# Girls, stop getting all of these tattoos, ya look skanky. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983 "2003-06-15T07:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/142 "2003-06-17T21:50:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > Mainly I hate this because it makes girls look much worse than they are. It is an intentional, needless, blemish on what is too beautiful to deserve such mistreatment. I’m a little late to this pile-on, but this is the sentiment that sets me on edge. It reminds me of hearing an old lady act like it pains her to see a beautiful young girl “ruin” her looks by cutting her hair short. It amounts to an inability to acknowledge that someone else’s tastes have merit, even if you don’t agree with them. > [@](#): > > Can you think of any famous beauty that had on obvious tattoo? This is a bullshit argument. Hollywood’s idea of beauty is so narrow that I can find countless gorgeous women that would never qualify as “beauties” in that sense. Hollywood beauty is so homogenized that the “ugly girl” is often played by a complete knockout who’s a little less traditional-looking. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that leading ladies don’t generally sport tattoos. Hollywood uses things like tattoos, piercings, and ripped jeans as shorthand for bad or sleazy, and you’re buying right into it. Hint: if you meet a guy in a black cowboy hat, he’s not necessarily bad. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/143 "2003-06-17T22:06:18Z")
Famous beauty? Didn’t Elisabeth of Austria have a tattoo? And she was considered one of the most beautiful women of her day! ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/144 "2003-06-17T22:07:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > **I guess what I’m trying to get at is that no one has given any underlying rationale as to why they feel tattoos make one look skanky other than ‘they just do’.** I did. Perhaps you didn’t see it as you posted just before me. [/quote] Although quite a few middle-class, professional, educated women are getting tattoos now, in the past that wasn’t true. While individuals may buck the statistics, on the whole working-class and underclass women are far more likely to have tattoos than middle-class women.\* That is based on my own personal observations, since I can’t find any cites correlating class/income and tattooing, but I think my observations are valid, at least for the UK. Thus for many people there is a strong association between tattoos and low socioeconomic status. It’s class prejudice. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/145 "2003-06-18T00:58:03Z")
I don’t think they make people look skanky. But with a few exceptions I don’t think of body art as Art. To me, its like permanently doodling Kilroy was here on you. Not the classiest thing. Your choice. You are an adult. But it doesn’t strike me as classy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/146 "2003-06-18T01:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dangerosa_ > To me, its like permanently doodling Kilroy was here on you. Seriously, you have no idea how close I came to getting that for my first tattoo. It was that, or my clan insignia ([viz.](http://highlandscots.com/images/gifts/stickers/clan_cameron.jpg)), and I decided to go traditional. Maybe for my next one… ---
**Author:** ![j\_kat\_251](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@j\_kat\_251](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_kat_251)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/147 "2003-06-18T01:39:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Alyssa Milano Cute she may be, but isn’t she also, uh, THE BIGGEST FUCKING TART ON THE PLANET? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/148 "2003-06-18T02:09:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j\_kat\_251 \* > \*\*Cute she may be, but isn’t she also, uh, THE BIGGEST FUCKING TART ON THE PLANET? \*\* Holy shit, man. On a list of thirty seven Hollywood sexpots, you managed to find one that has a reputation for being a slut. You must be a fucking detective. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/149 "2003-06-18T07:47:01Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > \*\*Tattoos on women can be [memorable](http://www.reelclassics.com/Movies/Philstory/philstory-lydia.htm). \*\* That was _The Philadelphia Story_? Why do I associate that song with Groucho? And when did people start having Social security numbers, anyhow? ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/150 "2003-06-18T10:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > Caption says its a Turkish design ([http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30611/high/l5pmady5.jpg](http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30611/high/l5pmady5.jpg) For all you know the girl next door is sporting something like this) Thanks for restoring my faith in the SDMB. I was just going to complain that here we have a thread about body art, and no one has posted gratuitous skin. My 2 cents: the OP is a judgmental wanker. There are plenty of beautiful women with tattoos. But here’s the important part - they’d be just as beautiful without them. I’m not sure I understand the desire to have one, but far be it from me to look down on anyone for it. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/151 "2003-06-18T17:05:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > **If you lived on a dessert island somewhere, or were just basically guaranteed to never see another human being 99% of people would not get tattoos.