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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask how many friends/family do you know with tattoos?

229 replies

recycledcat · 02/01/2022 23:15

Just that really...

I have no opinion either way (I don't have any for full disclosure but that's probably as I'm a wuss when it comes to pain and also indecisive!)

So this isn't a tattoo-bashing thread

Just wondering how many close friends/family you know who have them?

My youngest DS has several but other 4 DC have none. Their friends from what I know have none. My SIL has one and DN has lots.

OP posts:
MondeoFan · 02/01/2022 23:45

Me - yes 5
My parents - no
PIL - no
DH - yes 3
Siblings - yes
Friends - 1 or 2
Work colleagues - most

episcomama · 02/01/2022 23:46

Forgot to mention my husband! He has a large one on his bicep from his military days. It's absolutely hideous and was absolutely not part of the attraction. I've actually asked him to remove it because I find it so distasteful. He refused, but rarely goes topless so I can live with it.

noideabutstilltrying · 02/01/2022 23:46

I have 15+ tattoos. My husband had a sleeve and a couple of others.

My sister and her husband and several. My niece and nephew have several.

Most of my friends and colleagues have none but are fascinated by mine. Lots of questions about them.

Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese · 02/01/2022 23:49

Close family (parents siblings and inlaws) DH and I are the only ones

Extended family, a couple of aunts and uncles, a few cousins, ditto dhs side.

Friends, all of my friends and most partners, dhs friends most of them do, I can only think of one I'm not sure on.

We are of that generation where you're more unusual to not have tattoos.

Dilbertian · 02/01/2022 23:53

1 colleague, 1 friend and 1 relative.

Freecuthbert · 02/01/2022 23:56

My mum has loads but I don't have any nor do any of my siblings. My partner has a couple. Most of my friends have at least one or two. Whole of partner's family have tattoos, including his grandma. I'm the unusual one!

Kljnmw3459 · 02/01/2022 23:57

Family - none that I'm aware of.

Friends - several, most have more than one and
planning getting more.

PotatoGoblins · 02/01/2022 23:59

Most of my friends have tattoos to some degree - some only have a little design that’s easily hidden, others are heavily tattooed and they are all very visible.
I have 12 tattoos - some large and very visible, some small and easily hidden. My sister and my dad have a couple of small ones each.

purplecorkheart · 03/01/2022 00:00

Three that I know of.
My aunt got a tattoo on her bum when she was a in her late 20s on holidays. She tells me it no longer looks like the flower it started out as.
I have a cousin who got a tattoo as a 14 year old in a dodgy place as a dare on a school trip. Her Mom went nuclear and got the place shut down. My cousin regrets tattoo and is saving to get it removed. Another Aunt (Aunt in Law) got a tattoo for her 50th birthday. It is not to my taste but a phrase that means a lot to her and 10 years later and she still loves it.

Shodan · 03/01/2022 00:01

My sister has a few, as does one of my nieces. One brother has one.

A lot of my friends in my karate club have them, male and female.

DP has quite a few - I do find them attractive on him, but a lack of them wouldn't make any difference to that.

I have none, although I was considering getting one for my 50th, but in the end I couldn't think of anything special enough to me to have it permanently on my body.

BorderlineHappy · 03/01/2022 00:02

I have loads including a full sleeve and both my hands tattooed.
I'm 49 and I had tattoos when I met my dp.
My 2 Nd son has a few as does my dp.
But he didn't have any when we met 30 years ago.

Nearly everyone I know has tattoos.
But when I started collecting it certainly wasn't as prevelant as they are now.

Babdoc · 03/01/2022 00:07

None, apart from one niece. I find them ugly and disfiguring, so am glad my own DDs were never tempted. To my generation, they were regarded as mainly the preserve of convicts and sailors.

wanttomarryamillionaire · 03/01/2022 00:07

Xh was covered, xp had quite a few, i have loads, 2 dc have them 2 dc don't. Db, sil have loads, dm has none, df has a few.

PyjamaMamma · 03/01/2022 00:08

My niece is a tattoo artist, she has a fair few! A few in my family do, but DH and I don’t.

PurpleFlower1983 · 03/01/2022 00:09

My husband has 3, my parents don’t and only one of my closest friends does. Both my Grandads had some cool ones from the Navy.

OppsUpsSide · 03/01/2022 00:13

None in my family, lots of friends/acquaintances/colleagues do.
I would like one but have never gotten around to it as it seems like it would be such an effort!

VintageCookbook · 03/01/2022 00:15

@Babdoc

None, apart from one niece. I find them ugly and disfiguring, so am glad my own DDs were never tempted. To my generation, they were regarded as mainly the preserve of convicts and sailors.
Yawn.
Pinkchocolate · 03/01/2022 00:18

I have loads, only a couple of them are visible it normal clothes but I love them. DH doesn’t like them (in general, not mine specifically) and has none but it doesn’t bother him that I have them and most have been done since we got together. DD has 7. Very few of my friends have them.

underneaththeash · 03/01/2022 00:22

I know one husband of a friend who had one in his twenties. Another friend who has tried to get rid of one on her arm and has been left with a bruise shaped blur.
My nieces have lots of horrible ones, otherwise no.
It's very unusual to see them in our town - rich commuter town near to London.
They're awful and we've told the kids they'll get less money towards a house/flat if they get one. They could obviously get one after we gave them some money at 25, but hopefully they'll not be so stupid.

VintageCookbook · 03/01/2022 00:27

They're awful and we've told the kids they'll get less money towards a house/flat if they get one

Is this a joke or are you actually that manipulative?

mallees · 03/01/2022 00:31

Nothing on me, None of my close family
None of my close friends
Just know a few colleagues and people around with them but we are not close

OGenkiDesuKa · 03/01/2022 00:32

Pretty much everyone I know has at least one. My husband is covered in them.

mallees · 03/01/2022 00:35

@recycledcat

Thanks guys - really interesting to know

Can I ask whether those with partners were attracted to them post or pre-tattoo?

What I mean is - if partner was tattooed when you met the was that a turn on/attraction?

Equally if you met someone not tattooed and they decided to get tattooed would that alter your perception or attraction?

Also can I say "inked" or is that a bit weird?!! It's easier than saying "tattooed" that's why I ask!

I find them very unattractive. I doubt I'll be able to have a relationship with a tattooed man. Mostly they are very poorly executed art..
ChristmasCrackered · 03/01/2022 00:39

No close friends or family that I know of, except one cousin who has a huge one up her leg.

CreamFirstThenJamOnTop · 03/01/2022 00:44

DH had a few when we met and I liked them. Over the years he has gradually added to them and is now covered - I still find them/him attractive.