# Visible tattoos - Are they as damaging as they sound?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 12, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696 "2011-07-12T00:55:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/141 "2011-07-14T22:30:07Z")
> [@Shakester](#):
>
> The best piece of advice you’ll ever hear on the subject: **I’ve met plenty of people who regretted getting tattoos, but I’ve never met or heard of anyone who regretted _not_ getting a tattoo.**
and
> [@](#):
>
> Now, if anyone wants to call that “thread-shitting”, go ahead and report it to the mods.
I don’t see a problem here. This is IMHO, and the OP is soliciting opinions, of which this certainly seems to be a relevant one. On the other hand, it’s best not to solicit accusations on oneself. There’s been far too much snark in this thread already.
---
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/142 "2011-07-14T23:09:38Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#):
>
> Like many folks, it’s one of the areas where she’s not mature enough to see past the issue that bothers her. Hopefully she’s not in a position where she serves the public, as her prejudice against tattoos appears to be severe enough for her to not be able to treat people ethically if she sees them at all.
This really isn’t appropriate for this forum. If you want to take up an issue with **Cat Whisperer** personally, do it in the Pit.
---
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/143 "2011-07-14T23:21:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#):
>
> Hey, your box of Crackerjacks came with a psychology degree, too, huh? Wow!
And let’s not have any more of this snark, shall we?
---
### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/144 "2011-07-15T02:21:34Z")
Go hard mate, after all if you change your mind later you can always ask for the [government to pay for its removal](http://www.3news.co.nz/Ex-prisoner-asks-taxpayers-to-fund-skinhead-tattoo-removal/tabid/423/articleID/218756/Default.aspx).
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by some **dodgy loser criminal…**
>
> “Once this tattoo is off, many doors will open. I won’t be judged as some dodgy loser criminal. In terms of employment it would help a lot,”
---
### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/145 "2011-07-15T02:47:41Z")
Your concern is another reason not to skimp. Where I live about 1/3 of the tats I see are gang related. Usually pretty poor work. When I see a bad tattoo, it may take me a while to work out that it is not a gang thing. When it is high quality work the gang notion never crosses my mind.
Cow-orker has an example. It is a balloon he used to fly. Once he tells you that, you can kind of see it, but for the longest time I thought it was some sort of Christmas tree ornament.
---
### Author:  [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/146 "2011-07-15T06:32:59Z")
Yeah guys, this isn’t a thread about debating the merits of tattoos in general. I’ve already made up my mind about tats and I have a few now as it is, so it’s obvious that (a) I _like_ them and (b) I’ve every intention of having more work done. The funny thing is that when I was a kid I actually held a similar conviction about tattoos as many of the naysayers here in that I thought I’d never personally get one.
Granted, much of that youthful ambivalence towards body art was based on an even earlier fear of needles, but as I got older and my pain tolerance gradually increased that fear eventually disappeared altogether. Indeed, there’s still that whole argument about tattoos arbitrarily - and _supposedly_ inevitably - looking awful in old age, to which I simply respond that by that time in anybody’s life his or her skin is going to look poor and wrinkly _anyway;_ at least with a tattoo their weathered skin will be a bit more colorful. 😉
---
### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/147 "2011-07-15T20:48:50Z")
Only marginally related but… I saw this bumper sticker today: Tattoos, Van Art for the body.
It took me a minute, because [Van Art](http://www.babawheels.com/photos/o/18510-wizard_dragon.jpg) went out in the 70s (at first I thought _Who is Van Art?_, but when I got it, I chuckled.
Now my question, was this supposed to be an insult?
---
### Author:  [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/148 "2011-07-15T20:53:26Z")
> [@Khadaji](#):
>
> Only marginally related but… I saw this bumper sticker today: Tattoos, Van Art for the body. …
> Now my question, was this supposed to be an insult?
Tattoos ARE like Van Art–there’s some really bad stuff period, some really bad ideas excellently executed (like your link), and some truly awesome stuff.
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/149 "2011-07-16T15:44:57Z")
While I don’t think social mores in the US are going to return to the 1950s, I do think that the popularity of tatoos over the last few years is a fad. One which has probably already peaked. And one whose main adherents are from the middle class or below.
So were I considering getting one, I’d be thinking about whether I want to label myself as such for the indefinite future. In other words, mark myself forever as a follower of a now \*passe \*fad associated with middle or lower class status.
For some folks this would be a total non-issue. For others it’d be a deal breaker. But it is the critical question the OP needs to answer for himself and his situation.
In general any tatoo that gets within a couple inches of the wrist will be seen by coworkers & friends eventually. And once seen it cannot be un-seen. Again whether that matters or not is for the OP to decide. But thinking you can do something extensive and then hide it if/when necessary is simply planning to fail.
Another thought …
The OP chose the name **2ManyTacos**. I’d bet he lives in the Southwest where it gets hot. I wear long sleeves almost all the time trying to avoid even more skin cancer than I already have. Indoors, those shirts aren’t a bother. Outside it’s a PITA.
