<p>A childhood friend and I were just having a conversation about tattoos. She has her PhD and works in education. I was wondering what you folks, the members of CC think about them. Do you think that it’s okay to adorn ones body(neck, face, arms, wrists etc) with them? OR do you think that they should be avoided at all costs because they are tacky & could potentially be career killers?</p>
<p>Where I live, it seems like I see them everywhere. Especially with the teenage population. It’s as if the kids are in a contest, seeing who can cover their bodies the quickest.</p>
<p>I really hate them. So many kidlets cannot wait until their 18th birthday to go get a tattoo. It’s almost like the celebratory drink at 21. One of the witty ones said to me: If my body is my temple, why shouldn’t I decorate the wall? Of course, I feel that you can decorate all you want with drapery and hanging art (clothes and jewelry).</p>
<p>Lol 2nd year seniors! Love it…well, many underage kids go to tattoo parties…OR their parents are giving them permission before the age of 18. I should add that I have an aversion to them as well. Told my kids that they can’t get them until they are 21, if you aren’t allowed to drink, then why should you be mutiliating your body? I would also tell the kids that their bodies were still officially mine until the age of 21. Lol I know it’s extreme but I had to say something to prevent them from making a mistake that’s hard to reverse. DS is almost 23 and he doesn’t have any, has no interest. DD expressed interest when she was 14 or 15. She would chat with her friends about matching butterflies or Harry Potter glasses/scars. I took it upon myself to always point out how women look with them. How they look less than classy & hardened…and how she will stand out in 10 years when her body isn’t festooned with them. </p>
<p>We went to a black tie affair type of wedding reception a few months back and there was a lovely young, tall, drop dead gorgeous woman with a sexy but classy dress on… What was VERY refreshing was that she had no tattoos. Not the norm for what I have seen lately! She looked amazing!</p>
<p>My oldest has two and my youngest got one 2 days after her 18th birthday. Did I approve? Not really. I told them that I grew them from a single cell and that I had done perfect work. They didn’t buy it. Did I forbid them or impose consequences for getting them? No. I did ask that all tats be completely covered by normal work attire, and the kiddos did comply with that request. Sometimes I have nightmares about the oldest one completely covering herself. She has plans for a 3rd when she passes her boards. </p>
<p>I would never get one, and I find the tatoos that cover whole arms, backs, etc disgusting. If someone wants a small tatoo or two somewhere that is less repulsive to me, I guess.</p>
<p>One of my favorite recent quotes, from none other than Teresa Giudice of Real Housewives of New Jersey, when asked if she would get a tattoo. “Would you put a bumper sticker on a Bentley?” </p>
<p>But seriously, think back to the art you hung on your walls in high school and college. What if you HAD to have those same posters, pictures, art hanging on your walls in your home now. </p>
<p>Hate them. Hate. I told all four of my kids financial help for school goes away if there’s a tattoo, point being when they’re out of college they’re older and possibly won’t want one anymore. It’s worked so far as none of them have them and they’re ages 19 to 29. </p>
<p>It’s like permanent jewelry. You can’t change it for the rest of your life. And my dear sister-in-law got a lovely butterfly on her shoulder at age 20 and it just looks like a big blob of blue now - can’t tell what it ever was. So it’s not like they stay what they are when you get them.</p>
<p>On those wedding dress shows the women with tattoos are always trying to either a) cover them up, or b) get a dress that doesn’t “compete” with the tattoos. They probably have to work around those tattoos, fashion-wise, for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>They just give off a rebel vibe. And are you limiting your employment opportunities? Or your spouse’s? Someone told me recently that tattoo removal is the most common plastic surgery in our country. And your skin never, ever looks the same after. </p>
<p>If you apply for a job where I work the cannot be visible. We’ve had very pretty young ladies required to wear long sleeves at all times or have a large banded watch or bracelet to cover a pretty little rose tattoo. It detracts from the professional appearance no matter how small or tame the tattoo. </p>
<p>I was at a nail salon a year ago…a girl walks in with her mom, she was all of 16 and had a tattoo that was like a belt. It encircled her entire waist. Her crop top showed every inch. I then looked at her mom who was middle aged and weathered beyond her years. She looked horrible. I then wanted to ask the youngest of the duo how that tattoo would look when it was competing with stretch marks and middle age fat rolls. Lol Sexy right?</p>
<p>No one is talking to these kids about the future. Everyone is okay with the impulsivity of adolescence. DD hates my old fashioned level headed ideas…LOLOL </p>
<p>I suspect that she will appreciate it at some point. </p>
<p>Always thought of it as a “fad” and tried to explain it as such to my kids. Tough to argue against a “fad” to a younge generation, who will usually just look at you as if “you don’t get it” because you’re old. What THEY don’t get is that if this new fascination and acceptance of tatoos by our younger generations does indeed become a “fad”, they are stuck with the results of this fad for the REST OF THEIR LIVES unless they take drastic (and expensive) measures to remove them. Worse yet for them, as mentioned above, what you think seems “cool” or important to you today may not be so much tomorrow. I guess the yojnger generations haven’t lived long enough to understand the concept of “regret”.</p>
<p>I originally made a deal with my kids. You want a Tatoo? Great, pick out a shirt a wear it (and only it) for the next 6 weeks. You can wash it, sure. But you need to wear the same shirt for at least 6 weeks. If you prove to me that you won’t end up HATING that shirt after those 6 weeks, we’ll talk about your tatoo. But it better be on a place on your body that doesn’t show in your office attire or wedding outfit.</p>
<p>I work with the elderly. What’s funny is that I haven’t seen any older women with tattoos. Only men. Remember, they were for sailors/truckers in the past. Believe you me, they look horrible. What’s funny is when you ask them what the tattoo is, they have no idea. It’s as if the tattoo melts into the skin and is indiscernible. They don’t even remember. Hilarious! </p>
<p>I dislike nearly all of them. I think they are usually tacky and low-class. I think most people will regret them in a decade or so.</p>
<p>When my son was applying to med school, the advisers made it clear to the applicants to NOT have any visible tattoos or piercings other than normal ear-piercings. </p>
<p>When the tattoo fad is over it will be OVER. Those who have lots of visible ink will be representing a very finite period of time and will date themselves more than any hairstyle or clothing choices ever could. It may be acceptable now but I suspect that in the future, people who have visible tats will not be held in high esteem.</p>
<p>The bride at a recent wedding had on a strapless dress and you could see the tops of a couple tattoos peeking out - back and side. I spent time trying to figure out what the rest of the tattoo looked like - a puzzle of sorts to occupy my time instead of paying attention to the ceremony. 8-| Let’s just say it was distracting and leave it at that. (A different wedding dress could have easily covered the tattoos, so I assume that she liked the look.)</p>
<p>Tattoos are a fashion statement, just like those that horrible perm and those “power suits” with the linebacker-approved shoulder-pads I had in the the 80s. Luckily for me, those were not permanent alterations to my look! That’s my main argument against tattoos: “You’ll live to regret it…if you’re lucky.”</p>
<p>S had some kind of weird idea for a tat that he wanted when he was 18 (nine years ago). Something like a boombox with Mickey-Mouse ears on his chest. We remind him of that from time-to-time just to see him flinch at the thought of how close he came to being “that guy”—the one who could never take his shirt off for the rest of his life. </p>
<p>I would add to Elliemom’s statement that they are often a dated fashion statement. Yes, some people today wear mullets, but a trip to a stylist can fix that, and get then into the 21st century. But a trampstamp screams 90’s and early 2000’s and cannot be so easily changed. (My comments refer to visible tatts)</p>
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