Ever since I was in middle school, I knew I wanted a tattoo. The size and design have always differed, ranging from a small minimalist tattoo on the nape of my neck to a collection of wildflowers and geometric patterns that would reside on the entirety of my right arm. Tattoos, for me anyway, always meant something. They meant cataloging who I was, what I was interested in, and what I believed in at a given time. When I first announced that I wanted a tattoo, my parents brushed it off and basically said that if I wanted a respectable job, I shouldn’t get a tattoo. Of course, since I was a teenager, I ignored them.
I started looking more and more at prospective tattoo ideas by perusing Tumblr and Pinterest for inspiration. Along the way, I came across multiple how-to guides for things like concealing your tattoos in the workplace and around less understanding family members. I started to wonder why people felt the need to hide what was the equivalent of art. There’s not as much stigma as there was a couple of decades ago, but a sense of distrust and distaste still lingers.
One of the main arguments that I hear against tattoos is that they’re associated with gangs and violence. In the twentieth century, tattoo artists and their art barely had any credibility. They went underground, and the only people who wanted tattoos were those who were normally seen as people who went against social norms like juvenile delinquents, bikers, and gang members. However, there’s a long history of tattoos where they didn’t equate to seemingly violent or criminal people. Even now, more and more “normal” folks are getting inked. Tattoos don’t necessarily mean that someone is engaging in criminal activities or that they’re being needlessly rebellious. That would be like saying that because I like anime, I’m inevitably going to go bungee jumping.
Another thing that I hear is that it’ll make it hard for me to get a job. Admittedly, some more high paying jobs can frown upon having tattoos. But, I’m also not planning on getting a face tattoo of a dragon or anything like that. And, to be frank, I don’t think that a lot of people are thinking of doing that either. Also, not a lot of professional settings are going to care if I have a few tattoos. It will not reduce my chances of getting that promotion or that spot in the company of my dreams if I have a sunflower in bloom on my back or a constellation on my thigh. Frankly, my dear, no one gives a damn.
I already have the plans drawn up for my first tattoo: it’ll be a lock that has the words ‘safe and secure’ written in Mandarin and it will be surrounded by lotus flowers. I want it on my right shoulder so that I can always see it and touch it when I need to remind myself that I’ll be fine. It’ll remind me of the happy memories that I gained while I was in China and all of the lovely people I met and the places I visited. I want people to see it not as a means of rebellion, but as a piece of art that has just taken residence on my body.
In short, I know that negative connotations about tattoos aren’t going to go away overnight. It took years to build up that stigma and it’ll take years to tear it down, but I think that people can change. My mom, who was originally against me having a tattoo, got one recently. It’s an e.e.cummings poem that goes down the length of her spine and it has three hearts woven in the words. One for each of her three daughters. They can mean something to you. Or they can mean nothing at all. It’s totally fine to get something just because you think it’s pretty or you think it’ll make you look better. We do this with a bunch of other things, like with clothes or certain grooming preferences, so why can’t we do it with tattoos? The continued stigma against tattoos just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense anymore.