I agree- I don’t like them. It doesn’t rise to hate, just dislike. Unless they are those real ugly gang or prison tattoos, which are horrid.
Add gangbangers and convicts to Knorf’s list of what groups are associated with tattos.
Don’t forget dirtbag Bikers.
I’m thinking of getting one and don’t worry about what it will look like when I’m sixty because I can just look at my 59 year old uncle or 56 year old father (who I strongly resemble) and see firsthand that faded tattoos on older, weathered skin don’t look as ghastly as the detractors in this thread would like to believe.
Of course, I have a very conspicuous birthmark on my left hand that probably inured me to disgusting epidermal blemishes early-on so what do I know?
'Cause it ain’t a “few people”!
But actually, whence prejudice? I stated an opinion based on observation, not a preconceived belief, and no hosility is involved. Hence, not prejudice.
The other two comments aren’t worth a response.
Argent Towers: Part of me feels like I’m starting to hijack the thread, and if you feel that way, I’m sorry. I hope it’s clear to you (and everyone) that I don’t care whether anyone else dislikes tattoos, I care when sweeping – and always negative – generalizations are applied to those of us who have them. When I stop feeling that this can be discussed in a calm, rational way, I promise that I’ll bow out.
And white trash … don’t want anyone to feel left out. 
My use of “few” is relative to the whole. Compared to the number of people in the U.S. who have one or more tattoos, I’d be willing to bet that the folks you’re complaining about are just a few. What makes you so sure that they aren’t? Is it because that’s what you think you’ve seen the most of in the past, say, five years?
You made a judgment about all based on an observation of some (and your " 'Cause it ain’t a ‘few people’ " comment confirms that this is, in fact, exactly what you did). How is that not prejudice?
Claiming that no hostility was involved in your comments is disingenuous: by impugning everyone with a tattoo and labeling them as sheep, shallow, and vain (not to mention hookers, pornographers, and strippers) you accused me of the same. Seems a little hostile to me.
For the record, I’m not insulted by being compared to hookers, pornographers, and strippers; I only included them above because it’s obvious that you intended said comparison to be insulting. I do, however, take exceptions to accusations of shallowness, vanity, and the inability to think for myself – especially when they come from someone who does not know me. (Seein’ the prejudice yet?)
That is a response, sparky. And one of my all-time internet favorites, too (“I have no response, therefore I’ll just pretend that I’m above it all”). But hey: if you prefer to believe that you’re standing on some kind of intellectual high ground, far be it from me to challenge you. 
And drunken sailors and carnies.
And tattooed ladies.
And don’t forget Lizard Man.
I can think of worse crowds to be associated with.
I don’t care for the vast majority of the ones that I see. Most look either stupid or ugly. Or both. My brother’s dragon around his non-muscular upper arm looks both.
I don’t like them, especially on women. I can stomach a butterfly on an ankle or something. But when I see a woman with tattoos on her butt or boobs, it tells me “I let a strange man get his hands on my butt and boobs.”
The trend in basketball where you have your whole forearm done up just looks silly to me.
I hated tattoos too until Hub and I went to the county fair and I was feeling exotic so I got a henna tattoo painted on. It was a circle of hearts around my ankle. I loved it! It made me feel so, umm, wild and young. I’m almost 40.
This inspired me to get my first tat 4 weeks ago in college-town Chico, CA. Hubby and I were having our 12th anniversary dinner and I got a hair up my ass and say to the waiter “hey, are there any tat shops around here”. He says “yeah, there’s one just down the street”. So, after dinner ($100!) we wander the streets since it’s so warm and such a lovely evening looking for the parlor. Found the parlor and I looked at the walls and found exactly what I wanted…an anklet with pink hearts. Go up to the tat artist and he says I must have ID. RATS! I’m not carrying my license. But…I have an expired license in the car which hub goes and retrieves. That will do. So they set me up and he starts the outline.
Oh! My! GOD! the pain! the pain! I’ve had two kids and this pain is so totally different, it didn’t help that the ankle is a really bony part of the body. OWWW! They had to give me a cue ball to attempt to crush. Anyways, I still love my tat a month later…it’s really cute and easily hidden if I want to be “straight-laced”.
Hub had 4 tats when we got married. One has been lasered off because it was of a nude native american woman with big boobs. He had the removal done because I insisted that seeing a naked woman on his arm might bring about questions from my two sons…“Daddy, why does the naked lady not look like Mommy?”…“Daddy, why do you have boobies on your arm?” He said that the removal was WAY more painful than the actual tat. Not painful for me at all. Actually made me feel good! 
