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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Jack the Ripper tattoo

75 replies

Graasspp · 31/07/2023 22:25

Just why. I saw one in the flesh, the silhouette of him standing on a victoriana street with a knife in his hand.

What would you think of someone with this permanently on their bicep?

OP posts:
tttigress · 01/08/2023 08:09

To be honest I imagine they are just an idiot rather than someone that is about to murder someone.

I actually blame the media more for glorifying serial killers, rapists and other criminals.

Strugglingtodomybest · 01/08/2023 08:12

I'd think they were a thick twat.

Cheesusisgrate · 01/08/2023 08:16

For most Jack the ripper is interesting because he was never caught and there are all the theories about who it was popping up.
The basic serial killer gained a different level of interest to simply being serial killer. Similarly to zodiac. It has moved from interest in the crime to myth like creature.

Lwrenagain · 01/08/2023 08:51

I'd think ... utter gobshite.

Then I'd overthink it as I have been the last ten minutes and have to ask this person questions.

I'm no help here at all. 😁

pinkyredrose · 02/08/2023 16:20

How do you know it was Jack the Ripper?

Lwrenagain · 02/08/2023 16:22

pinkyredrose · 02/08/2023 16:20

How do you know it was Jack the Ripper?

Good thinking, maybe he's solved the mystery and is just toying with everyone 🤔

FictionalCharacter · 02/08/2023 16:25

Pandor · 31/07/2023 22:32

I think I’d ask what it was about a man who brutally murdered women that made him want to put his image on his own body.

I think my issue with it would be that he is advertising that image to the world, so what is the message, and should I feel worried about him.

This.

ComtesseDeSpair · 02/08/2023 16:29

I think that time fades notoriety and terrible murderers just become storybook villains in many people’s minds. Their murders stop being crimes with human victims and become gory legends. I wouldn’t read anything much deeper into it.

AuntieJune · 02/08/2023 16:32

All the infamy around the ripper is about the victims being prostitutes and that making it more lurid.

There's a good podcast series that concludes they were pretty much just homeless women, maybe some of them were casual prostitutes now and again but that happened a lot if you were absolutely destitute.

The ripper being someone who killed homeless women seems a bit less tattoo-worthy though I guess!

FoodCentre · 02/08/2023 16:34

ComtesseDeSpair · 02/08/2023 16:29

I think that time fades notoriety and terrible murderers just become storybook villains in many people’s minds. Their murders stop being crimes with human victims and become gory legends. I wouldn’t read anything much deeper into it.

Agree, rime gives distance. There's no photos of anyone involved so it seems like a fable of sorts. Plus the comic book villain nickname doesn't help.

I'd just think this man is a bit simple, like people who get tattoos in mandarin that read "ugly bastard".

IglesiasPiggl · 02/08/2023 16:34

I'd view it as a time-saving flag to avoid them without having to waste any time in conversation.

DefinitelyGoingToHell · 02/08/2023 16:39

I’d think he was potentially dangerous, definitely attention seeking and someone who likes to look intimidating.

I bet he wears tops that shows it off even when it’s snowing. Twat.

Keep away. 🚩

Sugarfish · 02/08/2023 16:49

It’s not a tattoo I’d want on myself but why is everyone saying it’s a red flag or it means he’s a bad person? It’s just a picture. (I’m aware the op seems to know him personally) But why would you think that about a random person you don’t know? I love horror and gore movies but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and murder someone. Jack the Ripper is a pop culture icon and has been in many fiction movies and books over the years.

People have all sorts of tattoos, for whatever reason. He might just really be into the story? I know a lot of people who are interested in it.

LeggyLinda · 02/08/2023 16:53

Remarkable. And shocking. And disgusting.
then again, I’m not much of a fan of tattoos anyway so my opinion may be biased.

That said, who could possibly think that the glorification of a serial killer would be a suitable subject for marking your body?

if I was being kind, I would possibly excuse it due to stupidity, uneducated and a weird love of gothic/dark subjects. But, it is much more than that - and the nonchalant attitude to getting tattooed these days probably made it easier to get it on a whim or for a “joke”.