** Well, yes, there might be a distinct lack of decent tattoo artists. :rolleyes: However, I’d be quite happy to sit there myself with a bit of sharpened shell and some ash from the fire or maybe squid ink and tattoo myself. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/152 "2003-06-18T17:32:54Z")
I guess I’m in the minority here. I completely agree with **Muad’Dib**. There’s no bigger turn-off than tattoos on an otherwise beautiful woman. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/153 "2003-06-18T18:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Indygrrl \* > \*\*“The only difference between people who have tattoos and people who don’t, is that people who have tattoos don’t mind that you don’t have any.” \*\* Yup. You can say that about smokers, too. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/154 "2003-06-18T19:02:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*I know several people with highly visible tattoos who are intelligent and articulate, but quite frankly they are in the minority. Most of the people I know with highly visible large tattoos are lower middle class and underclass people who are poorly educated but _not_ at all un-intelligent. Interestingly the poorest and/or less well educated people are often the ones that seem to have given the most deliberation and thought to their tattoos and what they want them to represent. \*\* Well, since someone brought up a specific body part, here’s one I’ve got to ask. It may seem like I’m being a real dick here, but that’s nothing new. Anyone ever seen a guy with a _neck tattoo_ that didn’t look like a total thug? Or, as Jackmannii put it, “likely to wind up on the forensic pathologist’s examining table”? Just wondering - because I haven’t. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/155 "2003-06-18T19:15:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Indygrrl_ > “The only difference between people who have tattoos and people who don’t, is that people who have tattoos don’t mind that you don’t have any.” And while this is a nice thought…it isn’t true. I remember being twenty two and having a few tattoo’d friends badger me about getting a tatoo. And I remember being 29 and having a jerk boyfriend think I should get one because it was “sexy.” And my grandfather had a tatoo from the Navy that his friends “helped” him get while he was drunk one night. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/156 "2003-06-18T20:09:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Merijeek \* > \*\*Well, since someone brought up a specific body part, here’s one I’ve got to ask. It may seem like I’m being a real dick here, but that’s nothing new. > > Anyone ever seen a guy with a _neck tattoo_ that didn’t look like a total thug? Or, as Jackmannii put it, “likely to wind up on the forensic pathologist’s examining table”? > > Just wondering - because I haven’t. > > -Joe \*\* I have, 90% of them tattoo artists. One of my best friends from college on is a tattoo artist, and judging from the opinions of my female friends, movie star good-looking (fucker). 😉 If you were to see him instead of “thug” you’d more likely think “what a shame that guy marred his otherwise striking good looks with large visible tattoos, including some on his neck.” ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/157 "2003-06-18T21:01:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pravnik \* > \*\*I have, 90% of them tattoo artists. One of my best friends from college on is a tattoo artist, and judging from the opinions of my female friends, movie star good-looking (fucker). 😉 If you were to see him instead of “thug” you’d more likely think “what a shame that guy marred his otherwise striking good looks with large visible tattoos, including some on his neck.” \*\* I’ll bet anything that the tattoos are part of what makes him so sexy to women. I think tattoos are sexy as hell, on men and women. Tattoo artists almost always get laid. Some of us women just can’t resist. Also, I have a tattoo on the back of my neck, but I’m not a thug. Of course, you said “guys” so I guess it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/158 "2003-06-18T21:25:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Most of the people I know with highly visible large tattoos are lower middle class and underclass people who are poorly educated but not at all un-intelligent. Interestingly the poorest and/or less well educated people are often the ones that seem to have given the most deliberation and thought to their tattoos and what they want them to represent. Lower middle/underclass people with HUGE tats? While I am sure the economic backround of a person does play into what a person can have inked, are you aware the cost of a large tattoo? Unless you do it bit by bit over years, there’s no way a person of the lower middle/underclass can pop off the money. They can easily run into the 5-10K range. Poorly educated? Well, garsh. Looking around at my circle of pals, there’s 14 that are tattooed. Of the 14, two have masters degrees, nine have bachelors degrees, and two have associate degrees, but are working on bachelors degrees. The remaining one has his high school diploma, but learning disabilities combined with a healthy dose of life have precluded him from venturing further into higher education. Of the 14, five work in the IT industry and have been quite successful, two are student attorneys, one is a social worker, and two are police officers. Know what? We _all_ thought long and hard about what we were going to have inked _because we understand that they are on us forever_. Oops, must go now. Bubba needs his Hambuger Helper and Budweiser before rasslin’ comes on the tube. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/159 "2003-06-18T21:27:35Z")
