One hesitation I have about larger, intricate tattoos is: to appreciate the details, you have to (more or less) stare and I was taught it's impolite to stare at people.

People with larger tatt's-- do you mind if people stare or look closely at your ink? do you mind if strangers ask questions about them? What do you say or do if you feel like being left alone and someone is curious...?

Some of these responses are so predictably funny! That some people who don't have ink have such a strong reaction to something that obviously doesn't even interest them strikes me as odd. Since so many here have stated their opinions openly, I will too: I think that the knee-jerk response that tattoos are ugly or dirty or speak of poor judgment and bad character so GREATLY misses the mark, and makes one appear priggish, prudish, uptight and willfully prejudiced. Hey, just my $.02, since y'all gave yours.

Tattoos are just another art form, and one that has an ancient and fascinating history. It is a shame when people refuse to separate their erroneous biases from reality about other people and how they may choose to express themselves, but it goes without saying that all are entitled to an opinion, even if the opinion is based on mere assumption about human character. Tattoos CAN reveal a few things about people, even the people who don't have any and never would. It's interesting to me that permanent ink on the skin can generate so much emotion on both sides. Because I have chosen to decorate my body in this way, I sometimes do still on very rare occasion feel a desire to defend my choice in the face of what I perceive to be a (thankfully, fading) bias. But then I stop and consider that anyone who would summarily dismiss me because there are designs on my skin is not a person I would want to know in the first place, and I generally go on my merry way.

In the world of art and music, inked skin is so common as to be the norm, and personally, those are the folks I generally gravitate towards. I love the creative spirit that bubbles over in many evident ways. And in that group, acceptance flows freely and nobody has to explain or defend or convince, because we all just KNOW why we do what we do.

Annie, I think you got some great input here, and hey, you do you!

Thank God, my DH had strong enough sense to keep us from getting one, after me begging him for us to get one together, during one drunken night on Beale Street in my early thirties. LOL

I don't have any tattoos. Not afraid of needles...just not my thing. Seems like more women have them now, than not. I have seen some very interesting ones. Saw a young woman who had seams tattooed down her legs, so it looked like she was wearing stockings. Another one that caught my attention was a girl who had characters from Alice in Wonderland tattooed on her arms. The way I look at it, it is your body, tattoo it if you want to.

I've talked to strangers about their tats, and it's always amazing what a conversation starter it is. Most of them have meaning and people love discussing them, and appreciate the interest. I guess it's sort of like anything...decorating your house...cooking a great meal... and you love to talk to people about the thought that went into it and are glad when people appreciate it.

I would not place a tattoo over the scar tissue of an excised tumor. The ink might mask a recurrence / skin changes just long enough to affect your health. If you want a tattoo, by all means get one, but not at that spot.

Tattoos do evoke strong emotions among the wills and will nots. I haven’t ever done anything to change or improve my appearance that causes pain except having my ears pierced. No surgery, no fillers, no tats. The ear piercings when I was 21 were painful enough that I wondered why I did it and I resolved Never Again. My plan is to age gracefully and intact!

Tattoos are not my thing. I realize other people have a right to have whatever they want on their body. Something that has caught my attention, but isn't necessarily true of everyone is that the people who have them are often nursing a 'hurt'. I guess I have started identifying them as a sort of a 'mask' for something else in their life.

I would not place a tattoo over the scar tissue of an excised tumor. The ink might mask a recurrence / skin changes just long enough to affect your health. If you want a tattoo, by all means get one, but not at that spot.

I agree with Kswl on this. Even though they "got it all" when they removed my melanoma, they checked it twice a year for five years. I just recently got the 5-Year-Okay. So maybe get one (or not) somewhere else, and then later on the scar tissue if you still want to.

My tumor was not something I have to worry about recurrence or anything like that, and it was inside my leg, not on the skin, so I have no problem covering the scar. It was a schwannoma.

As far as changes in our bodies, I think we suffer those anyway. For instance, I'm getting more and more cherry angiomas...Mom had quite a few too as she got older....let alone crepe-y skin everywhere. So if I can take something negative and turn it into something I'd want to look at for a long time, I think it would be worth it. But I'd want color. I don't like black. Well, what it is is I don't like gray which so many fade to.

You really cannot assume you know something about the inner workings of a person based upon their outward presentation. I have done this so many times in my life, and more often than not have been so very wrong.

I recently judged a middle-aged man based on his look and his speech and mannerisms, and sized him up as being a staunch "base" supporter of a certain political ideology that has popularized red caps. I was so taken aback to later learn that he actively campaigned for a very popular progressive candidate in my state, and once I knew that, I realized I had allowed my own lens to grossly distort reality.

We all know that apppearances "speak", but so often we misinterpret what we think we "hear." Just something I think we all need to keep in mind.