It’s not just that the tats get wrinkled; they end up looking really bad. Growing up in the 1970s, my neighborhood was filled with WWII vets who had amorphous blue blotches on their arms, which years ago might have been an anchor or snake.
I think it culd be, in many cases, thsoe folks got them in prison.
For some reason, I’m reminded of the SNL fake commercial for Turlington’s Lower Back Tattoo Remover.
You do know that tattoo application technology (and the inks, too!) have vastly improved since the 1940s, right?
I theoretically like tattoos, but I’m hard pressed to find ones I really think are aesthetically pleasing. Part of it, I think, is that it is an image just on skin which would look more appropriate on a canvas, wall, piece of paper, etc. I like tattoos that compliment the surface they’re on and seem to weave seamlessly onto the skin like they belong there. I don’t see many that meet that (personal and really nit-picky ;)) criterion, but when I do, I drool.
Yeah, those ninety year old men would be real lookers if it weren’t for those faded, blurry tattoos, wouldn’t they? Such a pity they defaced themselves like that.
Not that it actually matters, as they don’t use the same inks today that they did sixty years ago. Heck, the butterfly tattoo my mom (the banker) got in the sixties has only gotten a little blurry, and she got that thing forty years (and one pregnancy) ago. She could easily have it retouched to look crisp again, were she of a mind to do so. And tattoo you get today is probably going to look fine for even longer.
I wanted to make a point about my nosering that is relevant here.
I got my nosering at 18, and in the height of the craze where everyone else was getting them. But I didn’t get it for that reason.
I got it because I felt like I was rapidly losing touch with my culture and heritage. I don’t look very E. Indian, and many people have confused me for Puerto Rican or Spanish. I wanted some visible reminder and sign of who I was and where I came from. I thought about it for three years before I decided to go for it. It’s been eleven years now, and I still love it. It’s small and tasteful.
What I’m trying to say is, you don’t know the motives of someone who has a tattoo or a piercing. And I’m glad to hear many people say they don’t let tattoos influence them for friendships, but at the same time, I’m saddened to hear how many people are apparently judging exclusively on physical appearance for relationships. I know a lot of you think you can read motives in the tattoos, and maybe sometimes you can, but as I said, sometimes you can’t. And it’s all judging a book by its cover, isn’t it? What if that person is your soulmate in every other way? Would you still dump them over a tattoo? What if they got a tattoo after they’d been in a relationship with you for some time? Would you try to control them, or just point out you don’t like tattoos and hope for the best?
As for my own opinion, there are some I don’t like, but some look really good. And I wouldn’t get myself one, but I do love temporary tattoos & henna. For the person who said they hate henna - wow. Your opinion of course, but it’s not all trendy. Another deeply cultural thing…it’s been stolen a little but I don’t mind. But it’s meant for the bride’s hands at her wedding, and has been part of our culture for thousands of years.
Why I do not like tattoos. A short essay.
If I see an attractive young woman, and begin ogling her, and then I see that she has a big tattoo right over her shapely bottom, the private fantasy world I have constructed goes right to heck because I personally find tattoos ugly on women. I’d much rather see nice nekkid skin. So please all of you inked women go out and get your tats removed for my voyeuristic pleasure.
You selfish tattoo people. Always worrying about what YOU like, rather than what I want to see.
On men, eh, they don’t bother me since they are not interrupting any fantasy. And I will go against the stream and say that the trend towards tribal pattern tattoos is a good thing. A simple pattern is much better than most drunken drawing choices.
As for those of you who get them “to commemorate” something, I don’t understand that any more than I understand people’s fascination with gravesites. If you can’t remember a person or event without a memory booster, then jeez, how important is this thing to you? How would a daughter feel if you said to her “Honey, I got this tattoo to remember the day you were born.” Perhaps… “Thanks a lot Dad. You mean you would forget about me without that tattoo?”
I take it, then, that your life is entirely devoid of souveniers, mementos, and photographs of your loved ones? After all, why do you need a picture of your daughter? It’s not like you’re going to forget what she looks like, right?
In fact, my life is mostly devoid of souveniers.
Photographs? I have many. Because yes, I have most certainly forgotten what my children looked like at the various stages of their growth. And the oldest is only 7! Heck, I am surpised to see what I looked like many years ago. But I do not need the photos to remind me of their existence, just what they looked like on that long ago day.