the "operation", and it's not my place to condemn.

That being said, I'd never have a tattoo. Just wouldn't.



Rich::

 

[tasha99]

I'm not anti-tattoo at all, but I do think most look pretty unfortunate.

I have a friend though who has the most intriguing tatoo that peeks up the nape of her neck. I finally asked her to show it to me at a party last weekend--it's a Chinese jay on a flowering tree and the top of the tree is what shows. It's awesome because it's the anti-tramp stamp, both in location and the way she presents herself. She's super-model gorgeous, really one in a 1000 beautiful, though, so I'm not sure it's the tattoo or the combination of the tattoo and her that is so striking. I think on your average woman, it might just look . . . average.

 

[MzDiz]

I am really surprised this thread has turned out the way it has. I never expected so many people to take other people's dislike of tattoos as a critcism of them as people rather than just a criticism of the tattoos.

Are you that surprised? I'm not surprised at all. Most people would take offense to someone saying something like "I hate that shirt on you, it makes you look trashy and ignorant, if you'd been wearing that shirt when we met I never would have talked to you"

Tattoos are a long term, serious decision, much like anything else you decide about for your life. If the same judgments were made here about someone's choice of religion, political affiliation, profession, method of raising children, etc., you'd bet it would be just as heated.

Imagine a thread starting with "I don't get how people can be *insert religion here*, I can't help but think they didn't really think that through and will regret it one day" And that's not even half as bad as some of the statements here were.

Sure, you have a right to your opinion, but if you're going to spout about it on a message board, don't be surprised when it gets ugly.

 

[monkeybug]

Are you that surprised? I'm not surprised at all. Most people would take offense to someone saying something like "I hate that shirt on you, it makes you look trashy and ignorant, if you'd been wearing that shirt when we met I never would have talked to you"

Tattoos are a long term, serious decision, much like anything else you decide about for your life. If the same judgments were made here about someone's choice of religion, political affiliation, profession, method of raising children, etc., you'd bet it would be just as heated.

Imagine a thread starting with "I don't get how people can be *insert religion here*, I can't help but think they didn't really think that through and will regret it one day" And that's not even half as bad as some of the statements here were.

Sure, you have a right to your opinion, but if you're going to spout about it on a message board, don't be surprised when it gets ugly.

Who here has said that they wouldn't talk to someone because they have a tattoo?
I'm sorry but I refuse to believe that the same people who are offended that some people find tattoos "trashy" don't make similar judgments when it comes to other ways of dress.
People think others are preppy because of how they dress, or trampy, or gang members, or homeless, or rich, or poor, or artsy, or a hippy, or a million other things. If I see someone walking down the street with tattoos covering their body do I make certain assumptions? Absolutely! Just like my SIL (who is covered in tattoos) makes assumptions about people who look like me! We all do it! Nobody here can say that when they look out on a crowded street they just see a mass of humanity and make no inferences based on appearance about that persons lifestyle. It's the way our brains are wired. We don't all make the same inferences of course, those depend on our own personal experience, but if you have a normal functioning brain, your making them!
There is a BIG difference if a person discriminates against others based on those assumptions or just thinks of those assumptions as facts (that does happen a lot on the Dis, it's my own personal pet peeve), but I haven't read anyone here stating that's what they do. (of course I could have missed a few posts)

 

[luvsJack]

I really don't get the assumptions that go on about someone with a tattoo. Waaaaayyyyy back "in the day", when no one had tattoos but sailors, bikers and folks who had been in jail; I could get the assumption (because of the jail part, not the sailors or the bikers) but it just doesn't make sense anymore..

 

[MiniGirl]

Obviously those who are anti tattoo are never going to change their minds, which is sad to me. Why can't we all just accept people for who they are? Many people on the DIS are up in arms angry that people talk badly about ill behave children, people in ECVs, people that are over weight. I guess tattoos are in that same love hate category.

I think the vast majority of people on this thread have said that while they don't care for tattoos it doesn't have any bearing on how they feel about the person with the tat. I don't think that is sad at all.