My cousin...wife of the tattoo artist...had him tattoo an acorn on one ear and an oak leaf on the other....these are on the inside of the upper cartilage. They actually look nice, and I don't think she was covering or masking some hurt...but she always admired oak trees for their strength and relates to them.

As often as we change decor and paint colors around here, I don't understand the need to permanently change one's body. My home is filled with meaningful objects that many here would trade for quick decor pick-me-ups, yet permanent ink on one's skin is somehow meaningful.

To me, all tattoos look very much alike, not very different one from another. I understand meaningful is an individual thing, but permanently altering one's skin is just very odd to me, especially on a board that thrives on constant change.

Hmmm. We don't all thrive on constant change. I've had the same art on my walls for decades and I can't imagine ever NOT living with it. I know very well what I like and it's very taste specific. Maybe that makes me the ideal candidate for body modification. :)

If I had gotten a tattoo that "drunken night on Beale Street" (OK, that's the last time I will say it, ya'll will probably think of me that way forever now) it would have been the Ralph Lauren's "Polo" symbol. To this day, for some reason, I have always loved and had such admiration for Ralph Lauren.

Ok, Ida. I must have you confused with someone else ;-)

Tattoos are for sailors like Popeye

In the old days I suppose Popeye did typify sailors, but now a sailor can be anyone, young women are joining the Navy. I suppose those who have typecast the world may have thought earrings were for Olive Oyl only, but that typecast has gone by the wayside also.

I think it takes strength of character to admire each person for who they are, and not just pigeonhole everyone so that they fit in to a concept of what you think the world 'ought' to be and to further expect that they will fit your pigeonhole.

...all tattoos look very much alike...

I find them all so very different and personalized. My cousin has done portraits of people and animals, celtic knots. He did a number of tats on a woman who is a botanist, a long vine wrapping her midriff as well as others. She insisted that the plants be botanically correct. He's done surreal images, and lacy things and one guy's grandfather's pocket watch. Another creepy one of a spider, so 3D that it looks like it's crawling on the person's arm. One woman had a double mastectomy and he tattooed a lace bra on her so she no longer sees her devastating scars. His wife has a long stemmed blue iris on her shoulder that he did, and her son, also a tattooist, did a barn swallow inside each of her forearms. They are colorful and pretty...not the stereotypical heart with the "mother" sash.

I have my eyebrows micro-bladed to fill them in on the ends. Over plucking and thyroid issue had made the ends disappear. It's not as permanent as a tattoo but uses a similar method. I had Brook Shield's type eyebrows and I wish I had just left them alone instead of going all Gwen Stefani in the 90's.

Ok, Ida. I must have you confused with someone else ;-)

Maybe. Or maybe this just highlights the fact that we only see a small snapshot of lives here, and by no means do we really KNOW one another, despite years of online interaction.

Tattoos are for sailors like Popeye

Or “Tattooed Girl” Alive!! in freak shows at the carnival?

Thankfully, my parents taught me never to look down on the people who worked carnivals. But it was a thing, sadly, not that long ago.

Although I love admiring other people's tattoos, (since I have none myself) I do have just one prejudice that I admit is nit-picky and biased, but it is what it is. That is, that while I can appreciate tattoos everywhere else, I dislike seeing tattoos on anyone's neck. For me, the neck is just one small area that needs to be ink free, because it is the space that frames the face. Because faces are the most interesting part of one's body, to me, I just need nothing artistically distracting, sitting just below the face. I'd probably have a tendency to gaze at the design on their neck, when I should be making eye contact while speaking with them. So to me, the neck serves as a small 'palate cleanser' space, to transition between admiring someone's art, and connecting with their eyes and facial expressions, IYKWIM.

I guess I would liken neck tattoos as akin to buying a beautiful painting, but putting it in such an intricate frame, that the eye is distracted from the painting itself. That's the one thing I've never liked about museum quality classic European paintings. They are often in such heavily sculpted gilt frames, (like Baroque style) that it feels like the 'package' is trying to outdo the gift itself. Now I could spend a day admiring extremely beautifully crafted antique frames, but I think they should be their own genre of artistry, and not combined with a beautiful painting, as my eyes end up darting from frame to painting, and I don't appreciate either, as much as I'd like.

I realize tattoos can be conversation starters, but I'm an introvert! sometimes I just wanna squint to make out what the design is, lol! (but usually don't because I don't want to offend).

