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How do you feel about tattoos?
- Thread starter Huntn
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By looking at them, mostly. Obviously, everyone is different and may have different motivations, but I think a lot of people feel that they need to announce themselves to the world in a dramatic way. I see it the same way as having purple hair, wearing "look at me" clothes, or face rings.
My favorite is reading people's Chinese tattoos. Almost half of them contain mistakes or say something different than what the wearer thinks. I long ago learned to ask what the person thinks it says before telling them what it actually says, or, very often, not telling them what it actually says.
How so? The OP asked a question. I answered it honestly and respectfully. I'm sorry if you don't like that opinion, but mine is hardly a rare opinion on the subject.
That's the thing, you really can't judge a person without getting to know them. The ol' don't judge a book by its cover mentality. I've known some of the most generous, caring people who would lay their lives down for you, and happen to have fairly extensive amount of tattoos. Likewise, the people dressed for success, and have everything perfect can be the biggest SOBs
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Saying you personally do not like tattoos is an opinion. You pre-judged from a point of view of personal superiority. Which by definition is what narcissism is... If you do not know the story behind the tattoo, how can you say the bolded part below?
I don't like most people's tattoos, I don't agree with a lot people's choices of placement. But I in no way can say the person is a narcissist because of their tattoo choice without knowing them personally... They might be, but the tattoo has nothing to do with that...
I think today (maybe always?) that in the West tattoos are viewed as decoration, something to ”make me be or feel special, unique, cool, or make a social statement”.
Some, a minority of these decorations are cool and impressive, some make a statement, the wrong statement, and there are so many cases where tattoos have the reverse effect, actually highlighting just how ordinary you are, doing nothing to make you more appealing, in fact the opposite, the appearance that you are desperate to be special. So the bottom line imo, is that tattoos require a lot of thought and self reflection, and maybe being receptive to and asking for third party opinions, to avoid making yourself look like a bad joke. 🤔
I'd agree with that sentiment. I think its how we as individuals want to express ourselves. Some people choose to wear various outfits, makeup and have their hair done in a certain way. How is altering what one's skin any different?
In my old age, I feel that I need to be comfortable with how I want to express myself and not live my life looking to please other people or live up to other folk's expectations.
And you should. Mostly, anyway (meaning, living up to the expectations of people who depend on you is a moral obligation, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this topic). But everyone judges people by how they look. It is a necessity and a result of evolutionary biology. And while we must always recognize that everyone is an individual and that we must be open to have our initial judgments disproven when more substantive data is available, that doesn’t change the fact judging people by how they present themselves happens universally, or that it is generally a useful trait.
I really like tattoos despite not having any. Some are pretty, some are cool, but none will ever hold a candle to the… interesting reactions they elicit.
I swear, somebody should get a Rorschach test tattoo just to make people's aversion that much clearer—it's a lotta projection.
I swear, somebody should get a Rorschach test tattoo just to make people's aversion that much clearer—it's a lotta projection.
....ugh....
I thought we were done with "Dont judge a book by it's cover".
Look, you're entitled to your opinion and all but it's extremely narrow minded to assume that anyone with tattoos is just screaming for attention or as you say "announce themselves to the world".
I'm going to assume that you haven't done any research into why people get tattoos. Sure, vanity can be A reason but it's not the ONLY reason. For me, my tattoos are a reflection of where I am in my life and how I view the world. My wife has tattoos of cartoon characters and quotes from Harry Potter. My mom, who served the Coast Guard, has tattoos to deal with the PTSD of picking up suicide victims from the Golden Gate bridge and the mental scars that left on her.
So by that logic, if I dress professionally but act like a huge d-bag and end up being the biggest ******* on the planet, you're going to give me a pass in life because I LOOK a certain way? Some of the nicest, most genuine, real, compassionate people I've ever met in my life were covered head to toe in tattoos.
Good thing I explicitly said that while many people do this, many people do not.
Good thing that I explicitly said this.
I explicitly rejected that view. Honestly, why are you replying to me if you are going to misrepresent what I wrote?
I think you should take a deep breath and figure out why this makes you so emotional that you will ignore what I wrote, misrepresent my views, and only focus on my general distaste for tattoos.