I said early that I don't like tattos. Never have and I probably never will. I've seen lots of photos and have heard people saying all sorts of wonderful things about them, but it doesn't change my own personal opinion. My best friend has a couple of tats. Would I love her more if she didn't have them? Nope. I can't imagine I would. They are just a part of who she is. I maintain though that I just don't see the attraction of tattoos. It doesn't mean that I'm unaccepting of the person that has them.

 

[tomthebarncat]

hates them but I do have two, a rose on the back of what used to be my hip. I got that one in 1987 and the other one is the name of my beloved deceased little dog "Spike". I got that one in Feb 2010 to commerate the second anniversary of his death. It is on the back of my left shoulder. Noone knows that I have them, unless I tell them. For professional reasons, I have them in very discreet places. Piercings are another issue!

 

[MzDiz]

Who here has said that they wouldn't talk to someone because they have a tattoo?

Perhaps I drew a conclusion in my completely hypothetical example that didn't quote anything or point out a specific post. But since we're splitting hairs...

If most people saw someone that they thought was... (and these were all taken from this thread).... repulsive, possibly disease carrying, hideous, made them physically ill, had a look that they "hated", that they thought probably had zero personality, possible psychiatric problems, a sense of worthlessness or no concern for their own personality, looked dirty, etc., they probably would avoid the person.

 

[monkeybug]

Perhaps I drew a conclusion in my completely hypothetical example that didn't quote anything or point out a specific post. But since we're splitting hairs...

If most people saw someone that they thought was... (and these were all taken from this thread).... repulsive, possibly disease carrying, hideous, made them physically ill, had a look that they "hated", that they thought probably had zero personality, possible psychiatric problems, a sense of worthlessness or no concern for their own personality, looked dirty, etc., they probably would avoid the person.

I can't speak for anyone else obviously, but I would certainly not avoid a number of people on your list.
I might avoid people that made me physically ill or looked dirty as in I wouldn't walk up a strike up a conversation, but I also wouldn't run the other way if approached. All your other examples would not make me feel like I needed to avoid the person (well unless the disease ridden person looked contagious, like they were hacking up a lung and blowing snot rockets across the room, and in that circumstance I might run the other way...guess that makes me hateful?)
Also maybe I haven't paid close enough attention to the thread, but in most of the examples you've given weren't people referring to the tattoo and not the person? And in the physically ill instance wasn't the person referring to the piercings that made giant holes and stuff? Certainly we can dislike the way someone styles their hair, wears their pants, or cakes on the makeup with out disliking the actual person right? I'm kinda' repulsed by the guys walking around with their dirty drawers waving hello to all the known world while the waist line of their pants is dangling from their knee caps. Doesn't mean I would avoid that person, or that I dislike them, or that I feel superior to them, just means I have a really nagging urge to pull up their pants and take them belt shopping.
Art is always subjective. What repulses one another will find enlightening, that doesn't mean the repulsed is some how wrong for feeling that way.

 

[Scurvy]

Are you that surprised? I'm not surprised at all. Most people would take offense to someone saying something like "I hate that shirt on you, it makes you look trashy and ignorant, if you'd been wearing that shirt when we met I never would have talked to you"

Tattoos are a long term, serious decision, much like anything else you decide about for your life. If the same judgments were made here about someone's choice of religion, political affiliation, profession, method of raising children, etc., you'd bet it would be just as heated.

Imagine a thread starting with "I don't get how people can be *insert religion here*, I can't help but think they didn't really think that through and will regret it one day" And that's not even half as bad as some of the statements here were.

Sure, you have a right to your opinion, but if you're going to spout about it on a message board, don't be surprised when it gets ugly.

Yes, I am surprised - that's why I said I was. Not because things got ugly - that seems to happen on message boards fairly often. I'm simply suprised that some people are taking the criticism of tattoos so personally.

To me, tattoos are adornments like jewelry, clothing, makeup, glasses frames, piercings, hairstyles and even some cosmetic surgery. They are simply yet another way you can change your appearance. They may be a more permanent form of change than most other things on that list, but they are still something you put on yourself (or have put on, in the case of most tattoos). They are not lifestyle choices like parenthood or religion. I am perfectly capably of having one opinion about a person and a completely different opinion of their adornments, as I explained in the post you quoted.

