# Tattoos: got 'em? Want 'em? Hate 'em? (read OP before voting please) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533 "2011-03-30T18:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/101 "2011-04-01T14:16:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The piercings and the shaved heads just make me laugh and laugh. I mean, my piercing in my nose is from thousands and thousands of years of Hindu culture. It’s not going away anytime soon. Same with the tattoos - I don’t know how prevalant real tattoos were in India but mehndi (henna) tattoos have been around since forever. People like to mark their skin. I think \*\*Chimera’s \*\*comment is made about Western not Hindu culture. There are any number of things that have been mere fads in the West but long standing traditions elsewhere. Tattoos and piercings may possibly be more than fads in the West but the fact they are long standing traditions elsewhere doesn’t of itself indicate that. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/102 "2011-04-01T14:38:59Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I think \*\*Chimera’s \*\*comment is made about Western not Hindu culture. There are any number of things that have been mere fads in the West but long standing traditions elsewhere. Tattoos and piercings may possibly be more than fads in the West but the fact they are long standing traditions elsewhere doesn’t of itself indicate that. Fair enough, but it still seems silly as cultures are blending more and more. And what do you say about me, who is Westernized and lives in Western culture but both my piercing and tattoo are due to my roots? I know people look at me and say “fad” when I look at myself and say “parampara”; i.e., tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/103 "2011-04-01T15:10:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > This. All tattoos look like scribbling on your body to me. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for it, or how incredible you think the work is, it looks like you took a Sharpie and went to town on yourself. Yeah, [this](http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/table_of_malcontents/images/2007/06/08/anilguptaseurat.jpg)sure looks like a Sharpie scribble. :rolleyes: Bad tattoos are bad tattoos regardless. I think it’s pretty hilarious that apparently some people think all tattoos are anchors, mom hearts, Tasmanian devils or kanji symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/104 "2011-04-01T15:38:20Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I think it’s pretty hilarious that apparently some people think all tattoos are anchors, mom hearts, Tasmanian devils or kanji symbols. I don’t think anyone in this thread has expressed they think all tattoos are what you’ve listed - or variations thereof. Some people just don’t like 'em. ~raises hand~ ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/105 "2011-04-01T16:01:37Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I think it’s pretty hilarious that apparently some people think all tattoos are anchors, mom hearts, Tasmanian devils or kanji symbols. There’s some very original and different tattoos out there that’s for sure. However you’d never know it by looking in any of those Tattoo magazines. They all seem to be the same thing. Chopper style motorcycles, snakes, hearts, vines, skulls, dice, etc. etc. on either burly dudes or goth chicks with multiple piercings. Almost like your not allowed to have a tattoo unless you hang with the Sturgis crowd. Very misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/106 "2011-04-01T16:40:14Z")
I have 14 tattoos. I will be getting my 15th sometime within the next couple of weeks. I’ve had one of my tats covered up, because I was not terribly crazy about what I had originally gotten, and because what was there no longer had a big impact on my life. I would like to have another of my current tats touched up and made a little fancier. It was a great design idea that was executed poorly at a shop that I did not research enough before getting the tattoo. I tend to be a bit impulsive, but have become a bit less so, in important things, thankfully. I love seeing good tattoos on other people, but because of the nature of my job and the kind of knowledge that I have, I definitely judge people by the tattoos that they have. Certain tattoos, in my line of work, are a reason to approach people for intel and can actually be a reason to detain a person or search them due to suspicion of criminal behavior. (I won’t go into how that is legal. It is. I don’t feel like talking about it or debating the fairness. If you don’t like it, don’t tattoo known gang symbols or whatever on your skin.) ---