hmmm, never knew tattoos were so popular, and defended with such zeal. That means that Ashcroft and his gang should face little resistance when the next portion of the patriot act is in place, and social security number tattoos become mandatory, on the forhead. Afterall, the bearer will get to choose the ink colors, and script. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/160 "2003-06-18T21:33:19Z")
hmmm, never knew tattoos were so popular, and defended with such zeal. That means that Ashcroft and his gang should face little resistance when the next portion of the patriot act is in place, and social security number tattoos become mandatory, on the forhead. Afterall, the bearer will get to choose the ink colors, and script. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/161 "2003-06-20T04:21:37Z")
Hello, sorry I took so long in responding, I have not been getting home until about 1am each day and that is about the time when the boards shut down. Also, this took a long time to write. I was originally going to go through each post one by one and argue against each , but that just turned into a big mess. So instead I will try to distill the main points here and respond to a few specific posts. 1. First off, I never called anyone a whore. It was **JavaMaven1** who first introduced the term “skanky ho”, please stop putting words in my mouth as according to most of you I already have a pretty big foot in there. Secondly I never said that people who get tattoos **are** skanky, ugly etc. I said it makes them look like it. Yes **Miller** , that is a huge f’ing difference. Even then, I never said that it was a zero sum game. If a girl has one trivial tattoo on the small of her back, she looks far, far better than the girl with multiple, random tattoos covering various portions of her body. 2. I should not criticize this, it is only my opinion. No kidding it is my opinion! Does this mean I don’t get to have one? I said that I think that most tattoos look skanky. You don’t like that? Well grow up and learn to deal with it. Not everyone has the same thoughts and opinions as any of you. Are there are no styles of clothes that you think are ugly and make the people who were them look foolish? Because if their are, then you are apparently just a close-minded prick. How dare any of you attack me, not for holding that opinion, but for holding **an** opinion! Most of the flames on here are not about whether or not they disagree with me, but just that I am an asshole for holding a viewpoint they don’t like. Many of you say that I am a bastard for “judging” anyone. This argument is one that is used a lot in this thread, and the funny thing is that I don’t think that any of you actually believe it. Do you really believe that all value judgments are baseless? That I like this and you like that for no reason whatsoever except for the random caprice of the universe? If so, then you have no valid right to pass judgment on any fashion, art, movie music, book, etc. After all, it is _only your opinion_, and that is just as baseless as any other, so how dare you try to judge anything? No one actually believes that relativist garbage, and after a moments thought, no rational person would want to. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fizzestothetop \* > \*\*Remind me again, why should I care what you think? > … > If you don’t like tattoos that’s great. More power to ya. Nobody is gonna hold you down and forcibly tattoo you. But please just because you don’t like it is no need to insult those of us who do. That’s just rude. And 90% percent of the women I just polled said they found rude behavior to be very unattractive and that it makes a man look boorish and self-centered. \*\* Again, I never said that any one is a “skanky ho”, and I never even said “skanky ho”. You don’t really have to care what I think, especially if you are one of those people (as you seem to be) who do genuinely like tattoos. However, if you were one of those girls who are getting a tattoo just because they want to be hip, you should care because I am trying to warn and stop you from making a silly mistake that you will likely regret. You don’t have to listen to me, or respect what I have to say, but there is a reason for me to say it even if you don’t like or agree with it. As to the insulting part, I do sincerely apologize for that. When I first posted about this in the other thread, I was not trying to be insulting and meant for “skanky” to come off as playful and tongue-in-cheek. If I had it to do over again, I would use a word like “yucky” instead to give that affect. But after reading through many of these posts, I am starting to care less and less about insulting some of these people. