# 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:** 9
**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 20, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/162 "2003-06-20T04:40:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Maud’Dib_ > 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. Then why did you start this thread, you fucking jackass? ---
**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, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/163 "2003-06-20T04:41:38Z")
Reread the last paragraph you illiterate fuckwit. ---
**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 20, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/164 "2003-06-20T05:07:51Z")
Oh, you mean the part where you use your psychic powers to see into the very minds of young girls and read their deepest desires and motivations? Shouldn’t you be out fighting crime with that shit? ---
**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, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/165 "2003-06-20T05:11:50Z")
Oh I do. I am known as the _Midnight Stalker_. Protector of the innocent, scourge of the skanky. ---
**Author:** ![Lilairen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lilairen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilairen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/166 "2003-06-20T05:21:46Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com)’s relevant definition of ‘skank’: One who is digustingly foul or filthy and often considered sexually promiscuous. Used especially of a woman or girl. Nope, can’t imagine how anyone would miss the obvious teasing whimsy there or associate the word with “whore”. ---
**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, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/167 "2003-06-20T05:36:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lilairen \* > \*\*[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com)’s relevant definition of ‘skank’: One who is digustingly foul or filthy and often considered sexually promiscuous. Used especially of a woman or girl. > > Nope, can’t imagine how anyone would miss the obvious teasing whimsy there or associate the word with “whore”. \*\* 1. I already apologized for that. 2. You don’t have a very good imagination. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/168 "2003-06-20T06:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\* > … > > 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. > … > > Again, I never said that any one is a “skanky ho”, and I never even said “skanky ho”. > … > Not only did I never once use the term “ho’s” > … > \*\* [Yes you did.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3565151#post3565151) > [@](#): > > So in closing, tattoos almost always make ya’all look like cheap skanky ho’s. ---
**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, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/169 "2003-06-20T06:27:53Z")
Whoops, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/170 "2003-06-20T08:17:54Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Your post basically says that all women get tattoos to look more attractive to men, that we are too stupid to understand that it makes us less attractive to men and that what’s most unattractive about it is that it makes men think we have been abused or have willingly had too much sex. You also spend a lot of time arguing why it’s very important for women to accept these prejudices because they’re just the way it is and must be. I am thinking you don’t feel sexism is as bad as racism. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/171 "2003-06-20T18:31:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dangerosa \* > \*\*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. \*\* That’s funny, because I consider tatooing to be one of the _highest_ forms of art. By its very nature, art is something that is personal and private. We can discuss art collectively, we can communiate our views and our values, but ultimately our experience with a work of art is exclusively our own. Nothing expresses that concept like a tattoo. It is a very personal, very power form of expression. I find it different to understand how anyone could not consider tattoos art. And as for their “classiness”… What is “classy” (or to borrow from another thread, “professional”) is an arbitrary standard. I’d say your standard coincides with the current mainstream standard, but that wasn’t always the case, and that likely won’t always be the case in the future. It’s likely that tattoos won’t be accepted in a “professional” sphere for quite some time, but I consider that unfortunate. They’re not for everyone, certainly, but they do suit the people who have them quite well. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/172 "2003-06-20T18:44:32Z")
All I know is that if Winston Churchill’s mom and Wilford Brimley gots tattoos, then I’m in good company! So there! Pbbbblt! 😉 ---
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/173 "2003-06-20T18:49:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Your post basically says that all women get tattoos to look more attractive to men, that we are too stupid to understand that it makes us less attractive to men… No I don’t. > [@](#): > > …and that what’s most unattractive about it is that it makes men think we have been abused or have willingly had too much sex. That is a loaded way to put it, but yes, most of the time I do believe tattoos look cheap. > [@](#): > > You also spend a lot of time arguing why it’s very important for women to accept these prejudices because they’re just the way it is and must be. That is not necessarily the way it must be (look at Samoa), but otherwise yes. Remember what I said about the guy with the open facial wound? I don’t care how much it means to you, if you are walking down the street with a large festering wound on your face people are going to think that you are a freak. > [@](#): > > I am thinking you don’t feel sexism is as bad as racism. Fuck you. Sexism has nothing to do with it. I am thinking that you are someone who reads what they want into an argument rather than what is said. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/174 "2003-06-20T18:50:10Z")