**Author:** ![TheThirdFuller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@TheThirdFuller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThirdFuller)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/107 "2011-04-01T17:18:29Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > There’s some very original and different tattoos out there that’s for sure. However you’d never know it by looking in any of those Tattoo magazines. They all seem to be the same thing. Chopper style motorcycles, snakes, hearts, vines, skulls, dice, etc. etc. on either burly dudes or goth chicks with multiple piercings. > Almost like your not allowed to have a tattoo unless you hang with the Sturgis crowd. Very misleading. I think it is only misleading if you limit your exposure to tattoo culture with Tattoo magazines. I think magazines exist to promote businesses and make money, so they target specific demographics to achieve those goals. My mom has tattoos. Would you ever see her in a Tattoo magazine? Nope. But is her demographic a significant portion of the tattooed population? Probably. I have 9 tattoos… and I have no idea what “the Sturgis crowd” is. But of course every demographic has its stereotypes and generalizations. What can ya do? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/108 "2011-04-01T17:24:53Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I think it’s pretty hilarious that apparently some people think all tattoos are anchors, mom hearts, Tasmanian devils or kanji symbols. > [@the lone cashew](#): > > I don’t think anyone in this thread has expressed they think all tattoos are what you’ve listed - or variations thereof. I think 90% percent of all tattoos are trite, derivative cliches, 9% are mildly interesting, and 1% are inspired. Most tattoos, but not all, are crap. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/109 "2011-04-01T17:40:09Z")
Whenever I see a tattoo it involuntarily reminds me of the “damaged” girls in my high school who spent all day drawing on themselves with ball point pens. Most tattoos are ugly to start with, just because there are so many really, really bad tattoo “artists” out there, but even the ones that would look nice as drawings on paper give me the creeps. I just can’t help associating them with the self-defacement I saw as a youth. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/110 "2011-04-01T17:44:20Z")
> [@TheThirdFuller](#): > > I have 9 tattoos… and I have no idea what “the Sturgis crowd” is. Do a google image search for “Sturgis” and you’ll see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/111 "2011-04-01T17:55:18Z")
I’m in the (apparently popular) don’t have one and never will, don’t care if someone else does. I’m a little surprised that nearly half of the respondents to this poll so far don’t have one and never will. When I look around at people these days, it seems like way more than half of them have a visible tattoo. Maybe it’s a location thing (living in CA). I had a conversation with a nephew 7-8 years ago about tattoos. He wanted to get one and was asking me about why I never got one. I told him that I just didn’t care to get something permanently added to my skin that I might feel differently about 10 years later. I’m not ancient, but I’m old enough to know that my tastes can and will change as time goes on. And I asked him why he wanted one so badly. He said that it was because he wanted to express his individuality, and besides, all his friends had tats. I’m not sure that he got why I found that so funny… ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/112 "2011-04-01T18:28:45Z")
My votes: [ul] [li]“I have one or more tattoos and don’t regret any of them”[/li][li]“I generally don’t care if a person has tattoos”[/li][/ul] > [@wonder\_lust](#): > > I have one tattoo. I don’t like it. I WOULD LOVE it if it were what I’d originally wanted. Unfortuantely, I got the newbie artist who kind of made a mess of things. I stopped him before he added color at least, but then I had a weird ugly coloring book outline thing that just cried out for something. I went to a second guy for the color. He did a fine job, but it’s still within the confines of the craptastic original. I don’t want it to be any bigger and I don’t really want a different subject… so I have no idea how to get it fixed. It’s just a mistake that I’m stuck with. Fortunately, I don’t have to look at it. Wow, I almost could have written that about my first tattoo! I didn’t know any better so I trusted the artist’s “vision,” but I’ve always wished that I’d just kept it simple. I don’t reget the tattoo itself at all, and never have in the 17 years that I’ve had it, just aspects about the design. I tried to have it “fixed” a few years ago but it turns out that making it darker didn’t help much. Now, from a distance, it just looks like a blob. It’s still a meaningful blob to me, and up close you can tell what it is, but I don’t think there’s anything else that could/should be done to it. And it’s probably too dark to be removed cleanly. I sometimes wish that I’d kept my second tattoo’s design a little simpler, too, but I like it much more than the first one. And the main part of the tat is still completely awesome, 13 years later. So, my only advice to people (who have already decided to get a tattoo) is to keep your designs simple, at least at first: you can always add ink later, but it’s much harder – if not impossible – to remove elements of a design once they’re on there. ---