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*Thanks, **jjimm** and **guinastasia**. If **Muad’Dib** called ME a skanky ho, I’d probably just laugh. But watch out for Mama Tiger! (Gee, maybe I should change my username – wonder if that one is taken?) > > Everyone’s entitled to an opinion. But calling women who get tattoos hos is gratuitous, unnecessary, and sexist. I’ve noticed that while most women who get tattoos tend to plan the designs carefully, far too many guys just have a random assortment of whatever struck their fancy that night they were shitfaced slapped on wherever there’s room. Have you looked at some of the NBA players recently? And **Muad’Dib** calls WOMEN skanky for their small, tasteful tattoos??? \*\* Here is a good example of several of the attacks here. Fuck you and learn how to read. Not only did I never once use the term “ho’s”, **I never once said that women who get tattoos _are_ skanky.** I said that it looks skanky. Have you never said in your life “that looks stupid”? Because if you did you must have meant that the person has a low IQ. Why don’t you go take a few classes in reading comprehension and logic before you EVER call me sexist again. :mad: I do agree with you about guys. I do not think that tattoos look good on guys either, I just think that they look worse on women. Also I do not see any fad pressuring guys to do the same so I did not think of male tattoos as worth commenting on. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > \*\*Just for the fucking hell of it: > > Methinks **Muad’dib** and the likes have just never seen the tattoos on all them nice, respectable women they look up to so much because we keep them under our skivvies. > > I’m sorry, but I find tattoos on women to be incredibly beautiful. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing an incredibly beautiful, well-designed _piece of art_, I submit the following links to pictures on BME. (Warning, graphic: may upset some crybaby fuckwit’s sense of propriety) > > [Gorgeous Art nouveau style](http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30611/high/cavxkpma.jpg) > > Caption says its a Turkish design ([http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30611/high/l5pmady5.jpg](http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30611/high/l5pmady5.jpg) For all you know the girl next door is sporting something like this) > > [Skanky? No, just geeky I’m afraid …](http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A10822/high/back3.jpg) > > [Actually, **Muad’dib** , I take it back. This one’s defnitely a skank.](http://www.bme.freeq.com/tattoo/A30210/high/duneforearm02.jpg) \*\* This is true. Most often tattoos just look like blemishes, some picture randomly placed on the skin that does not fit at all with the person as a whole as if slapping an ugly band sticker on the back of a car. I remember once seeing a documentary (I think it was “The Human Animal”) staring Desmond Morris. In it he said that anthropologists have found only two things which are universally considered beautiful, these are youth, and nice skin. Combined with the instinctual desire for symmetry in beauty, most tattoos fly in the face of this. Ironically the closest exception to the “nice skin” requirement was in Samoa where, you guessed it, tribal tattoos are considered extremely attractive. But even this is not so contrary as such tribal tattoos actually conform to the body. Most tattoos do not, they are distracting imperfection placed with no rhyme or reason. I should mention that I have once seen a tattooing that I thought was beautiful, an improvement. I do not know quite how to describe it except to say that it was almost like an animal print that flowed along the curves of the woman’s neck and shoulders. It looked like it fit there, as if it had naturally grown in this place and something would be missing if it were gone. If you saw a child or an old woman with it, it would still look nice, it would still belong. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JavaMaven1 \* > \*\*I’ve decided to get a tattoo in your honor, **Muad’dib**. > > I think one of a [bean, beef, and cheese burrito](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=101687&highlight=beef+burrito) would be appropriate, don’t you think? \*\* Cool. :), I wanna see pictures! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pokey \* > \*\*No the point is WHAT THE FUCK IS A SKANK? A woman whose sex life you disapprove of? Or a woman who was _sexually abused_? What the FUCK!? What’s **offensive** is that anyone would think his sexist judgements of women he does not know matter one whit to the general female population. > … > When I was about seven years old I was out having dinner with my family and I saw a woman with a tattoo. It was the first time I’d ever seen a woman with a tattoo and I was excited because I didn’t know women ever had them. I’ll never forget it. I said to my dad, “women can have tattoos?” He said, “well they _can_ but it makes them look cheap.” I was so deflated. It was one of my earliest experiences with senseless double standards. A tattoo has always symbolized something important to me about not being on this planet to make some guy I’ve never met feel like the king. > > Mine are visible. I have them where I can see them all day long because I love them. I love everything about them. And I really love that they seperate me from the type of person who thinks _women should not do things that make them look unattractive._ \*\* Good point, I do not have any specific definition of what a skank is, but cheap does seem to be the closest approximation. Your father was right, but they do also make men look cheap. As to the last part, well that is a beautiful empty little statement. I did not say that women that women should never do anything that might make them ugly, don’t imply that I did. And don’t be so naive as to imply that people should not make some decisions based on how it will effect their looks. Appearance is a value to people (as it must be for someone who gets a tattoo, even if they do not let anyone else see it), and as with all values, people do not willy-nilly go about trashing it. I don’t really care how much you may love your tattoos. If I had a large, festering open wound on my face that I prevented from healing because it held a deep and personal significance for me, it would not make it any less ugly, or make anyone else a jerk for thinking so. BTW, did you know that men can wear dresses to, but they still look like weirdo’s when walking down the street. