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That's not actually true. Some people who enjoy collecting tattoos have a distinctly contemptuous attitude towards those who don't. I think they believe that the inkless have not been able to define themselves as individuals.

 

Define themselves as individuals? By conforming to a specific look? I've *always* found that idea highly amusing, so I had to say it, even though this is a zombie thread.:lol:

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I never gave much consideration to tatoos or body art until this thread. There were people who had them and people who didn't (or at least people I didn't think had them.)

 

There is one person whose art makes me cringe every time I see her, though. She has body art visible everywhere (she is a stylist at the salon I frequent) except on her face. Her neck, upper chest (and I would suppose her lower chest as well), full arms, etc. She is covered in ink. You get the picture.

 

Anyhow, what may have looked impressive when she was about 25 years old, is not looking so great now that she is in her 50's. As her skin is losing its firmness and elasticity, all of her art is sagging and appears to be messy, like frosting sliding off of a cake.

 

It really is not an attractive look. She is a very nice lady, but the melting art is distracting and over emphasizes her age, causing her to look much older. She admitted to a customer last week that she wished she could turn back the clock and not have had them done. No one admires her art anymore.

 

I feel very badly for her because she seemed to find a large part of her personal beauty in her body art.

Edited by Sheep Lady Mama
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  • 4 months later...

When I was growing up it was during the era when only convicts and bikers got tattoos. It was considered low class. Then it became the pervue of gang members. so if you had a tat, you were a gang banger, belonged to one or low class.

 

This is my experience of life as well. I am 48 years old. Tattoos on women as I was growing up was seen just as the above quote. While I understand that it's a different world now, it's hard to let go of the deep held beliefs of the past. My SIL has huge tats. I love her the same as if she didn't have them. I don't have to like them though and I certainly will never have one on me.

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I guess I just find them tacky or low class. Sorry, but you asked! *ducking the flying tomatoes* :leaving:

 

I am with you, so I will duck, too.My niece got a HUGE purple iris on her upper arm. Arugh!. Her middle name is Iris...she looks like a biker chick now (she is a petite pastry chef in Santa Fe). I can't imagine how she is going to look when middle age sets in....

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I'm probably going to catch a lot of flack for this but I mean it in the kindest way.

 

I have a tat (got it when I was 25) and I still like it. You can only see it if I wear a thin strapped tank top, which I often do. I personally don't like the look of a lot of tat's but neither do I care what you do with your body. I do think our bodies are a canvas to express ourselves on(and yes I allow children to draw on me with magic markers). We do it every day, what we wear, our hair, even our shoes can be a screaming endorsment of who we are(or who we want everyone to think we are ).

 

Tattoos are more acceptable and no longer carry the stigma they once did. As people who have issues with tattoos and body piercings age out of the work force and parenting pool we will see less of these types of body mods. Yes, it is a counter-culture movement but only so long as there's a mainstream to push against.

 

So instead of looking at someone with tattoos as "low-class" you might try to consider what they are telling you about themselves. Does the eagle represent their ability to "rise above"? Is the "yin-yang" about finding a balance in their life? In the end I think the lowest class thing is judging someone badly just because they got a little heart on their ankle.

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i don't have any tattoos but i love them! i don't like the typical tattoos (won't name them so i don't offend), but i'm talking the half sleeve, whole sleeve tattoos that are true artwork. they are amazing to me!

 

oops. i didn't realize this thread was old. i think i've already posted in it! lol

 

It's my fault. I just joined a few days ago and someone I knew from another forum had posted in the thread and I was reading it. I didn't realize how old it was either. Sorry for making it pop up again. I didn't realize it was a contentious thread until I had already posted.

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For myself or for other people?

 

I'm mostly a live-and-let-live kinda gal so I don't care too much about tattoos on other people but for now I'm confident in saying I don't want a tattoo. Why? A few reasons: Because they're permanent and I might change my mind about it. Because if it's conspicuous, future employers or clients might be negatively distracted by it. Because sometimes they're ugly and/or they fade into something less pretty than what they once were. Because, from what I hear, they are painful to get and I'm a first-class pain wimp. And because everyone's doing it now so I can feel a sense of counter-cultural rebellion in not getting one ;)

 

All these reasons.

