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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think some people are going to regret some of these ridiculous tattoos.

286 replies

riverwalk · 13/09/2015 20:47

What is it with tattoos lately. They're just getting ridiculous and some of them look plain stupid. Rita Ora has some just under her armpits, the part of the arm that gets dangly as you age. Just what is the point, they don't look good at all. I don't think they define you as a person (as lots of them say) at all. How does it. Confused

OP posts:
FluffyNinja · 15/09/2015 10:56

I imagine that a far higher percentage of people regret starting smoking than the percentage who regret having a tattoo.

If you live to 80 with saggy skin and tatts, I'm sure you'd actually be pretty chuffed!

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 15/09/2015 10:58

That guy looks like he has his eyelids tattooed - how. in. the. name. of. fuck. do you tattoo an eyelid??

The guy who pierced my belly button was a tattooist too - quite a renowned one in London- he refused to do faces and hands because he said people live to regret it.

squoosh · 15/09/2015 11:04

Some people get the whites of their eyes tattooed! I'd worry for anyone who thought tattooing their eyeballs was a good idea.

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 15/09/2015 11:09

Dear Lord! I can't even think about that Shock

Grin
Ohbehave1 · 15/09/2015 11:33

Can someone please explain to me how having a visible tattoo makes you any less capable of doing anything work wise. Or a worse person?

kali110 · 15/09/2015 11:46

People with tattoos are unattractive now?? Grin
I've never struggled to attract a guy with my many tattoos!

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/09/2015 11:48

Well, an employer might feel that it makes a person appear more threatening, that some people think it looks unhygienic, that visible neck / face etc tattoos show that you're a person who will make bad choices...

I should add,(before I get flamed) that while I dislike tattoos, I don't believe these things, but they are opinions many have.

Ohbehave1 · 15/09/2015 11:58

That's opinion Mary. Not fact. I want to see if anyone can give me a factual reason why tattoos make you a bad or useless person.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/09/2015 12:02

No one has said they make you a bad or useless person... Just that they make you less likely to be employed.

Whereyourtreasureis · 15/09/2015 12:28

Latecomer to the thread, but just had to say I love the 'freedom of expression' nature of a tattoo, and I have a few lovely --in my opinion anyway) pieces.

However, there's a man I see in the village I live, with a forearm tattoo of a naked woman in heels, bent over being shagged doggy-style, by a bloke with his trousers round his ankles, dick on show.

I judge the hell out of that sorry

dustarr73 · 15/09/2015 13:03

I have to laugh at threads like these,people who dont like tattoos and try to discourage their kids from getting any always say its because im a mum and thats why.
You do realise Marypoppinspenguinsthats the sure fire why of your kids getting tattooed,just to piss you off.

Now from the pother side im a tattooed mam with adult sons.They have no intention getting tattooed cause its just not their thing.And im not finished yet as im getting tattooed next week and it will be a big piece to add to my sleeve.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/09/2015 13:25

Well, hopefully I'll have a better relationship with them than that... My DH was going to get a tattoo in his early twenties and his mum asked him not to, so he didn't. It can really be that simple, not everyone is out to piss you off in life.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/09/2015 13:27

And no one said 'I'm a mum, that's why' Hmm

They (and I) have said we don't believe it looks attractive, it limits your employment opportunities, it may leave you open to judgment and discrimination etc etc.

I suggest you read the thread.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 15/09/2015 13:28

But what an eloquent argument you make Wink

KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes · 15/09/2015 13:31

This is my latest tattoo. The Black Rabbit of Inlé.

When I'm 80+ (assuming the ink doesn't kill me over the next month or so) I can sit in a nursing home and torment the other residents with it by telling them the Black Rabbit is coming for them (assuming I can lift my 80 year old sagging feet from the floor).

I shall have hours of fun...

Wink

I work with elderly peeps, btw. Their skin doesn't sag. It gets thinner, but doesn't sag. Certainly not on their bodies, maybe hands and faces a bit. With modern face creams, vitamins and SPF knowledge most of them don't even have that many wrinkles. Not really. They all look pretty bloody good to me and at least 2 are over 100.

And tattoos will look awesome with grey hair...

To think some people are going to regret some of these ridiculous tattoos.
Stormtreader · 15/09/2015 13:52

I think tattoos are like any other form of art, it can range from dire to beautiful. Personally I adore well-done tattoos but dont feel drawn to have one myself yet.

