To begin my argument, I have six tattoos. I have one on my foot, the rest being on my arms, and they all vary in size as well as in meaning. On my foot, I have a treble clef because of my love of music; I have a sun on my wrist, and my sister has the moon that goes with it; I also have a wildflower, and then my biggest piece is two armbands with a quote for my grandparents who have passed. These are what make up my tattoos. They are a part of me, but I shouldn’t be defined because of them.
I am especially tired of hearing these things because of them.
“Did it hurt when you got your tattoo?”
OK, first of all, a needle is going into my skin repeatedly. Of course it’s going to hurt. But certain places hurt more than others, and it depends on a person’s pain tolerance. For example, my foot tattoo didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, and I have talked to other people with foot tattoos who said it was the worst place to get a tattoo. So, next time you are talking to someone with tattoos, don’t ask if it hurt.
“I don’t like girls with tattoos.”
Umm, that’s fine. I don’t like people who are going to base their opinions of me on my tattoos. I don’t need that type of negativity in my life. So, bye.
“How do you expect to get a job with those tattoos?”
Most workplaces are allowing more visible tattoos now. It’s becoming most acceptable in society to have tattoos since a lot more people have tattoos. And, although it will be harder, it is possible to hide all of my tattoos if I need to. As I said before, I should not be judged based on just my tattoos. I went to a career fair last April, and the person at the booth asked me how attached I am to my sun tattoo since that was the only one visible. I told him I’m very attached to it since it’s permanent. If I was to work for them, I would have to have my tattoos removed. I can’t work for someone with that mentality because since more and more people are getting tattoos, I don’t see a problem with having tattoos in the workplace.
“What do your tattoos mean?”
Although most of mine have a meaning, I don’t necessarily have to have a reason or a meaning to get a tattoo. The flower tattoo that I got was very impulsive, and it doesn’t have a meaning. I wanted to get a tattoo, so I got it. Tattoos don’t have to have a big meaning behind them, but if they do, a person may cherish them just a little bit more.
So, next time you are planning on asking someone about their tattoos, just think about the reaction you might get. Tattoos are a way of personal expression, so if you don’t have anything nice to say about them, maybe keep it to yourself.
Photo courtesy of me.