It was just the way you described people as “judgemental” who had said that tattoos were a personal turn-off. You probably didn’t mean it as strongly as I took it, and I’ve been having trouble finding just the right words here to describe a preference without sounding combative to people who don’t share it.
I just needed something to lighten up my post a little bit. We’re sharing opinions, which I like, but I didn’t want to mine to put anyone else on the defensive.
It’s none of my business what anybody else does to their body, but I don’t like tattoos and I wouldn’t get one, either. Somebody has to stick a needle in you, repeatedly. If you aren’t my doctor, and your needle isn’t full of medicine, there ain’t no kind of way you’re getting anywhere near me!
First of all, I think there’s a difference in aesthetic sense operating here. I do not find most tattoos attractive. I have friends who find them wildly attractive. Is that me being judgemental? Well, yeah, the same way me saying I don’t like baroque art is judgemental. I’m not trying to be mean, I just don’t like them. I’m not condemning the people who have them (since I’m one of the few of them who has none). It just doesn’t appeal to me in a strictly visual sense.
That said, I have seen some that were amazing and beautiful, that complimented the person, and found them wondrous to behold. This is a rare occurrence, just like the aforementioned baroque art. Never say never, though. Then, there are the tattoos I see in body mod mags and stuff that are beautiful as art but I cannot understand why someone would want in on his body rather than hanging on his wall. To each his own. It’s not for me to get or not get.
My brother has one on his arm that he got when he was in the Marines. It’s ugly and he agrees, but he doesn’t really seem too worried about it. That’s another difference between the tattooed and non-tattooed. I would go insane if I had a tattoo on my body that I thought was ugly and couldn’t get it removed or fixed for lack of funds. Everyone I know who has multiple tattoos (read: more than 3) has at least one that they think is messed up, or didn’t turn out quite right, or is crooked, or whatever. This does not bother them, which is great-- but it bothers me to see it. It looks bad. I look at a messed up tattoo the same way I’d look at a broken nose that healed wrong. Ouch. That sucks, too bad for him/her. Not sexy, certainly.
That said, I would never forego dating someone because of a tattoo, or even several. They don’t bother me THAT much. If the person is happy with the art, and s/he likes it, I think that’s great. I considered getting one for deeply personal reasons, but I chickened out because, as I said, if it came out wrong, I’d freak.
I do. Just look at the header.
I find tattoos interesting and often a small visual insight into someone’s personality. For instance, the trendy tribal arm rings, etc. could indicate someone is shallow. Of course, these are generalisations. I intend to get a tattoo soon, but i’ve been considering this for about 3-4 years now, as it’s not something you should rush into. And it will have meaning to me for as long as I live and will be in a discrete place. I intend to have several actually, simply because I like them, when they mean something.
Generally speaking, I’m not much into tattoos. Some look good, many look bad. The former Pricegal had one small-of-the-back tattoo (she got it before it was trendy, though, and she was very pissed that it had become a trend and everyone assumed she got it to be trendy) which I found very attractive, especially during certain amorous activities that are often described as being canine in nature. Tattoos are not the huge turnoff for me that they are for some, though.
Piercings, however… man, those things are ugly. I’ve never seen a piercing I liked. Not even an ear piercing, but lifelong conditioning has lessened my revulsion to them. The only thing that could make me do a Clothahump and get out of there would be a pierced nipple.
Well put. I feel exactly the same way.
Probably ruined her life. I doubt that she’ll ever get a guy to sleep with her now. Man, you dodged a bullet there.
Don’t like tattoos? Oh no! I doubt this is possible, but maybe the people who got them weren’t thinking about you and your likes or dislikes when they got tattooed. (Or maybe they were, and they specifically wanted people like you to stay the hell away from them.) If you don’t like them, perhaps I can suggest a solution: don’t get tattoos.
Permanent? Pppht. Nothing’s permanent.
Sure, there are lots of stupid and ugly tattoos. I don’t like the trendy ones either, but I would never start a thread about it. Lots of things I don’t like. I don’t like something; I look the other way. I’ve yet to see a tattooed person start a thread saying, “I dislike non-tattooed skin.”
Idlewild, Misnomer, tomndebb, and a few others, thanks for some intelligent posts.