---
### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/150 "2011-07-16T23:05:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> So were I considering getting one, I’d be thinking about whether I want to label myself as such for the indefinite future. In other words, mark myself forever as a follower of a now \*passe \*fad associated with middle or lower class status.
You may be right, personally it seems an awful lot like losing your virginity. It’s a big deal before you do, lots and lots of people are willing to project their morals on you, and afterwards you may have more…but afterwards the “great leap” seems like it’s no big deal.
---
### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/151 "2011-07-17T00:52:28Z")
I’d avoid anything that couldn’t be covered. And I’d be really careful of full sleeves because if you move to a part of the country where summers are hot, covering them up might not be how you want to spend your summers.
(Another person who spend a few years in the advertising world, my husband spent a few years there after me. Yeah…clients. Eventually you have to meet with clients. And clients control your career path. If you turn out to freelance, everyone is your client. As someone upthread said, wait until you are established. Established, with a kick ass portfolio, you can sell yourself as eccentric. And, knowing a few people who work in Arts organizations - it isn’t necessarily much better, grant committees are often surprisingly conservative.)
---
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/152 "2011-07-18T01:37:13Z")
I want something like [this](http://www.tattoojohnny.com/product/AAF-00650/fc31ae9b48559baaa95a2aa2f3916f18/searchpage/4/image/12/prods/CAF-00049,DBF-00957,DBF-01069,YSF-00028,AAF-00651,JJF-01272,CYF-00403,SEF-00151,JUF-00022,SUF-00021,LAF-00002,AAF-00650,), although maybe not the same exact colors.
I might use the same place where I got my [nose pierced](http://angrymoontatto.com/).
---
### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/153 "2011-07-18T10:53:27Z")
Being a parent, I try to point out some associations/correlations for my kids while we’re out and about. I want them to succeed, and I don’t care who it offends when I show them systemic differences between the winners and the losers. Speaking from a _strictly_ economic viewpoint\*, I think there is a strong (inverse) correlation between body art and income. Playing “count the tats” in Wal Mart will invariably get you a higher score than the same game in Dillard’s or Nordstrom’s. I make no bones about mentioning the large difference in body art among 1) the unemployed homeless in front of the downtown library and, 2) the annual soiree of my workgroup (where AFAIK nobody is pulling down less than six figures).
As to the OP’s question, I don’t know if it has a “devastating” effect on future earnings, but I certainly see a lot of anecdotal evidence to that effect. I sometimes wonder it any studies have been done correlating income to body modifications? There will be outliers of course, but I suspect a very strong correlation would emerge.
\*I really _don’t_ care if someone is inked or not. I’m not the intended audience anyway.
---
### Author:  [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/154 "2011-07-18T14:37:46Z")
> [@pullin](#):
>
> As to the OP’s question, I don’t know if it has a “devastating” effect on future earnings, but I certainly see a lot of anecdotal evidence to that effect. I sometimes wonder it any studies have been done correlating income to body modifications? There will be outliers of course, but I suspect a very strong correlation would emerge.
I think you’ve got some selection bias–you’re not counting people with body art, you’re counting people with body art that you can see at that time.
I mean, I could just as easily point out that fully 1/3 of my co-workers have visible tattoos at work, and we’re all in or near that six-figure group.
The only thing good, tasteful body art affects is your chances of getting employed by starched-shirt traditionalists, and even then it’s only if said art is visible while wearing professional business attire.
---
### Author:  [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/155 "2011-07-18T14:50:36Z")
> [@Zeriel](#):
>
> even then it’s only if said art is visible while wearing professional business attire.
Isn’t that what we’re taking about? No one cares about tattoos that you can hide.
I was reminded of this thread because my grocery store cashier had a large neck tattoo. No insult to the guy, who’s probably a wonderful human being, but that tattoo probably ensured that he won’t ever move up higher in this life than grocery store cashier.
---
### Author:  [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/156 "2011-07-18T14:58:23Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#):
>
> Isn’t that what we’re taking about? No one cares about tattoos that you can hide.
>
> I was reminded of this thread because my grocery store cashier had a large neck tattoo. No insult to the guy, who’s probably a wonderful human being, but that tattoo probably ensured that he won’t ever move up higher in this life than grocery store cashier.
But that’s a selection bias there…you see him as a grocery store cashier not knowing he’s taking courses in advanced physics and will discover anti-gravity…OR would end up being a cashier for the rest of his live, even if he were ink-free.
---
### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/157 "2011-07-18T15:01:07Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> But that’s a selection bias there…you see him as a grocery store cashier not knowing he’s taking courses in advanced physics and will discover anti-gravity…OR would end up being a cashier for the rest of his live, even if he were ink-free.
Could be…but more likely not. There’s a reason that profiling works, most of the time.