To you, a tattoo is apparently a lifestyle choice like parenthood or religion. There could be many people who feel that way about tattoos, but I've never met any of them. It strikes me as an odd concept. Even the people I know who have tattoos just view them as an adornment, although some of their tattoos are of things that are meaningful to them.

If you feel that your tattoos are as meaningful to you as children or religion are to other people, then I can certainly understand why someone's dislike of tattoos might offend you. Perhaps your devotion to them is so ingrained that you can't understand how someone else could view them as just another adornment. I imagine that makes it difficult when you are faced with people who do view them that way, and don't like them. I don't know which of our views is the norm - it would be interesting to find that out.

Regarding your example - no, I probably wouldn't like it if you said the bolded to me about my shirt, because that would be terribly rude of you. Which (as I mentioned in my previous post) is why I wouldn't tell someone how I felt if I disliked their particular adornments. I'd never go onto a thread about someone's tattoo and say anything negative about it to them. But if you simply started a thread on the Dis about how much you dislike printed t-shirts and it wasn't about me specifically, I would certainly not take it personally. Since I like printed t-shirts, I would probably just avoid the thread since I know I wouldn't agree with it . . . just the way I've avoided most of the threads about how terrible Crocs are. You are free to have your own taste. You can dislike my adornments just as I can dislike yours. But you can not ascribe your own feelings to someone else. The fact that you are unable to separate criticism of tattoos in general from criticism of you in particular does not mean that everyone else is unable to separate the two.

 

[Art 1]

Odd. So what's more offensive to you, the weight or the tattoo?

No, never said I was offended. It's well talked about that women who put a tattoo on their calf are usually fat.

 

[A4Disney]

I was reading other threads about getting a tatoo and it made me think. I think for the first time I'm admitting that I am judgemental when it comes to people covered in tatoos. I'm not talking about having 1 or 2 that are discreet.

I know so many people who have tatoos (my hubby being one of them...he has ONE), but when I see people who are covered in tatoos I instantly think "ick". WHY?

I have NEVER looked at any tatoo and thought "oh how cool!" I instantly think "stupid move". God knows I would never say that because they are very sentimental tatoos sometimes, but even when my husband got his I told him I didn't care for it. He loves his tatoo and although a part of me likes the "bad boy" image I still don't love it by any stretch of the word.

I just associate tatoos with a negative connotation.







I agree with you..I've always had a visceral reaction to them.(I'm 37)

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Really? 'Cause I had the impression you'd missed the point.

Nope. Like I said, I'm not six. I got the point and thought it was dumb. Every day I wear makeup, put on clothing, spritz on perfume. Every six weeks I get my hair cut. Sometimes I color it. A couple years ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed and when I was eight I got my ears pierced. People enhance their bodies every single day, but that Bentley line isn't thrown around when I walk into the hair salon. Some of those things are permanent, some of them aren't. But either way, you're still changing that supposedly perfect body you were given.

I totally agree that such things are easier said than done. A year ago I had a skin condition (and it had to be on my face!) that made me feel very self-conscious!

But if it's going to bother you, you might be the wrong person to get a tattoo. Some people ARE going to dislike it.

I don't care what people think of me. When I was in elementary school however, it destroyed me. And because of that, I won't judge on appearance. And I'd rather people dislike something about me that I created (ie... a tattoo) instead of a physical attribute that I have no control over. When kids called me ugly, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. The Bentley wasn't good enough for them.

Perhaps I drew a conclusion in my completely hypothetical example that didn't quote anything or point out a specific post. But since we're splitting hairs...

If most people saw someone that they thought was... (and these were all taken from this thread).... repulsive, possibly disease carrying, hideous, made them physically ill, had a look that they "hated", that they thought probably had zero personality, possible psychiatric problems, a sense of worthlessness or no concern for their own personality, looked dirty, etc., they probably would avoid the person.

Exactly... there are some incredibly mean-spirited things being said on this thread. To say you don't like a tattoo is no different from saying you don't like flip-flops. But if you said that you thought someone who wore flip-flops had a psychiatric problem, that is just plain hurtful... and, in my opinion, purposely hurtful.

And I'd rather look repulsive than act repulsive.

 

[declansdad]

No, never said I was offended. It's well talked about that women who put a tattoo on their calf are usually fat.

You have got to be kidding me!! Got anything to back that up?