I, personally, would stay well away from this person. Even if it was a drunken mistake - it indicates an inner attitude.

@Dombasle
Your picture is particularly shocking. I can only hope it is a mistake and is meant to read therapist.

Dramatico · 02/08/2023 16:57

Chefwithnolifeds · 31/07/2023 22:30

I'd find it interesting, don't think iv seen one before.

I have seen a 'serial killer totem pole' style tattoo going up someone's leg which I found really interesting too.

Different strokes for different folks

It's not your body, so it's not your issue

Wait, I have to know more about this 'serial killer totem pole'! So you mean, the faces of various serial killers going up a totem pole?? That is seriously disturbed.

Barrell · 02/08/2023 17:06

What’s he having done next, Fred West on his left buttock?

Avoid.

Arewehumanorarewecupboards · 02/08/2023 17:07

@Dombasle I had to read that a few times!

The fact that he has this tattoo and that you are scared of this man makes me think that he likes people being scared of him.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 02/08/2023 17:13

AtrociousCircumstance · 31/07/2023 22:32

Glorifying sexual offenders and murderers in order to attempt to add some dark edgy mystery to their no doubt deeply inadequate ‘personality’. Is what I’d think.

I hope you’re including all the people who get off on true crime podcasts in that net.

DefinitelyGoingToHell · 02/08/2023 17:16

He might just really be into the story?

@Sugarfish If you can’t see the issue, I don’t think anything that anyone says here will change your mind.

I bet you’re really ‘edgy’.

🤔

Lwrenagain · 02/08/2023 17:19

I'm interested in jack the ripper because of his crimes being more of a penchant for the killing as opposed to a sexual motive.
So, from that angle, I want to know was he someone who simply targeted the easiest victims to quickly dismember them? Was he wishing to sell body parts? Was it something he got sexual gratification from without raping his victims? So many questions, so many theories. All of which I'm interested in.
I love how invested and convinced they know who Jack was, when there is equally another as credible option. We don't enjoy suspense as a species do we?

A distant relative of mine was murdered in the 90s by a serial killer, quite a well known one and even though a distant relative I think often about him, I watched a true crime thing and didn't know that the killer was his killer and once I was watching it really hammered in the gravity of his death. It was absolutely sickening and the monster who murdered him really was one of those "in plain sight" characters.

I can't help but feel someone with a tattoo of a brutal murderer either has no empathy for the victims, in this case women who were brutally killed and savagely dismembered in death, or they simply don't give a fuck because they're unlikely to ever be victim of such a crime.
It seems a large commitment just for it to be a "look how edgy I am" statement, but saying that, he might just be one of those dicks, nothing surprises me when it comes to the egos of very weak little people.

whatfreshheck · 02/08/2023 17:23

Slightly off topic but there is a brilliant book called "the five" by Hallie Rubenhold. About the Rippers victims and their lives but doesn't talk about their murderer. Excellent book that brings the focus back to the victims.

Dombasle · 02/08/2023 17:25

Sadly it's not just men that are utter morons -

www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/myra-hindley-tattoo-teen-leg-17331149.amp

Charlotte Allen, 18, said her inking of the Moors murderer on her leg reflects her interest in criminology. 🙄

FoodCentre · 02/08/2023 17:26

I hope you’re including all the people who get off on true crime podcasts in that net.

Agreed! People who watch documentaries and the news are ghouls, too. You just KNOW they get off on it.

Highlyflavouredgravy · 02/08/2023 17:26

whatfreshheck · 02/08/2023 17:23

Slightly off topic but there is a brilliant book called "the five" by Hallie Rubenhold. About the Rippers victims and their lives but doesn't talk about their murderer. Excellent book that brings the focus back to the victims.

This!
It is a really interesting book and questions all the assumptions that havevbeen made about the victims.

DefinitelyGoingToHell · 02/08/2023 17:39

@whatfreshheck I read that a little while ago. It certainly showed the women very differently to how they were portrayed, didn’t it? I found the book sad but I’m pleased that there actually is a book that focuses on the women and their lives rather than on some awful male serial killer.

Just checked and it still 99p on kindle, I’d definitely recommend it.