My uncle was in the Navy most of his life. He had a tattoo on his leg of a naked lady. When he jiggled his kneecap, her boobs would go up and down. That was my earliest experience with tattoos and maybe why I am not fond of them now. When I see someone with loads of tattoos I can’t tell where one ends and the next one begins. But if someone wants one, or many, and sees them as art or an expression of something dear to them, then fine, go for it and don’t worry about the opinions of others.

i would be interested to know the etiquette around tattoos. Is it rude to ask about them? I was admiring some on a fellow at the optician and he didn’t mind my looking at them on his arms, but to be honest I couldn’t tell what they were and yes, I was wearing my glasses!

Ida, would love to see a pic of yours if you’re so inclined.

Sueb20, thanks for your comment. It now has me wanting to get a "bracelet" tattoo of violets. I love that idea. My birthday is in the spring and I love violets. I think for me it's easy to make a decision to get a second tattoo as I am single and I don't have anyone else's opinion to consider. I love that freedom it affords me.

IdaClaire, I love your outlook on life and I suspect you are very happy with your life. I try to be at all times. While my bluebird tattoo does have meaning to me (I belonged to a group of women friends and this was our nickname), I just like the art of tattooing and it can be very beautiful.

It's funny to me to hear about personal biases against it because I wasn't sure how mine would be received by my mom because when I got my ears pierced at 16, she was a little upset because in her day (she was 40 when she had me) pierced ears were mainly seen on people of a certain culture. Funnily enough, she came around to love mine and even got her own ears pierced when she was in her 80's. As for my tattoo, she loved it the minute she saw it. In my immediate family, the only one who had a tattoo when I was growing up was an older cousin who got an anchor tattoo when he was in the navy. I liked it.

Another consequence of ugly tattoos that hasn't been mentioned:

For many people, their working years involve meeting and spending time in encounters with "strangers". Meaning, people other than daily work colleagues or family. Oftentimes being able to do so consistently well enhances earnings.

Whether tattooed people want to admit it or not, there's a substantial portion of our society who find tattoos unsightly and off-putting. For the customer or representative, starting off an encounter with a surprise about how the other person looks - whether it's a tattoo or other item affecting appearance - the experience may be negatively colored. It's why many employers have dress codes.

I had a funny experience about 6 months ago. Needing a plumber, I turned to Yelp and found one I thought would fill the bill - a one man contractor with many positive comments. I called and made an appointment. It turned out his "office coverage" was his mother, filling a role she'd done for decades for her now-deceased husband who started the business. At the end of the conversation, she said something to the effect of "My son is an excellent plumber. My husband trained him for many years but he's gone well beyond that. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with him. I want to alert you that he has a lot of tattoos. Most of them date to when he was younger. Don't be startled, he's a responsible nice guy and he'll do a good job for you". She was right all all scores, the guy was terrific. I was glad she alerted me, his tattoos made a horrible first impression.

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/how-does-tattoo-removal-work

Check it out....

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that the prospect of tattoo removal wouldn't deter anyone in this forum from getting one at this point in their lives. The decision would be more thoughtful and purposeful (rather than a Beale St. inspiration!). I can't imagine that Annie, for example, would put this much thought into getting one, and then regret it 10 years from now.

Plus, tattoos are becoming ubiquitous and more socially acceptable. Among women I know, they seem to be a popular way of marking life milestones. This extends to the workplace, too. Not long ago, I knew nursing students who had to cover up their tattoos on the job. Today, my local hospital has no restrictions on any of its employees. showing their tattoos. My sister went to the trouble of having a visible one removed prior to a job search about 10 years ago. Today, she said, it wouldn't matter anymore in her field if she had one.

Being an artist I have no complaints about what anyone puts on their body, to me it is art. If I were to have one, I'd want a lovely multi-toned lilac bouquet. Its beauty would make me happy.

I just think that skin, in its natural state, is gorgeous, including the scars and wrinkles. I love the subtle shading and flow as it envelops different parts of the body, lightens in the palms, crooks of arms and behind the knees. Even the greatest painters in history could never completely capture the exquisite coloration of skin. I feel that skin itself, in all of its shades, is more beautiful than anything you could put on it.

Yayagal, I love lilacs too! But my favorite flowers are orchids...

Feathers, Oh it still matters!

Especially more for women. Whether that's right or wrong, it does.

eta: judidupi, beautifully said.

No way, no how, never! Too many shots when I was a child and too many problematic blood draws all my life. I don't do well with needles. I get queasy even thinking about them.

Oddly enough, I can give subcutaneous fluids to renal kitties because it's a lifesaving measure. I defer falling apart until afterwards.

Suero, I’m getting such a laugh out of that video. Maybe I’ll have The Wreck of The Hesperus in its entirety tattooed on my back.

Anybody up for a face tattoo? How about a teardrop?

Olliesmom, I wasn't making a blanket statement, but rather referring to my sister's field. That's what I meant by "in her field." ;-)

Elmer?

There's art and there's fine art. I rarely see a tattoo that would fall into the latter category.

