Tattoos, just a stereotype?

[bikerphil]

I have one tattoo on my arm and it goes to church with me for weddings and funerals.

[strich82]

Nothing wrong with them!!

I personally have 4.. a Skull with crossed pistons on my left forearm, a cross on right forearm, and two others on both upper arms. I have plans for many more in the future. All of mine have a story and a purpose behind them also.
But if my wife (Who has 3 herself) didnt hold me back from running into every tattoo parlor i come across..i would probably be fully sleaved by now. But like alot of you have mentioned on here it is a personal choice and not for everyone.


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currently own 1979 xs1100 special

[madmax-im]

I like tatoos' just not on me. What each individual decides to do with their body is of no concern to me. A couple of things prevent me from ever getting one...1st) I freaking hate needles 2nd) because of being hearing impaired my other senses are heightened especially pain receptors in my skin...3rd) my religioous upbringing forbids it 4th)being 56 yrs old I grew up with members of my family who were survivors of the Nazi Holocaust...they all had tatooed serial numbers on their wrists...I can recall seeing them.The one time I mentioned to my parents that I might have an interest in a tatoo was enough to send them over the edge. These days we are clear of those dark times but the indoctrination I reccieved has not dissapated.

[oldyam80sg]

Got tattooed when i was 18 and have several-5 to be exact.Don't really see the big deal as they are mostly hidden by a shirt except for the one on my right forearm.The girl that I'm currently dating doesn't know i have any yet!

[tbishop11]

Boss the plane the plane! "tattoo"?

I think that it is a interesting stereotype I recently had a comment on my web page about it? Click here to see it in the comment section below the pics.
"Shop"

[fredintoon]

Got tattooed when i was 18 and have several-5 to be exact.Don't really see the big deal as they are mostly hidden by a shirt except for the one on my right forearm.The girl that I'm currently dating doesn't know i have any yet!

Hi Oldyam,
how many dates and still you've kept your shirt on? I was 51 years old when circumstances had me dating again and even I moved faster than that.

[oldyam80sg]

Well lets see-been married 2 times currently divorced and looking.Last woman i dated did not like looking at all the tattoos and thought they were"gross".So she went away-Thank God!

[DenyP]

I am an old guy! I thing the art is great on young guys and gals. Don't think I would like it on older folks! Like a sad cartoon!

Deny

[Jerry]

Many people in my generation (I'm 56) still associate them with military service or gangs. Gang tattoos are on the rise. Working in a Sheriff's Office I see tattoos all the time, mostly on imates incarcerated here, but a few co-workers also have some. We have accumulated quite a library of gang-related tattoo photos, some quite intricate. Personally I don't find them attractive nor would I want one. Of course, I don't even wear a watch, and my wedding band is a pretty simple ring. Personal choice, I guess, but a tat is not in my future. On the other hand, I do have a beard.

Jeff Foxworthy has a great bit an tattoos. I don't think it is on-line, at least I can't find it, but it is worth listening to if you see him on TV sometime.

[bigray03]

Have 10 or 11?????

It's not a biker thing at all just one of those things. The dumbest most idiotic thing I have ever heard anti tattoo people say is, "They are pretty on you now but what about when you are 80 and have old skin and it looks like a blob?" What the hell kind of ignorant remark is that?? When I'm 80 and have old saggy skin like a turkey neck, what the hell difference will a blob make anyway?? Friggin stupid!!!! There are still folks who are on the stupid side that sterotype tattoos no matter what but it's just ignorance. I have met some of the most clean cut people who look nice but are the biggest piece of **** back stabbing, self center, worthless piece of **** people. I have met the same on the tattooed side as well. That goes for the other side of the fence as well. You don't know **** until you know the person, not their skin.
The same ones who make the ugly face when they see a visual tattoo on a person without ever even talking to that person are usually the ones who are hung up on theN WORDand make the ugly face at that too. STUPIDITY AND IGNORANCE WILL GET US NO WHERE PEOPLE!!

[bigray03]

Excuse my rant..

I'm just pulling from my own experience from what i've seen in my little home town areas where these stupid fags are 60, work the same ol job at the same ol place all their life, seeing the same faces every day for 40 years and never been anywhere or seen anything in their sad misserable boring lives. They fish, hunt, and have been on vacation to the beech twice and one cruise to Mexico.
Come the fuc_ on now. What the hell do these hardware store owners know about people, places, cultures, variety, personalities, and all the things that make our country and world interesting and great. But yet, always the ones to open their loud, dumb, mouth about everything. They piss me off!!

[DJinNH]

BigRay....Try the Lexapro 20 mgs, it'll take the edge off. I've been on it for years and it's probably saved a few lives.

Don

[DGXSER]

It ain't just tattoos Ray....

That mentality is just that...a mentality. Most folks that have it apply it alot broader that just to tattoos, usually to anything that is different from them.

In the short life span I have been around, mere 43 years, I have traveled a fair piece of the country though mostly the eastern side of the big river. No matter where you go or when, there will be those types of people. Get used to it, and get past it. You just ignore them and move on. To give that type of opinion time and consideration is to validate it, which I refuse to do. And since logic and rationalization is not a part of the development of this opinion, neither will diswade it, so it is not worth trying. Turn the other cheek so to speak (in my mind that equates to show em my backside as I walk away) and forget it like the last thing I flushed. Getting frustrated and or upset by it, is just not worth the time and energy that takes.

[DJinNH]

That mentality is just that...a mentality. Most folks that have it apply it alot broader that just to tattoos, usually to anything that is different from them.

In the short life span I have been around, mere 43 years, I have traveled a fair piece of the country though mostly the eastern side of the big river. No matter where you go or when, there will be those types of people. Get used to it, and get past it. You just ignore them and move on. To give that type of opinion time and consideration is to validate it, which I refuse to do. And since logic and rationalization is not a part of the development of this opinion, neither will diswade it, so it is not worth trying. Turn the other cheek so to speak (in my mind that equates to show em my backside as I walk away) and forget it like the last thing I flushed. Getting frustrated and or upset by it, is just not worth the time and energy that takes.

Yep...my son was just home on leave from the U.S. Marine Corps. Even with all those so-called "Disgusting" tatoos, he's still the very polite and respectful young man he has aways been. Go figure....

Don

[Jerry]

Well, the question of this thread was if opinions on tattoos were just a stereotype.

Tattoos have historically been a means of showing membership or affiliation. While there has been a recent trend to regard tattoos as fashion statements, the fact remains....tattoos overmhelmingly are still used to show membership or affiliation.

I suggest you stop in at your local County jail and ask officer friendly how many gang-bangers, druggies, and additcts don't have tatoos, then watch his/her face try not to laugh.

I agree...not everyone with a tattoos falls into that category. My assistant, for one, has some very interesting tattoos and I hired him. He has no criminal history, or service history, for that matter. He is a very good guy, good father, and excellent PC tech.

However, he has been asked - many times - how many years he served in prison because of the shoulder - to - wrist tattoos he has on both arms. I have been asked - more than once - if I ran background checks on him before he was hired. (Being a government agency, everyone gets background checks before being hired, including me.)

I came of age in the counter-culture of the late '60s and early '70s. Had long hair, wore sandals, sang anti-war songs. I agree with the argument that each person whould be judged on his/her own merits, but also know that impressions make a difference. Tattoos give a definite impression, often not positive.

That may not be "right", but that is the way society is put together. As long as you realize that there is no problem. Tattoos are common in the criminal world, and if you get a tattoo you will have automatically acquired a suspicion, right or wrong, that you are part of that culture. You will have to deal with it.

After all, if it made no difference to anyone, why get a tattoo in the first place?