Hell with the company **XJETGIRLX** (is this a reference to an Naomi Watts film char?), tattoos, and piercings, are sexy as all hell!! OK, I am biased I have (as a male) a fair number of both - funnily enough I also work in a white collar job - and wear my facial piercings. Girls I find attractive - pierced and/or tattooed as well. They are not boring and mundane. Thinking about it (and I am in my mid thirties), I cannot remember thae last time I dated someone without piercings and tatts ---
**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, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/175 "2003-06-20T19:29:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stricker van Gogh \* > \*\*That’s funny, because I consider tatooing to be one of the _highest_ forms of art. > > By its very nature, art is something that is personal and private. We can discuss art collectively, we can communiate our views and our values, but ultimately our experience with a work of art is exclusively our own. > > Nothing expresses that concept like a tattoo. It is a very personal, very power form of expression. > > I find it different to understand how anyone could not consider tattoos art. And as for their “classiness”… What is “classy” (or to borrow from another thread, “professional”) is an arbitrary standard. I’d say your standard coincides with the current mainstream standard, but that wasn’t always the case, and that likely won’t always be the case in the future. > > It’s likely that tattoos won’t be accepted in a “professional” sphere for quite some time, but I consider that unfortunate. They’re not for everyone, certainly, but they do suit the people who have them quite well. \*\* I know what you mean. I do not believe that there is anything intrinsically bad about tattoos, and they very well could be a high form of art someday (especially once they stop trying to make the body conform to the tattoo and instead make the tattoo conform to the body), but until then there is a stigma that is not without cause attached to them that people have to live with. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/176 "2003-06-20T19:29:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UnwrittenNocturne \* > (is this a reference to an Naomi Watts film char?) Why yes, yes it is! > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Muad’Dib_ > That is not necessarily the way it must be (look at Samoa), but otherwise yes. Remember what I said about the guy with the open facial wound? I don’t care how much it means to you, if you are walking down the street with a large festering wound on your face people are going to think that you are a freak. Actually, the first thing that would go through my mind is “The poor dear! I hope it’s not too painful!” You see, **Muad** hon, we don’t all immediately try to filter people into our own little categories of where they fit on our social spectrum. Some of us just see people. I respect your right to your opinion, and I don’t think a single one of us has tried to wrest you of it, merely point out the other side. It’s sad that some of us get so defensive when talking about these kinds of things. Rather than trying to understand each other’s viewpoints (i.e., why you think they look bad, why we think they don’t make us look cheap) there’s this wall put up immediately. I’m sorry that you feel the way you do, but as you have so forcefully pointed out the way you present yourself affects others’ opinion of you. I hope your close-mindedness in this respect does not keep you from meeting some wonderfully intelligent, fabulous tattooed person some day that meets your standards of class and respectability. Stranger things have happened, you know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/177 "2003-06-20T21:00:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > \*\*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. \*\* i agree too. i mean, you see a perfectly beautiful young lady, she happens to bend over slighty, and you catch a glimpse of some big ol’ tribal tatooo on her back! I can’t help but think “wtf!? don’t you know thats just a fad?” Its SO Rid-icu-lous! ---
**Author:** ![Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/178 "2003-06-20T21:10:52Z")
also, i speak from experience. when i was a tween-ager i got a tattoo of a butterfly and i thought it was the coolest thing ever. I loved it. That love soon faded to regret and now as a women in my 30’s - i fucking hate it! its looks so trashy and just plain dumb - ruining my otherwise beautiful breast. I WILL get removed! ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/179 "2003-06-20T21:20:04Z")
Okay – one more thing and I’ll shut up. Seriously. How in the name of all that is holy can you keep tossing around that word ‘fad’? I mean, for chrissake, people have been tattooing themselves for just about as long as anyone knows! If you wanna harsh on specific _types_ of tattoos and flash, go ahead (I’d be glad to contribute to that list) but continuing to say that people who are tattooed in general are following a fad is akin to saying anyone who has ever gotten their hair cut is following a fad. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/180 "2003-06-20T21:25:05Z")
I’d love to see what the people who are against tattoos look like. I’d like to see if they look “trashy,” “skanky,” or “classy.” Personally, I have been told I look very classy, and my tattoos are almost always showing. I also get complimented on my appearance almost daily. It’s the total package, not the tattoo that defines your image. ---
**Author:** ![Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983/181 "2003-06-20T21:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > \*\* > How in the name of all that is holy can you keep tossing around that word ‘fad’? \*\* its a fad cause its a phase. Especially with young girls (like myself) who think that getting tats are ‘so cool’ but later end up regretting it because, quite frankly, it just looks stupid. serious, what 20 yr girl is going to think her ‘tribal back tattoo’ is cool when she enters her 30’s? Probably not many:dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-stop-getting-all-of-these-tattoos-ya-look-skanky/181983.md?page=10)