---
### Author:  [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/158 "2011-07-18T15:01:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I do think that the popularity of tatoos over the last few years is a fad. One which has probably already peaked.
Do you have any evidence at all to support this, or is it just a “feeling”? Because my “feeling” is the exact opposite of yours–it’s my personal impression that tattoos are only going to become more commonplace and socially acceptable. And I’m going to trust my own experience more than yours, stranger from the internet who disagrees with me.
> [@](#):
>
> And one whose main adherents are from the middle class or below.
I know plenty of people who are either working on or have completed Master’s degrees, JDs, PhDs, MDs, and other work after their Bachelor’s degrees who have tattoos. Up to and including things like full sleeves.
> [@](#):
>
> The OP chose the name **2ManyTacos**. I’d bet he lives in the Southwest where it gets hot.
You can actually get tacos pretty much anywhere. We have a pretty sizeable Hispanic population right here in Milwaukee, for example, including a whole lot of people who themselves immigrated from Central and South America, mainly Mexico and Puerto Rico.
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> You may be right, personally it seems an awful lot like losing your virginity.
This is actually a really interesting analogy.
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> I want something like [this](http://www.tattoojohnny.com/product/AAF-00650/fc31ae9b48559baaa95a2aa2f3916f18/searchpage/4/image/12/prods/CAF-00049,DBF-00957,DBF-01069,YSF-00028,AAF-00651,JJF-01272,CYF-00403,SEF-00151,JUF-00022,SUF-00021,LAF-00002,AAF-00650,), although maybe not the same exact colors.
Shock! Horror! I think that cat is _declawed_. And the fact that it’s on a moon means you’re \*clearly \*allowing it to run around outside.
> [@pullin](#):
>
> Being a parent, I try to point out some associations/correlations for my kids while we’re out and about. […] I make no bones about mentioning the large difference in body art among 1) the unemployed homeless in front of the downtown library and, 2) the annual soiree of my workgroup (where AFAIK nobody is pulling down less than six figures).
This should be held up as a case study for anyone who needs to learn the difference between correlation and causation.
The people I know who are the most heavily tattooed generally do not \*want \*to work wherever it is that you do; it’s not that they were prevented from high income jobs by getting tattoos, but rather that they were free to get tattoos because they never wanted those sorts of jobs in the first place. Also, I don’t know what your homeless crowd is like, but around here, I almost never see tattooed homeless people. Mostly, they’re middle-aged or older and clearly not all there in the head.
I’m curious if you \*also \*make no bones about mentioning the (presumably) large difference in race between the unemployed homeless in front of the downtown library and the annual soiree of your workgroup and, if so, what conclusions you suggest that your children draw about \*that \*disparity.
---
### Author:  [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/159 "2011-07-18T15:05:40Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#):
>
> No insult to the guy, who’s probably a wonderful human being, but that tattoo probably ensured that he won’t ever move up higher in this life than grocery store cashier.
I worked as a grocery store cashier in high school, and I went back to the job for the first summer after my freshman year of college. (After that, I just kept my on-campus job year-round.) This was when I was dying my hair bright blue and had a safety pin in one ear. It was hilarious–and kind of depressing–to watch people’s mental estimation of my IQ leap up if it happened to come up in conversation (a) that I was in college, (b) where I was enrolled, and (c) what I was studying.
For some strange reason, it seemed to almost always be middle-aged conservative-looking white people who behaved this way. Hrm. Wonder why that is.
---
### Author:  [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696/160 "2011-07-18T15:16:10Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#):
>
> But that’s a selection bias there…you see him as a grocery store cashier not knowing he’s taking courses in advanced physics and will discover anti-gravity…OR would end up being a cashier for the rest of his live, even if he were ink-free.
Yes, my analysis failed to take into account the large numbers of physicists with neck tattoos. In all seriousness, I have never seen a successful person with a neck tattoo (with the obvious exception of singers, athletes, and that one actor who always plays gangsters).
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#):
>
> I worked as a grocery store cashier in high school, and I went back to the job for the first summer after my freshman year of college. (After that, I just kept my on-campus job year-round.) This was when I was dying my hair bright blue and had a safety pin in one ear. It was hilarious–and kind of depressing–to watch people’s mental estimation of my IQ leap up if it happened to come up in conversation (a) that I was in college, (b) where I was enrolled, and (c) what I was studying.
>
> For some strange reason, it seemed to almost always be middle-aged conservative-looking white people who behaved this way. Hrm. Wonder why that is.
Hair can be dyed another color, or can be grown out. Safety pins can be removed. A neck or face tattoo is forever.
Also, the reason that middle-aged conservative-looking white people react that way is that in their experience people with brightly dyed hair and safety pins in their faces have something wrong with them. I grew up pretty wild, and that was my experience too; with the exception of a few poseurs, most people who tried that hard not to fit in ended up chronic losers.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696.md?page=7)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visible-tattoos-are-they-as-damaging-as-they-sound/588696.md?page=9)