In my mid 40's and have many friends with tattoos and my husband has one also (from before we met). Some (like my husband) regret them, some don't, and some keep getting more. My personal preference is similar to one of the posters above. I think the human body / skin is beautiful as is and I don't like tattoos because they cover it up. I don't even like the henna that middle eastern brides put on their hands and feet before their wedding. I just don't see the beauty in any of it. Just my personal preference - beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Not a fan, will never be. Worst one I ever saw was a huge tombstone on a girl's back at an amusement park. Complete with names. I'm sure she was honoring someone but to me it looked so out of place.

My two - 20 something daughters both have more than I know about!

I've wondered about the full covered arms, legs, etc... what if you have a mole that develops skin cancer? How could you ever see it covered in ink?

I think dermatologists have cameras or scanners that can detect suspect areas on your skin that might be overlooked with a casual check. My melanoma was very innocuous looking, not much different than a large freckle or small age spot. It would have never occurred to me something was amiss. I would think that if you are covered with a lot of ink, it would be prudent to get a darn good skin check annually just like everyone else of a certain age should, or if you've spent a lot of time in the sun.

I'm not opposed to tattoos. But I've seen plenty that are pretty awful, if not in execution, then subject matter. I just don't get it. But there's no accounting for taste, as we see across the forums here. True, decor is not necessarily forever, but people like what they like.

Not for me. I guess my opinion was skewed by all the tattooed WWII veterans I saw growing up. Yes, they were crude but they also faded and the skin wrinkled. Better artwork these days for sure but Father time is pretty much the same.

I saw a man on a cruise once, who had the most beautiful tattoos. They all looked like they were done by the same tattoo artist, as every tattoo was done in very, very fine lines, in black ink, almost like a sketch. The lines were so fine, I can't envision his tattoos becoming blurry black blobs, over the years. They were all very detailed renditions of ancient cathedrals and universities. I recognized some of the European ones, while others appeared to be places in maybe India, Indonesia or China.

I complimented him on the beauty of his tattoos and he thanked me, telling me he had drawn each sketch himself, then had an excellent tattoo artist make them permanent keepsakes. While traveling around the world, he had sketched his favorite buildings, most of which happened to be very old places of worship. I said he was quite the artist, for being able to draw such precise sketches. He laughed and said, 'I wish I could call myself an artist and could pay my bills that way, but I had to become an architect instead.' His choice of tattoos made perfect sense to me!

My college senior daughter has 4, all small and delicate, and will probably get more, she loves them. She started with one of her design on her shoulder right before freshman year, next was a small flower on her rib cage to honor a friend who was quite ill, script that says “Miles to go” on her foot (we are runners) and the latest, a deep green band of tiny flowers to commemorate the dog we had to put down a couple of weeks ago, his collar was always deep green and he loved to sit by the garden and in the shade of the lilacs. We are going to get matching ones this summer, after her college graduation, I’m leaning towards a band of flowers around my wrist, we will see what strikes me at the time. I work professionally and am out and about in the community all the time, and I see people with ink in all professions, I think the perceived stigma is only in the minds of those who judge the “other” for not conforming to their idea of identity or properness.

jrb451, I also saw plenty of them on WWI, WWII and Korea/Vietnam era soldiers. A tattoo is a scar and as a medical professional I hated have to put a needle through one because that skin was very tough.

georgysmom2

A scar is less noticeable than a tattoo. JMO. Whenever I think of tattoos, I think about some article of clothing that I loved, loved, loved when I bought it but several years later when I looked at it I thought, what were you thinking? The article of clothing is a lot easier to get rid of.

And even if I still loved the article of clothing I wouldn't want to wear it every day!

I just got to laugh: are we talking about decorative ink on people or decorative foam on plates?

Maybe try out drawing your own with temporary tattoo pens.

https://www.inkdoneright.com/temporary-tattoo-pen/

Yeah, I like the idea of a temporary first to see how I like it...

Raye Smith, I have to disagree about tattooed skin being tough. Maybe on soldiers because I'm guessing they would have a lot of callouses and the like from their physical work, but my bluebird is just as soft today as it was when I got it over 25 years ago.

I've stuck needles in a lot of arms and backs of hands that were tattooed and yes, they are very tough to puncture and painful for the recipient of the needle. The arm/hand isn't an area that would be calloused from work.

A tattoo is NOT "a scar." Certainly, tattooing has the potential to CAUSE scarring, but when properly executed, tattoo needles do not penetrate deeply enough into the skin's tissue to cause permanent scarring. A tattoo should produce moderate skin damage that scabs slightly and peels after a week or two, and then heals into smoothness that cannot be detected by running one's hand over the inked area.

Tattoo artistry has greatly advanced since WWI, WWII, etc.