Anyone Else Dislike Tattoos

Well I know they do. They seem to be all the rage. Am I the only one that dislikes them. I mean they look OK if you are the right type of person. A tattoo on a big bicep looks OK but when you got these tiny little stick arms it looks dumb.

Like today I saw a guy in his early twenties, he has a Fred Flintstone tattoo saying “Yabba Dabba Doo.” It was a nice piece of work but when he turns 30 is he gonna want it??

I was thinking are these real or the washable kind. Or do people assume they can get it removed. I have heard it isn’t so easy as it seems.

Most tattoos, like most of everything else, are crap. Every now and then, when there’s a first-class inkslinger doing a first-class job on someone who’s having a fitting design done, tats can be quite lovely. It’s the top 1% that inspired the other 99%.

I think they are yucky unless they serve some sort of medical purpose (i.e. that woman who has nearly all of her body covered in tattoos b/c of her weird skin condition).

Don’t like 'em, don’t dislike 'em. A lot depends on the tat, who’s wearing it and how.

Mostly, my first impression is usually negative. But that’s based mostly on a lifelong aversion to fashion in any form. I don’t think, “low class” or “alternative”; I think, “got suckered into a stupid fad”.

The skin decoration in no way subtracts from the real person, but in a purely asethetic sense, I’ve never seen a tattoo that enhanced attractiveness.

Purely a personal quirk of taste, nothing more.

Veb

But of course, mine aren’t stupid cartoon characters, and didn’t get picked off a wall in the Inky’s room.

Mine are pretty much symbolic, and I think they kick ass.

Don’t like em? Tough, that’s you and I’m me, so I’ll keep on ‘collecting’ mine.

-Sam

I have only one. It’s on the small of my back. It’s rather large, but unless I WANT you to see it you won’t. I have been told by men it’s gross for a woman to have a tattoo. However, no man has turned me down because if it!

I wouldn’t “collect” them because it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever done. But I’m with GaWd, I like mine.

Can’t stand the things, unless you’re a biker or a sailor or something (no offense intended to the bikers and sailors). When I see them on an early 20’s girl, I can’t help but think to myself “what is she going to tell her grandchildren about this design on her back?” My soon-to-be better half has said she’d like to get one. I’m usually 110% supportive of anything she wants to do, but tattoos are where I draw the line. The stuff you have to go through to get rid of them is nowhere close to the ease that they’re applied with. When they go out of style in 5 years, there are going to be a lot of sorry people, I think.

What can I say, I prefer an unspoiled body myself.

if it means somethign and looks good, then it’s fine, but if it means nothing or looks like shit, then yuck.

I don’t find them attractive on a woman. That doesn’t mean I can’t find the woman attractive. Only that for me the tattoo detracts from the beauty, rather than enhances. Just an opinion; doesn’t keep me up at nights.

I love 'em. Especially when they say something about the person wearing them.

Mine were thusly inspired. Each one representing a facet of my personality, or symbolic of some rite of passage.

I’ve never even wondered if my tats were attractive or not… except of course when comparing them to someone elses. (lol)

dewt

I’m with GaWd. I love mine. It has a special meaning for me, and it’s not really visible unless I’d wear something backless, which I never do.

Ditto. Mine have significance for me, personally. One is almost always visible, but almost no one notices it - it looks like a bracelet. I’ve even been asked why I don’t take it off. The other is only visible when I want it to be. I love both of those.

Don’t like 'em. They get reall crappy-looking long before you die and they are an identifying mark for the cops.

“Police report the suspect has a large Fred Flintstone tatoo on his right arm.”

A. That’s real recognizable and your ‘friends’ would turn you in in a heartbeat.

B. Would you want the world to know you have a large Fred Flintstone tatoo on your right arm?

Everyone who hates tats assumes that the person getting one is:[ul]1) young,
2) stoopid, and
3) will eventually rue the day they ever got the thing.[/ul]Well, if the first two are true, that last item is inevitable.