 

Plus it just has negative connotations, especially among people my age and up. You don't see a lot of doctors and attorneys and accountants (for example) running around with tattoos, and as professionals, those are people we are around a lot.

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I have never seen an attractive one. When shown one, I will nod and use words like "interesting." They start out looking at best OK, and then the color goes away and the black gets blurry.

 

Anyone remember the reality TV show of Ozzy Osbourne? Probably 10+ years ago. One or both of his kids got a tattoo. He was upset, I forget what his words were exactly but it was something like "when I got mine, they were cool. Now they are just passe." Not that I live my life according to Ozzy, but well, if my mother and Ozzy agree on something, it may be worth paying attention.

 

I remember my husband telling me about a breakroom conversation at work. A female coworker said that since she got a small tattoo at the small of her back every guy she meets thinks she is a tramp. DH explained that guys think any small of the back tattoo is really "Insert here" and then a down arrow. The other guys in the room agreed as well as the one other woman (sheepishly). I berated him for having that type of conversation at work. But, you asked the question.

 

I also don't put bumper stickers on my car.

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I have never seen an attractive one. When shown one, I will nod and use words like "interesting." They start out looking at best OK, and then the color goes away and the black gets blurry.

 

I do have to say that I was in line at Target behind a man who had the most gorgeous tattoo I have EVER seen of our Lady and Jesus.

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I remember my husband telling me about a breakroom conversation at work. A female coworker said that since she got a small tattoo at the small of her back every guy she meets thinks she is a tramp. DH explained that guys think any small of the back tattoo is really "Insert here" and then a down arrow. The other guys in the room agreed as well as the one other woman (sheepishly). I berated him for having that type of conversation at work. But, you asked the question.

 

I also don't put bumper stickers on my car.

 

Crap, I can't believe I'm about to defend the Tramp Stamp. I don't have one and they aren't my favorite type of tattoo but I can't let this go.

 

Tell your DH that he needs to either get his head out of the gutter or hang out with a higher class of men. The tramp stamp is just a trend, NOT an invitation to @nal relations.

Also, I was in HR before I had kids. Tell him that he should NEVER EVER EVER have that kind of converstion at work.

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I have a tat, much to my husband's dismay. One not-so-sober evening in downtown Atlanta with my sister and brother in law. Somehow I came home with a chinese symbol... on the back of my neck. :crying:

Apparently, when I was 21 and not-so-sober, I thought it would be cool. :coolgleamA: <---- That's me being cool.

Now, closer to 30, I've had many a concerned older gentleman standing behind me in line, when my hair is up, ask me very seriously and with much concern, if I belong to an asian gang.

:w00t:

Me? In an asian gang (what is an asian gang anyway?)? Me - white as a ghost, wearer or ankle length crepe skirts and fitted, but modest, tee shirts... sandals, hair in a bun...

In general, I'm more likely to be mistook for a librarian - unless, it appears, I have my hair up and my tat can be seen, in which case I'm some new mode of gangbanger.

 

I don't know where I stand on tats. I don't care for mine. I wish I didn't have it.

But I do. Lol.

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i think most tattoos are kinda dumb looking and detract more than they add to a person's beauty and i think it is a poor way to choose to spend your money. But its not going to affect a friendship. So you spend money on things I think are dumb, dont most people? If you show me your new tat, i'll say "Cool!"

 

I have seen a few tattoos i thought were gorgeous and i had to see more of - very impressive body art. But a butterfly on your ankle is not art.

 

every time i say something about a really awesome tattoo, my husband instantly says "I dont like tattoos and I'll never get one." Chill, dude, i didnt ask you to. I dont have any either and dont want any.

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Traditionally only very low class people had them, common sailors etc. Here we tend to make some distinction between general and cultural tattoos. Gang members and people who have spent a lot of time in prison often have very visible tattoos preventing them from getting jobs and changing their lives.

 

I think no-one should ever get a tattoo they can't cover and if they choose to go round heavily coveted in tattoos they shouldn't complain when little old ladies are scared of them or employers ask them to cover them up.

