<p>cartera -See post #153.</p>
<p>cartera, tattoos carried a negative stigma. A stigma that is changing however, it’s past perception is still valued by some today.</p>
<p>Is taste a value?</p>
<p>^If you look at popular culture in America, the resounding answer is no. </p>
<p>And taste is subjective and varies by culture and sociological influence.</p>
<p>from cosmicfish: "… the fact that you and I might make different decisions after that consideration just means that we value different things. "</p>
<p>I do think that this says a lot.</p>
<p>"Isn’t there anybody who thinks some tattoos are attractive and others are ugly? "</p>
<p>Yes. Me. I don’t care for large tattoos, sleeves, things up the neck, snakes, etc. I don’t think they are attractive. I think the beautiful, colorful tattoos that I have are pretty and meaningful and no one has told me they are ugly, even people who don’t like tattoos. I get that not everyone wants to wear artwork on their bodies or do something that permanent. I chose to do so, but what I did is NOT ugly.</p>
<p>There are lots of hairstyles, clothing styles, piercings, ear-thingies etc. that I don’t find attractive at all. I might form an opinion of the person based on them. That’s life.</p>
<p>I think choosing to have a tattoo or not simply reflects a person’s personality and how they like to express it.</p>
<p>I guess it could reflect something more than that if the individual would like to have one but feels restricted by the attitudes of one’s family or peer group or if a person gets one simply to rebel against same.</p>
<p>Taste is in no relation to my post, Hunt. Tattooed people were viewed as “wild”, “rebellious”, and “low class”. Not something you’d want your kids to be viewed as. Today, however, tattoos are perceived less like the above. There is a more positive “air” with tattoos. They are no longer perceived as a direct link to one’s character.</p>
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<p>Taste rarely stands alone. It comes with a lot of projections and perceptions of the society in which it lives.</p>
<p>Unless you think that tattoos are wrong for some religious reason (which some people probably do), it seems to me that the question of whether to get a tattoo boils down to some practical questions (like will it impede your ability to get a job you want), and then aesthetic questions, which matter only if you care what others think. If you do care what others think, this thread, and all the ones before it, tell you that there is a certain percentage of people who don’t like tattoos and think they’re ugly, as well as others who also think they represent poor judgment and/or bad taste. In that respect, this is no different from asking about choice of clothing or hairstyle–except that a tattoo is more permanent, and should be the result of careful thought. I’m sure glad the hairstyle I had in high school wasn’t permanent. (Although I wish the hair was more permanent.)</p>
<p>Taste-as far as tattoos are concerned, certainly SEEM to be a value to some. We have people here who wouldn’t allow a tattooed person into their home to work. It’s assigning a value-associating the tattooed person with some negative such as crime, drugs, untrustworthiness, poor decision making, etc. when simply looking at them. It appears that the TASTE of the person who feels that has become woven into his/her VALUES.</p>
<p>So to me, it DOESN’T separate the inner person from their outward looks. I know too many people whose TASTE, in tattoos or other outward looks has nothing at all to do with their worthiness. Someone who feels otherwise is assigning values in the wrong places.</p>
<p>I would just note here that I have seen plenty of tattoos that seem to indicate something about the person’s values–tattoos often have pretty clear content.</p>
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<p>Yep. Thanks for your honesty. We all form opinions of people based on their appearance, even subconsciously. That doesn’t mean we can’t change our opinion, or even that our opinion is accurate, but we all do it.</p>
<p>Tattoos may indicate the wearer’s values, but they generally do not indicate one’s character.</p>
<p>I define values as relating to one’s principles and standards of behavior. I think it borders on bigotry to judge or speculate as to one’s values or character based on the mere presence of a tattoo. This doesn’t mean that the choice of a particular tattoo may not lead one to question values or character. Those are two different things. Perhaps others define values differently than I.</p>
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<p>True, now, for the most part. It has become mainstream- some regions more than others. But if you look at the history of tatoos in the US, it was, as you stated Niquii, not always the case. It really wasn’t that many years ago when the people in the US who displayed tatoos were primarily gang members or prisoners. And yet, people are amazed that anyone would have any negative feelings when their well-educated suburban teen wants something permanent on their body that, within their parent’s lifetime, was seen as associated with crime and drug use! That’s what I don’t get. The “surprise” that it might be objectionable to some is baffling. I get that many people just don’t care what others think, and that’s fine. But no one should be surprised.</p>
<p>And I would argue that there is still some association with counter-culture and drug use. Many may disagree, but then not everyone lives in the same community.</p>
<p>Growing up in the 70’s, the only people I knew who had tattoos were guys in the Navy. I didn’t know any gang members or people who had been in prison.</p>
<p>Tattoos do have a lot of meaning other than aesthetics to gang members and prisoners. That’s a whole tattoo culture that I have no knowledge of. However, when I had my garage sale, a bunch of young men with shaved heads and massive tattoos all over their scalps came up. I have only seen that look on documentaries of prison gangs. I fully confess that I was genuinely frightened of these guys. They seemed to know that this reaction was present in all the people there and were satisfied by that. Note I said “seemed,” which was clearly a subjective judgment on my part. They left within minutes. I have no idea if I wrongly attributed anything to them, but these guys didn’t look like anyone else I’ve ever seen with tattoos.</p>
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I agree with you. I don’t understand why some are baffled by the objection of tattoos.</p>
<p>Such as this:
*</p>
<p>*selected only because this was the quote closest at hand</p>
<p>Agree with cartera.</p>
<p>I do not think tattoos reflect a person’s values. Values and the way one perceives the world surrounding them change and evolve as the person matures, but an ugly “tramp stamp” done as an act of “rebellion” at 16 stays the same. So when I see an old, ugly generic roses-and-snakes kind of a tattoo, I do not think of the person’s current values or character, but my mind always wonders: was it done at a place that adhered to strict sterility procedures or did the person acquire more than the tattoo? OTOH, a small three-ring Mickey Mouse or another similar symbolic tattoo placed “strategically” so it could be concealed indicates that the person most likely put a lot of thoughts into the selection of the object, did their research and proceeded carefully.</p>