I got mine when I was in tech school in 1980. Everybody else went out, got drunk, then went to the tattoo parlor. Then they went out and drank s’more. Some didn’t even recall going to the tattoo artist. I noticed the pattern, and did things a little differently.

I copied something I’d done earlier that represented all the things I felt I was giving up while I was in the service. It’s a profile of a woman’s head with long, flowing hair blowing in the breeze. I took the sketch to the tattoo artist and he liked it so much he gave me a discount (~50% off). It’s high enough on my left shoulder that I can hide it with a sleeve if necessary, but not so high I have to remove my shirt to show it off. Then I went out drinking (hey, it was Friday night). It’s not in color (colors fade more than black ink) and it looks almost like new even 20 years later.

I don’t regret getting mine, but I didn’t drink myself into a stupor trying to convince myself I really wanted one. I’d thought about getting a tattoo for several years beforehand, and did my own artwork. I made my decision while sober, and stayed sober during the “operation”.

If ya don’t want a tattoo, don’t get one. If ya do, then don’t impair your judgement before getting it done. Ask if the artist has photos of his previous work. Ask his customers (especially the repeat customers). Decide for yourself if this guy’s work is good enough for you to wear. Ask yourself if you would like to have that on your bod even after you become CEO of the multinational corporation. If the answer is “no”, then don’t get it done.

~~Baloo

For all those folks who say they hate tattoos…
You might dislike the tattoos you can SEE. Those tattoos inked on arms and legs, that are visible in the night clubs or at the summer carnivals. The tattoos committed to without due care. The tattoos done from peer pressure. The tattoos that aren’t well taken care of, and are smudged and blurry from years of sun damage.

You guys hold some really deep stereotypes.
Back when I used to maintain the Tattoo FAQ for the rec.arts.bodyart newsgroup, some of my best friends I made there were computer geeks, librarians and other professional white-collar workers for whom you would never have guessed of wearing so much as an extra set of earrings.

I personally have well over $1,000 worth of tattoo ink on my body, but you would NEVER see it because none of it shows when I wear regular clothes. All of my tattoos hold special meaning to me… and I spent a lot of money traveling around the country getting the work done by reputable and famous tattoo artists.

…and you know what? I didn’t get this ink to show any of it off to you. I got these for me.

Yes, I’ll admit a lot of people got tattoos when it was faddish to do so. But not everybody who gets them are stupid, shallow, fashion victims or drunk when they get them done (and in fact, the REPUTABLE tattoo artists refuse to work on you if you’ve been drinking).

Pardon me, but you guys might be showing your bigotry.

Like Bio-brat and Sailor, My tatts only show when I want you to see them, are tastefully done in Black, and I didn’t get them while drinking.

They may fade and look crappy, but for a coupla bucks they’ll be touched up when I go for my next tatt…very shortly.

And like Baglady said, I work with white-collared people all day long. Even though they’d assume that I have tattoos, they’d never see them if I didn’t show them.

-Sam

I really, really, really meant Baloo.

Sorry man, forgive me? :slight_smile:

-Sam

I dig demure chick tats, especially on the back of the shoulder and small of the back.

Me too, in a big way. Tattoos on a gal really turn my crank, doubly so if they are well done. :wink:

I’ve had so many people go out and tell me not to get tattoos but I am planning on getting one… when I turn 18 and am legal… I have been told several times about one really good place to go here in this city and I will check it out before I go get it done.

One thing I know for certain this isn’t a spur of the moment thing… I’ve been considering getting one for the last year and the idea still seems okay with me. That definately not going into it without thought. Also several times I’ve considered what I would like to get and though I have changed my mind I keep coming back to the same thing… a Scorpion entwining the Scorpio symbol (You know the one that looks like an M but has a devils tail on it…) I plan on getting it done on the small of my back and that will probably be the only one I get done… though a bracelet one does sound nice too… only maybe I might get an anklet done since I can never buy any… they’re all too small for my ankles.