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Original poster

Are you surprised if someone has no tattoos?

170 replies

Namechange240 · 06/09/2023 20:39

Is it more common now to have tattoos?
I'm almost verging on surprised if I see a celebrity that doesn't have any tattoos.
I almost expect someone I meet in real life to have at least one tattoo and am taken aback a bit if they don't.
For context, I don't have any at all however it just seems like almost everyone has one.

OP posts:
BackToOklahoma · 07/09/2023 07:27

No, I know a lot more people without tattoos than with them. None of my friends have any. My partner doesn’t. I’ve never seen a tattoo that I’ve thought looks good so they’re definitely not for me.

LlynTegid · 07/09/2023 07:33

Not surprised, though I get where the OP is coming from as it is not a rarity any more. Some even look good.

sHREDDIES19 · 07/09/2023 07:39

Most of the people I know don’t have tattoos but I do think it’s so much more common amongst young people now that it was a generation ago. I do have to agree with a pp that it is an outward reflection (in some cases) of internal struggles. My best mate has some awful ones from the 90s so dated and naff now (she agrees btw!). Everything dates and these supposedly ‘cool’ and ‘arty’ tattoos will also look naff in years to come. Having said that I don’t really care what other people do to their body if you love them that’s the main thing.

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RonniePickering · 07/09/2023 07:40

My partner and I have none, my 19 year old is planning her 3rd though 😑

ParisDispatches · 07/09/2023 07:44

Nope. V v few of my circle have them & we work in a super creative sector.
I am not a fan of them so don't have any & neither does dh. My sister does & some of dh's siblings do & I don't think any of them look good. In fact quite the opposite.

I can't think of any I've seen even on strangers that I've liked.

MaidOfSteel · 07/09/2023 07:47

No, it doesn't surprise me at all. I don't have any tattoos and never will; the whole thing just isn't 'me' at all. But we're all different.

MidgesGirdle · 07/09/2023 07:50

I got several tattoos in a short space of time in my late 30s, all easily covered for work if I want. I don't regret them as such, but I think I wasn't in the best headspace when I got a few of them done and wouldn't repeat them if I could do my time over again. They aren't terrible or anything, so I don't waste my time regretting it.

I have very little interest in other people's tattoos, apart from neck/face ones, which seem poorly thought through!

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 07:53

I think it's a class thing, common people have tattoos.

SoupDragon · 07/09/2023 07:56

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 07:53

I think it's a class thing, common people have tattoos.

Don't be ridiculous.

Strugglingtodomybest · 07/09/2023 08:09

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 07:53

I think it's a class thing, common people have tattoos.

Winston Churchill and his mother both had tattoos, as did King George V, the Duke of Newcastle, and Tsar Nicholas II.

Kings and Queens of Spain, Greece, Britain, Austria, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Romania, Germany and Russia, are all reported to have been inked.

https://medium.com/@itsrosiesaunders/royal-rebels-in-victorian-europe-tattooing-was-rife-among-the-upper-echelons-of-society-11965ba43eed

Royal Rebels: In Victorian Europe, Tattooing was Rife Among the Upper Echelons of Society

Body art was widely regarded as “barbarous” at the turn of the 20th century – but many aristocrats indulged in secret ink.

https://medium.com/@itsrosiesaunders/royal-rebels-in-victorian-europe-tattooing-was-rife-among-the-upper-echelons-of-society-11965ba43eed

Strugglingtodomybest · 07/09/2023 08:12

To answer the question OP, no, I'm not surprised. I'm not anything really, it's not something I really think about.

Some people have them, some don't. Who cares?

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 08:14

You'll find more tattoos on council estates than on country estates!

GarlicGrace · 07/09/2023 08:24

I've got no idea what tattoos my friends or relations may have. They're always wearing clothes when I see them. No full sleeves or face/neck art visible, though I don't stare at people's ankles so I could've missed some!

I'd be surprised if they're all ink-free, though, especially the younger ones. I've just never asked, and no-one's asked me.

Highandlows · 07/09/2023 08:24

No the people around and the ones I see on the street mainly look dreadful.

Abhannmor · 07/09/2023 08:25

Does seem to be more common of late. Facial tattoos especially. A tear drop on the face is meant to signify you have killed someone. But I'm not sure everyone who has one knows this .

Unless there's loads of murderers out there...

WetBandits · 07/09/2023 08:43

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 08:14

You'll find more tattoos on council estates than on country estates!

This comment says far more about you than it does about anyone with tattoos Smile

jellytots18 · 07/09/2023 08:53

I know more people without than with. I'm 30 for context x

SwordToFlamethrower · 07/09/2023 08:57

Someone I was chatting with recently was shocked I didn't have any tattoos. I was shocked she was shocked!

eurochick · 07/09/2023 08:59

I can only think of one woman I know my age (40s) with one. She worked in the creative industries but most of my circle are lawyers, doctors, civil servants, and that sort of thing. Some of the younger lawyers I know have them. Most of the men I know don't have one either. My bill does but his is ex forces. My mil hated it.

SophiaElise · 07/09/2023 08:59

I have no tattoos, and most of my friends/family don't have any (that I know of)

SoupDragon · 07/09/2023 09:06

Luckydip1 · 07/09/2023 08:14

You'll find more tattoos on council estates than on country estates!

Well, you'll find more people on council estates than on country estates...

SnapdragonToadflax · 07/09/2023 09:15

I've noticed a real cut-off with age. I'm 41 and I know loads of people over 40 without tattoos (but also lots with, including full sleeves and massive tattoos). But under 40, I think almost everyone I know has a tattoo even if it's very small/hidden. The only exceptions I can think of are Muslim. This was particularly noticeable on a recent beach holiday where literally everyone between 20 and 40 had a tattoo... we started looking for someone who didn't!

Obviously that's only my experience and as I say, I do know loads of people in their 40s/50s with multiple tattoos, some of whom have had them since we were under 18 (less strict in the 90s!). But as a generalisation, it seems to hold true.

Piercings were much more popular for my generation and music taste - in my late teens everyone had eyebrow/belly button/lip/nose/tongue piercings. Very few of us wear them now!

TheFormidableMrsC · 07/09/2023 09:26

I'm 54, I don't have any and I know plenty of people who don't. I am considering it though....

Cattenberg · 07/09/2023 09:37

I’ve known a couple of former public school boys who had large/multiple tattoos. It isn’t just a working class thing.

LollipopChaos · 07/09/2023 10:01

I don't have tats and absolutely hate them. I was in Italy this year and I appeared to be the only woman there who didn't have a tattoo!

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