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This thread is interesting. I will admit that I don't like most tattoos I see, mostly because they aren't well done. I don't have any tattoos now, but I'm turning 50 in a week and I have 3 tattoos planned out that have deep meaning for me. At my age, I don't think I will regret my choices or care how they age. I have been thinking about this for a long time. BTW I got my nose pieced at 46 and have no regrets. Life is too short to worry about what anyone thinks.

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My nephew (RIP) had the most beautiful tortoise shell design tattooed on his back. He was an artist and he drew out the design for the tattoo artist. Personally I wouldn't get tattooed or desire it for my own husband and children, but as an artist I really admire the workmanship and designs of some of the tattoos I have seen. I do not like over tattooing on the body, I can not really appreciate the individual works. I feel the same about art hung in galleries and museums, I do not like crowding of work. I like when my eye can just rest and absorb the individual piece.

 

I don't think tattoo parlors should tattoo inebriated people. A friend's son regrets a tattoo done in a state of stupor. It was a stupid tattoo,too and the Mom feels the parlor took advantage of his non-sober state just for the business.

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As the person who started the "I'm getting a half-sleeve thread"...Tacky and low class- ouch!!

 

I don't mind that people don't like tattoos, certainly. I guess I just didn't know there were still such strong stereotypes about them. I'm newly 30 and they just seem so common to me. :confused: I'm surprised people still feel so strongly about people who have tattoos.

 

I totally understand the hesitations mentioned, though. It's def. something worth thinking about.

 

 

 

Sorry, but I agree with the ugly and tacky crowd. I wonder if it's an age/cultural thing. When I was young only certain types of people got tattoos - and they weren't your normal middle class people. The group usually included druggies and lower class people. Tattoo parlors used to be in the really bad part of town next to the pawn shop. I know cultural tastes change but this is what I think of when I see someone with tattoos.

 

I also think that these types of styles come and go and what are all those people going to do when tattoos are no longer "in". It's not like when long hair a beards went out of style guys could just cut their hair.

 

I have a family member who is a pastor. He's has to visit a lot of older parishioners and he's always said he would NEVER get a tattoo after seeing how gross they get on the elderly. As he would say "They may look nice in your 30s but they look frightening in your 70s,80s and 90s" Of course, my sister (his wife) wants to get one. :laugh:

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I don't like them, for one of two reasons. Either they strike me as tacky/unattractive (I'm sorry but lots of ink on human skin just doesn't resonate with my aesthetic, I guess) OR they strike me as "wannabe" (little butterfly/circle of flowers on ankle of suburban mom). They did used to seem "low class" (because they were more common among blue collar workers than white collar workers) but not so much anymore. Though I have to say, I don't associate them with education or maturity or classiness.

 

I don't care if someone else has one (though it can be distracting to conversation if someone has a huge sleeve tattoo -- kind of like if someone has dramatically dyed hair or something). I just don't care for them myself. There are lots of fashion statements people make that I don't prefer.

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Guest inoubliable

 

Oh, sorry -- I didn't realize this was a resurrected thread. I wouldn't have posted on it if I had (pet peeve).

 

Quite alright! Quick, now! Post another cupcake!

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Another question-- If you view them as tacky/low-class, will you alter your opinion as they become more mainstream? Ear piercing were once tacky/low-class but no one thinks that now. I'm just curious if ideas about tattoos will change in the future. :bigear::bigear::bigear:

 

I didn't read all the posts, but this attitude makes my brain hurt. There are many things that are more mainstream now that I do not agree with or embrace. It's not a popular view, especially in my area, but just because something is "modern" does not mean that it is better than what came before. My opinions are not formed by popular vote.

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I think tattoos are gross.

 

There is a guy who has a tattoo of a naked woman on his arm

and he shows up everywhere we go with his stepson. The stepson

is very nice. The guy is…interesting. They have been around for years

and I hate that he doesn't wear long sleeves around kids.

 

I find it horribly offensive. He goes to all the homeschool events in front

of kids of all ages, and wears his sleeves rolled up. He is a good guy at heart (like most

people) but I think it's gross.

 

It definitely reinforced my negative opinion of people with tattoos. Sorry!

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