Ohbehave1 · 15/09/2015 15:20

Well Mary. All you do is perpetuate the falsehood that tattoos people are worth less than those who are "clean" skinned. That is the trouble with discrimination- it judges on what it thinks it sees rather than what is really there.

I pity people like you being so judgemental about something you didn't really understand -

Headofthehive55 · 15/09/2015 15:56

People do discriminate. I don't think Mary is doing, just is aware it goes on. It's only the same with clothes: I've been shopping with DD to look for appropriate workwear clothes. So I give advice, as I am aware she will be judged on how she dresses. Not that it's right though, I am sure she will do the job quite well in whatever she wears, but I know it makes a difference.

jorahmormont · 15/09/2015 17:19

If your DH wanted a tattoo but didn't get one because his mummy asked him not to, he clearly didn't want the tattoo enough.

I can't believe you seriously think that if you ask your kids not to get tattoos, they'll obey just to please you.

Thankfully, my mum never asked me not to get tattoos. I've helped her design her first one, she's getting it later this year and I'll be going along with her Grin

FindoGask · 15/09/2015 17:38

"I also wondered about sun safety with sleeves. As you might remember from school science a black surface absorbs much more heat ( radiation) than a pale colour as pale colours reflect light better. If your arms therefore are absorbing a greater dose of radiation, it would seem to suggest a greater risk of skin cancer. "

That's a good point. Personally I am vampire-like in my dislike of the sun, so stay out of it as much as possible and I wear factor 50 if I do have my arms out, but that's because i want to protect my tattoos from fading, not because I'm worried about skin cancer.

I think you're right, the link would be difficult to research, and probably only large-scale longitudinal studies would do the trick. I'm not sure if there's any on the go at the moment.

FindoGask · 15/09/2015 17:39

KingJoffrey - love your rabbit!

Headofthehive55 · 15/09/2015 18:28

I've not found much reseach to be honest Findo but then it's quite a niche area and possibly not one that's crossed a lot of people's minds.

I am possibly quite unusual in having a background in dye chemistry reseach and cancer biology...I am in favour of more regulation surrounding the industry.

After all your lipstick is tested...I really am all for people having the freedom to do as they wish regarding tattoos ( I'm really big on self determination) but I do think it would be right to offer people some assurance on quality and safety as much as we do for make up.

MrsHathaway · 15/09/2015 21:01

My parents really dislike tattoos and I've never been tempted to get one.

But as I've got older I've known more and more people get them, people with normal jobs and normal hobbies as well as those with more alternative lifestyles. I'm particularly interested in the white ones - I'm yet to see one of those that wasn't a genuine work of art.

For aesthetic reasons I HATE to see a tattoo half obscured by a wedding dress. Choose a dress that shows it off, or a dress that hides it. Doing half and half suggests you've forgotten it's there which is a real shame.

It's really not the done thing to ask strangers the history of their ink, is it? Shame. Such interesting stories.

Back to the OP, I think there are regrettable tattoos in the world and many of them were done under the influence or for fashion reasons. Proper ink is expensive for a reason.

FindoGask · 15/09/2015 21:28

"It's really not the done thing to ask strangers the history of their ink, is it? Shame. Such interesting stories."

Actually I think that's fine, and I haven't met another tattooed person that doesn't like being asked about their tattoos. Although I myself don't have any interesting stories - each of my tattoos I've chosen because I've just loved the design. No deeper significance.

The only thing some people don't like is being grabbed by strangers, which does sometimes happen, or having people tug at your clothes, as happened to me when I was out once and someone wanted to look right down the back of my dress at the rest of my backpiece.

StrangeLookingParasite · 15/09/2015 22:06

It announces to the world how many years it's been since you were young/ keen to be cutting edge.

This line gets an outing every time, as though all of us, every one, had a tattoo because it was 'trendy'.

I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who had one for that reason. My sole tattoo was done in 1997, after I left my first husband. It's on the back of my right shoulder, designed and drawn by me, after I'd wanted the same thing from when I was 19 for more than ten years. None of this is 'trendy', or trying to be cutting edge; to be honest, I sometimes forget it's there until someone comments on it, so it wasn't done to gain approbation from anyone.

This kind of condescension, as though people with tattoos are just trendy wannabees, ugh.