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > \*\* > This thread has shown how threatened most people can become when faced with something that doesn’t fit their standards of normal or logical. \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > \*\*And that’s not exactly what I meant. But apparently the whole thing tends to raise your hackles a bit, and you feel a need to assign some rationale to behavior that you don’t understand. Your defenses are raised a bit, and your mind is closed in the process. Therefore, in my mind that makes it seem as though it’s all a bit threatening as an overall idea. > > How do you know that someone with a tattoo of barbed wire is trying to be tough? How do you know that it’s not symbolic of something personal to them? > > I guess what I’m trying to get at is that no one has given any underlying rationale as to why they feel tattoos make one look skanky other than ‘they just do’. I’m not trying to change your mind, I just can’t understand what it is about having tattoos that makes you feel this way. \*\* Threatened? Don’t be so intellectually dishonest as to pull crap like that in an argument. I think that most tattoos are ugly, being threatened has nothing to do with it and you know it. Saying something like that is cheap, stupid, and sad. Also, just to make it clear, I did not say that you are stupid, I said that you did a stupid thing. How do you know that the large, festering facial wound is not special to me? I don’t need to know why they did it or what type of person they are to think that it is ugly. I wonder why this particular criticism got so many of you this mad. Good God, you act as if I have made some sort of racial epithet. I think it might be that deep down in your heart of hearts you know that it is true. Yes, you may very well be a nice wonderful, upstanding church-going citizen who has a tattoo that is very special to you, whether for beauty or some personal significance (I do not mean to sound sarcastic there), but there are a whole hell of a lot of people with tattoos that are not like that. Like it or not, the percentage of people with tattoos who are nasty fucked-up individuals is quite a bit higher than those with out. How much you want to bet that if we were too look at the population hardened criminals, porn stars, prostitutes, gang members, etc. have a much greater preponderance of having tattoos? (BTW, for those of you with a reading comprehension of a six year-old (and there seem to be a lot of you), as with the skanky remark, I did not just say that if you have a tattoo you are a prostitute, gang member, etc., get that through your skull before you start posting otherwise.) Like it or not, if you put in your best nose ring, largest tongue stud and roll up your sleeves to expose the barbed wire tattoo, then go out on interviews for a kindergarten teaching position, you are going to have a tough time. If you like tattoos, great, more power to you, but you are going to have to live with any stigma attached to it and no amount of yelling, cursing, or rationalizing is going to make it go away. In the end however, all of this is mostly moot, because I DON’T FUCKING CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT IT! If you are the sort of person who likes tattoos, I don’t really care. I may think that it looks ugly and it was dumb of you to get it, but that is about it. Have you never had a friend who insisted on wearing some ugly piece of clothing, or listen to some really bad music? Remember when I mentioned the one guy who had the fetish for tattoos? Lot’s of tattoos on him and we still manage to hang out. My grandfather has several from the Navy, and I still love him. I posted because I have noticed a recent trend of girls getting tattoos who don’t really want them. Many of them never cared about tattoos before, and still don’t really care, they are getting them mainly because all of their friends are getting them and they want to look “cute” and “hip”. This is also why I said that I especially hated it when a girl had just some small thing on a her hip, because this is the most common type of tattoo one of those followers get. I see a girl with one of those and the first thing I think is “what a fucking sheep”. (Again, for the people who can’t read very well, I did not say that every girl that has a tattoo on her hip is a follower of some stupid fad.) It is an ugly fad that I would like to see ended. If a fad started wherein girls started wearing more make-up than Tammy Faye Baker, I would not hesitate to say that the fad is stupid an y’all look like clowns. But that would be wrong to criticize. After all, it is only my opinion. _Bows deeply and graciously_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983.md?page=9)