Have your tattoos held you back at all in your career or social life?

Well, tattoos located on a neck or forehead tend to hold people back…..

my tattoo has not, to my knowledge—but that brings up an interesting point. how would i know? it’s not like someone interviewing me for a job / considering me for a date would outright say to me (or if so, it hasn’t happened), “you know, i would, except for that tattoo…” so i guess it’s hard to know. but i think not.

No, but that might be because my tattoo is on my butt.

I wanted to have a tattoo so badly a couple of years ago, but the I realized that it was a bad idea, ten years from now, people is going to wonder what happened to me in my early 20’s… Is not good while you are in the country club spa… so I decided that it was a bad idea, that it can actually hold me back after a few years…

I have several, but they are in strategic areas. Easily covered by day, selectively uncovered by night ;) I love all the work I’ve gotten done – no regrets!!!

Here are some other thoughtful (mostly) answers from earlier days.

http://www.fluther.com/disc/8442/whats-your-opinion-on-tattoos/

My youngest step-son (aged 44) had a huge and garish serpent tattoed from wrist to shoulder during his crack years (18–28). Now that he is clean and sober and respectable, he hates it and has tried to have it removed, but the cost was prohibitive.

I have three, all of which are visible, and it has not held me back socially or in the work place. As far as career, I think it depends on where they are located and how tastefull they are.

No. Mine is on my back left hip and can be covered with underwear. The next one I want to get is going on my right side (directions: right boob, over to the right side, under the upper arm (but on my side) I guess I didn’t explain that very well, but when I told bulbatron he understood).

Do a temporary tat….It is not so cool when you are 50—which will come sooner than you now beleive possible. You will be sorry for more years than you enjoy it. Unless you enjoy limiting your choices of mates and employers in an ever more competitive world, getting a tatoo is great way to give the other guy or girl a “leg up”.

I don’t have any tattoos myself, but I used to wait tables, and one of my co-workers had one on his neck. He told me that he had tried to get some other jobs, but he felt stuck as a waiter because of his tatoo.

I have many visible tattoos. I didn’t get them because I was young, or on drugs, or anything like that. I got my first one at 22 (not visible) and just got my 8th one last year. So far my tattoos have not hindered me in anyway. In my work they have actually allowed me to have an instant rapport with many clients. They see me, and know that I am not some puritanical authority figure that just wants them to conform.

I think the fact that I’m educated and a “productive member of society”, whatever that means and am tattooed has shaken, if not broken, many of the stereotypes people have about people with tattoos. If I wear a long sleeve shirt, there is no way to tell the freak I am inside.

Considering the amount of “normal” people who now have tattoos and piercings, I don’t think the taboo surrounding it will last much longer.

tiny, you said “they have actually allowed me to have an instant rapport with many clients” i think that’s really cool.
may i ask what kind of work you do?

I don’t have clue but on Saturday, I’m getting sparrows put on my wrists. I have snake bites (two lip piercings, one on each side) and I always feel like I really have to work hard to prove to new folks that I’m not some “punk”. It’s ok though because usually people tend to quit noticing them after they have been around me for a while.

Can’t say it has. I just recently got my first, it’s on my back and easily covered. In fact when I asked to leave early for my tattoo appointment, my boss was all excited for me and curious about what I was getting.

The jobs that I want won’t care about tattoos. I find that by getting visible tattoos I can prevent myself from ending up in dead-beat office jobs or careers I won’t be happy with. This way I will HAVE to move to LA and get a job in animation/TV!