You are judging people based on what they have decided to do to their bodies and have decided that it is ok to judge people with tattoos before even getting to know them on a personal level. I haven't misrepresented anything about you. Scrolling back through your posts about this subject, you've said all you needed to say about tattoos to inform me that you're not afraid to judge a book by it's cover and are willing to assume people with tattoos are less than you.
It's one thing to say "Tattoos aren't for me." Cool, fine, whatever.
It's another thing to say "Many tattoos are just narcissism exposed, and a lack of respect for one’s own body."
That alone tells me that you are going to continue to judge everyone based on their tattoos and refuse to give them a chance to prove that they are decent, good minded people.
If tattoos aren't for you. Great.
But dont you dare say "tattoos make you a narcissist" when someone is getting their loved ones name inked permanently into their skin because they died of cancer.
Dont you dare say "tattoos make you a narcissist" when someone is trying to cover up a mental or physical scar you know nothing about.
Dont you dare say "tattoos make you a narcissist" when someone is more than willing to turn their body into a canvas because they think art is beautiful.
Dont you dare say "tattoos make you a narcissist" when you are the last of your platoon from Afghanistan because the rest of them were killed and the only way to deal with that trauma is by making sure your friends names are etched into your skin for life.
Dont you dare say "tattoos make you a narcissist" when some of us are dealing with the anxieties of a world on fire and we have no other answers.
I'd rather share a meal and a good story with someone with tattoos than someone who flashes their gold watch everywhere.
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What you have said is the equivalent to "No Offense, but...". It is pretty much guaranteed that the next part of the sentence is going to be offensive. No one is saying you aren't entitled to your opinions, but when you post the insults, people are going to be insulted...
As I said, the way to post is "I personally do not like some people's choices of tattoos or their placements", but when you start equating these choices to the type of person they are, even if it is a subset of people with tattoos, it goes too far... You do not know the story behind what lead the person to these choices, you don't know if a tattoo is how someone kept from taking their life or helped them manage with life. Or, you could even be right, they simply can be a POS, but do you really need pass judgement without knowing them?
People judge people when they meet them based on how they look. It’s a fact. Tattoos are part of that, but people judge you on what you wear, your physical condition and all sorts. Not saying it’s right. Just it’s what we all do.
Oh, I agree... But there are certain things you don't say out loud (or type on a public forum). For example, how often would someone walk up to a tattooed person (the hypothetical tattooed person we are discussing) and call them a narcissist to their face without them doing anything other than having the tattoos?
Judge away internally, but user your (the general you, not you specifically) inner voice...
The title of the thread is "How do you feel about tattoos?". It seems this is exactly the type of public (anonymous) forum where you would do that. And, if one reads what I wrote, he'd see that I clearly did not say that people are narcissists for doing anything other than having a tattoo. If that's what one takes away from the comment despite the fact that anyone can easily read what I wrote, that is their. If one can't discuss the topic of how people feel about tattoos without lying about what they said and writing excessively long hysterical breakdowns, one probably shouldn't be reading this topic.
No, it isn't equivalent at all. And I didn't post any insults to anyone, and suggesting I did is dishonest.
I said that some tattoos are an expression of narcissism. This seems completely uncontroversial to me. The only way you can be offended by this is if you want very badly to be offended.
I’ve known applicants get turned down for jobs where I work because they’ve got visible neck tattoos. Sometimes something like that and in specific roles doesn’t fit the company image. Obviously that would never be admitted as the reason to the person but behind closed doors that was the very thing that lost them the role.
Corporate entities seem to be hostile to tattoos for the most part. When I worked at NW Airlines, tattoos had to be coverable and kept covered on the job. When we became Delta, I never asked what the tattoo policy was, but I’ll assume it was the same as I never saw an employee on the job with an exposed tat. Some wore bandaids to cover them.
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Perhaps this is totally random but I am wondering how many tattoos(if any) anybody in Rothschild or Rockefeller families have?
What’s wrong with beards? I’ve had one since I was a teenager.
There's nothing "wrong" with them. To each their own and all that. I just think 99% of men look better clean-shaven, and I've also never understood how a woman could enjoy kissing a bunch of facial hair 😂 I've also noticed a lot of people I've known for many years who never even had a day's worth of beard all their lives are all of a sudden in the last few years growing huge beards. It's like some fad or something 🤷🏼♂️