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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be judgy pants about people that have tattoos and keep getting more, especially women??

532 replies

dontsqueezetheteabag · 28/01/2013 09:08

I hate tattoos. Whilst I appreciate everyone has a right to their own taste and choices I still cannot get over the fact that people have them in places where they are visible.

A colleague of mine has just returned to work after M leave with a horrific tattoo from her wrist to her elbow. How can she go out and meet clients looking like that?? It can be seen through tops and obviously below short sleeved tops.

What I really don't like is seeing lovely brides on their wedding days, strapless dresses and tattoos on their upper arms and backs..... urgh!!!!!!

Anyone else with me??

OP posts:
GooseyLoosey · 29/01/2013 15:31

Agreed Noddy, it depends very much on context.

In some contexts, to succeed you must conform (to a degree at least). In others being an individual is valued. If you want loads of visible tattoos and have chosen the former type of career, I suspect you have made a mistake.

chocoluvva · 29/01/2013 15:36

This thread reminds me of one I started when I was young and innocent secretly naively hoping for solidarity and sympathy with my view that fussy eaters who expect special treatment when eating in someone else's home are a pain in the neck.
I have multiple food intolerances and other on-going health probs - no cheese and onion for me - and drip-fed this info. Blush

I expect you can guess the outcome? The fussy eaters had me being rude, needy, inconsiderate, lacking in compassion.

Maybe the OP didn't expect so many MNers to be 'inked'.

chocoluvva · 29/01/2013 15:40

Noddy, what's wrong with being elegant. pretty and feminine?

ditavonteesed · 29/01/2013 15:47

so the question would be has this thread, and seeing how many perfectly normal women are inked changed your perseption of the tattoed?

neriberi · 29/01/2013 15:47

I have tattoos, all in places that are hidden away when I have clothes on, I have 6 in total and plan on getting a few more. All my tattoos have incredibly personal meanings and each mark a stage in my life that has shaped who I am as a person today.

My hubby has tattoos and they are amazingly beautiful works of art. Its all down to personal taste. I've seen some friends with tattoos that look hideous and I do wonder what on earth they were thinking.

chocoluvva · 29/01/2013 16:09

The OP has 3 issues as far as I can see -
she doesn't understand/agree with visible tattoos,
she thinks they're at their worst on women - especially when they're in a wedding dress,
she thinks visible tattoos are unprofessional

Come back OP!

TheOneWithTheHair · 29/01/2013 16:09

GooseyLoosey I'm not sure I agree with you but I just wanted to say that your first post was incredibly eloquent and I wish I could post like that. Envy

noddyholder · 29/01/2013 17:13

I see no difference in the. careers success etc of anyone I know in relation to how many or how visible their tattoos are. Most people I know have them and I would say they are 35% creative arty careers and the rest professional eg lawyers doctors etc. The most successful woman I know in the arts has none whereas her dh is CEO of massive multinational and he has loads There are too many generalisations here that can all be blown out of the water. I wonder where all these judgey bosses are who don;t employ people with tattoos because I have never met any!

LtEveDallas · 29/01/2013 17:39

so the question would be has this thread, and seeing how many perfectly normal women are inked changed your perception of the tattoed?

Yes, I'd like to know that too. It would be nice if the OP could say something like "well I still don't like tattoos, but I will be less judgemental in the future"

YouOldSlag · 29/01/2013 18:11

As my granny was over-fond of saying: "If you can't say anything nice, say nothing"

But if we all did that AIBU would die out. It would have to be called "Lovely Things Only" or something.

MrsDeVere · 29/01/2013 18:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ditavonteesed · 29/01/2013 18:45

thats funny, you havent even got it and it is turning you into a bad mother Wink before you know it you will be spending your whole day in whetherspoons drinking cheap cider.

nkf · 29/01/2013 18:52

I came to this very late but I am curious about how many people with tattoos say they don't care what other people think. Presumably, they don't mind the people who say they love them. They just don't like the disapproval and dislike.

And aren't people aware that tattoos do communicate something? All the things we do with our bodies and our hair do. It's disingenous to pretend otherwise.

ginhag · 29/01/2013 18:52

This AGAIN?

It doesn't get anymore interesting.

I don't like straightened hair. Couldn't give a flying fuck whether others choose to do it though.

And yes hair straightening isn't permanent and blah blah blah but really. I just don't get why some people have to be (relentlessly, tediously, and pointlessly) so bloody ARSEY about tattoos. No one is ever going to force one on you y'know.

noddyholder · 29/01/2013 18:56

nkf what do they communicate? I have a sun on my upper arm I am 47 and have had it about 30 years. I am an interior designer and successful financially solvent and in a long term relationship. What does the tattoo tell you about me

nkf · 29/01/2013 18:57

I find them slightly intimidating. I think because I'm quite old and when I was young, only very blokey blokes who were a bit rough had them. So at some level, I associate them with thuggery. And the National Front. And prison.

Just like my appearance choices strike other people a certain way.

ginhag · 29/01/2013 18:57

Also, more importantly-

Quavers are not cheese and onion, just cheese. I know because I hate cheese and onion and brides that eat them obviously but I quite like a quaver.

noddyholder · 29/01/2013 19:00

What do they communicate about me though? As I am not a man or an ex con

ginhag · 29/01/2013 19:01

really nkf? Even if the tattoo was on a friendly, educated, erudite, liberal women taking her kids to the park? That is actually what you would think?

nkf · 29/01/2013 19:03

No, I'm not going to answer that question. I just don't entirely believe people have no idea about what they are doing/saying/communicating when they have a tattoo done. I think my own appearance choices say something about me and I know that many people would dislike how I look. I don't much care but I don't pretend that I live and walk around in a vaccum.

ginhag · 29/01/2013 19:03

Knew I shouldn't have got 'hate' tattooed on my forehead. That explains the glances at the school gates, it was bad enough when I got that little teardrop done after I was inside for a bit...

noddyholder · 29/01/2013 19:04

You can't answer it more like and are putting some sort of pseudo intellectual spin on it to wriggle out of it!

nkf · 29/01/2013 19:05

I'm talking about the all over ones. I do find them intimidating. But they aren't designed to attract me. People who have them often seem to be with other people who have them. And friends with people who have them. In other cultures they are tribal and I wonder if they aren't that in our society. Only we aren't used to see us anthropoligically.

manicbmc · 29/01/2013 19:06

Have you spelled it as 'HAT' though, Ginhag? Grin

ginhag · 29/01/2013 19:06

I think that tattoos do express things yes, as does everything about how you choose to look. So we agree there at least.

Personally I'd never shop at Boden but that doesn't make me judge the mumsnet massive. Is just not 'me'.

I am terribly intimidating tho :)

Anyway, I'm sure I swore off tattoo threads because they always leave me somewhat baffled.

Chin chin, pip pip n all that.