**Author:** ![TheThirdFuller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@TheThirdFuller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThirdFuller)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/113 "2011-04-01T19:15:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Do a google image search for “Sturgis” and you’ll see what I mean. Ahhh… I see. Assless chaps or american flag bikini… tough choices… neither seems like it would be comfy while riding a motorcycle. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/114 "2011-04-01T21:42:51Z")
I don’t have a tattoo and never will. I have this weird need to be able to get naked on a regular basis, and if I had a tat, I’d never be truly “bare and elemental” again. Also, I’ve learned that my tastes change. I can alter my looks quite dramatically and have done so, but I can always go back if I feel like it regarding body type, hairdo, clothing, jewelry etc. Tats are a different story. I have never seen a tattoo that made their owner better-looking, in other words everyone would look better without, IMHO. Still, many of my closest friends have quite extensive ink, and I’ve fallen for women who have a tat or two. So they are certainly not a problem to me. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/115 "2011-04-02T00:42:19Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Fair enough, but it still seems silly as cultures are blending more and more. And what do you say about me, who is Westernized and lives in Western culture but both my piercing and tattoo are due to my roots? I know people look at me and say “fad” when I look at myself and say “parampara”; i.e., tradition. I say anecdote is not data. And anecdote from someone whose cultural background is quite different to about 95% of westerners is almost completely useless. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/116 "2011-04-02T00:47:10Z")
You had no options so I had to pick three, that blended, add up to “don’t really like them, don’t ALWAYS (but sometimes) judge against them, or don’t really HATEhate them either”. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/117 "2011-04-02T01:19:29Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > I don’t have a tattoo and never will. I have this weird need to be able to get naked on a regular basis, and if I had a tat, I’d never be truly “bare and elemental” again. The only kind of tattoo I like are ones which are the negative of clothes. Full arm tattoos are awesome (negative of a shirt). Full back tattoos are awesome (negative of a backless dress). Full lower leg tattoos are awesome (negative of shorts or a dress). These types of tattoos can actually intensify the effect of being naked. But most people don’t get this type, because they want to be able to cover up their tattoos most of the time. Thus they get “permanent clothes” tattoos which I hate. Also, tattoos should either start at shoulder level and go down, or start at the feet and go up. Tattoos off in the middle by themselves somewhere also give a permanently wearing something effect. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/118 "2011-04-02T01:52:24Z")
I don’t like them at all but it doesn’t bother me when other people have them. My Mig has a stupid old green A on his arm, initial of his first girlfriend, but everyone asks if it’s an anarchy symbol. I hate it but there’s not much I can do about it. I really find them unattractive on women. Sorry. I don’t know why. I just do not like them at all. I don’t judge people negatively because that’s just stupid. “OOH I don’t like you, ya tattooed demon!” I mean, what’s to judge? Some people like to put decorations on their body. No biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/119 "2011-04-02T01:56:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Yeah, [this](http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/table_of_malcontents/images/2007/06/08/anilguptaseurat.jpg)sure looks like a Sharpie scribble. > :rolleyes: Ooh, coloured scribbling! 🙂 > [@](#): > > Bad tattoos are bad tattoos regardless. I think it’s pretty hilarious that apparently some people think all tattoos are anchors, mom hearts, Tasmanian devils or kanji symbols. It doesn’t matter what the tattoos are to me; I don’t see my skin (or anyone else’s) as a canvas. Everyone is free to disagree with me, of course, and obviously many people do. I don’t much care. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533/120 "2011-04-02T15:04:29Z")
I don’t have any, and do not intend to ever get any. When I see them on other people, I have a very, very mild negative reaction. (Don’t get me wrong. If an otherwise attractive woman wanted to have sex with me, I certainly would not let a little ink stand in the way of my nookie. But, all else equal, I think most people look better unmutilated.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tattoos-got-em-want-em-hate-em-read-op-before-voting-please/576533.md?page=5)