I too have a tatoo. Upper right arm. Did the design myself and my brother an I got the same one at the same time. We will have this between just him and I forever. Permanent is okay with me.
I agree with the comments by Seeker74
I have built every Harley I’ve ever owned including the '79 Shovel in the garage. Most of the newbee’s haven’t got a clue.
Broomstick
I lost my right leg in a bike wreak in '89. I was riding again two weeks after a four month hospital stay. No brain damage…that I’m aware of anyway.
I saw a tee shirt in Daytona once that said:
No worries, Robot Arm. 
I should have known that I couldn’t say “some people are being judgmental” without getting defensive replies from the people who aren’t being judgmental.
Of course there’s a difference between aesthetic preference and being judgmental: simply not liking tattoos, preferring skin without them, never wanting one for yourself, etc. is perfectly fine. Everyone has preferences. I don’t like the color pink, I never wear it myself, and I don’t think anyone ever looks more attractive in pink, but I really don’t care if anyone else wears it; it doesn’t make me think more or less of the wearer. I don’t think that people who wear pink only do so to be trendy (even though it can be argued that some do) or that it indicates something about their intelligence/class, nor would I reject a potential date out-of-hand just for wearing pink – even if it were his favorite color. Though we might have to talk about that.
Excellent!
(Despite the apostrophe abuse… ;))
What? I have a hobby wherein people are obliged (by the rules of our little society) to call me Lord stonebow. I think snobbery is perfectly in character.
Pink trendy? That is so twenty minutes ago. Orange is the new pink.
Just a WAG here, but I’d bet MrO has a tattoo or twelve.
MrO, I came in here to post something along those same lines, serves me right for taking a shower in order to get my thoughts together before I replied. You said it better than I could anyway. 
FTR, I have 16 or 17 tattoos (I forget, too lazy to check) and two Harleys (yes, I am the proverbial tattooed biker). All of them (my tattoos) are between 15 and 25 years old, before they became trendy. My bikes are newer, but I’ve been riding Harley’s for 20 years. Oh yeah, I do not have any of that tribal crap on me. Mine are mostly big cats, couple a dragon’s, and a naked lady, and I’m still happy with them.
Touché.
Oh yes we dooooo!
Wow, is that ever wrong. That may be the perception, but it’s incorrect.
pravnik and FilmGeek, I know that - really I do! 
That’s just the stereotype lodged in my brain, but it’s easily forgotten when getting to know people as individuals. Like I said, my SO is so “proper” and conservative he makes Al Gore look like Tommy Lee, and he has a tattoo. I just don’t think it adds anything.
I’m illiterate in Chinese, but I know a reasonable amount of calligraphy theory; my dad is high-school literate but rusty. Sometimes he gets a laugh out of people who obviously had no idea what was going on (f’rex, we saw one otherwise nice-looking, all-American girl who had, loosely translated, ‘Ten Thousand Customers Through the Doors’ tattooed down the small of her back. Some Chinese stores have signs like that hanging up, just for luck, and our guess is that an artist in a Chinese parlor handwaved it off as ‘a good luck saying’, then she wanted it and the artist either couldn’t or didn’t feel like arguing her out of it. After all, another traditional Chinese thought is that even the best doctors can’t cure stupidity.
The thing that cracks us both up is that probably 99% of these tattoos aren’t even really done in particularly good caligraphy; probably half of them are actually very poor. If you have a chance, flip through a calligraphy artbook, or go to a museum exhibit, then compare with tattoo flash… the difference is startling if you even have a minimal idea of what to look for. I don’t understand it. Chinese and Japanese calligraphy is still very much alive as an artform; it wouldn’t be hard to get a highly respected calligrapher to do a book of common words and have people copy out of that, would it?
Responding to the original topic, though, I dislike tattoos in general, largely because they break the unified look of skin. Interestingly, though, once they get really big, if it isn’t piecemeal but a big, seamless, unified sort of design, they start getting beautiful, sometimes more than the person would be with just naked skin. Puzzle-pieces and irezumi, anyone?
Tattoo-removal certainly will continue to be a burgeoning business. I went to the Army hospital on post one day to check up on some records, and the receptionist assumed I was there for tattoo removal, because it was Tuesday and Tuesday is tattoo-removal day.
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy- It is very nice to meet you…from one ol’ scooter trash to another. 