Anyone judge people because of tattoos?

I would get a sailor Jupiter tatoo on my arm if i wasn’t so prudish. I associate tattoos with jail time. Other than kung fu monks that is. I wonder when they will snap and beat the hell out of me.

No, but that’s a common attitude. There are a lot of people who really loathe them, and they will look down on anyone with any kind of tattoo, no matter what.

Personally while I don’t really want one myself, as long as it’s not a swastika or something like that, tattoos don’t bother me.

@Demosthenes Yes me too.

I don’t judge but I do wonder sometimes what all the ink will do to a persons body as time goes by. It must have some negative impact I would think. I would get the word “FAITH” on my arm but husband would not have it. I just think it is terrible how people judge others over that.

I don’t mind them unless they are on your face. Because that is fucking stupid.

But I have done hiring in the past and you will not get that job you are totally qualified for if you have visible tats. Sucks, but that is the way it is.

I used to a long time ago, but they’ve stopped bothering me unless they are obnoxious.

I used to use them for information, when I was a LEO. Most tattoos, are just tats. Some have meaning about gang affiliation, or jail time.

A spider web frequently means that a person has spent extended time in prison, for instance.

I personally have lots of ink. It’s definitely worked against me when seeking employment. Professionally, I feel like it’s very hypocritical to not want employees with ink, but to gladly take money from customers that do…

Tattoos, or body art, are far older than any religion, or profession. Kind of stupid to be against them, as they are such an ancient part of human culture. It’s one thing not to want one. It’s another to judge others because of them….

I judge people by their tattoos. Bother favorably and unfavorably. Depends on the quality of their ink.

I don’t mind them, up to a point. Like @johnpowell, on your face or neck, hands or fingers are all too much for me..

And I am a bit critical of poorly done or odd subject matter tatt’s. Portraits of people form pictures never look good

I don’t judge them as people or their choice, and I think some tattoos are beautiful and I get that some people really love them and identify with them and it has helped many people build an authentic reality, which I think is all great.

I do however sometimes project my opinions and aesthetics on people with tattoos based on my own subjective aesthetic tastes. Some I think were poor choices. I also sometimes taste a bit of my own judgement remembering when I was a kid and thought temporary tattoos in gum packs were fun but that it seemed like I might change my mind about wanting a permanent one, and I heard they can decline with age. I sometimes probably think negatively about someone if I get the idea somehow that their tattooing was foolish or strongly not to my own taste.

I have an even harder time with some piercings – many look painful and awful to me, and I have physical cringe reactions when I see them. I have a hard time relating to the aesthetic or wanting to do that to myself, and again it sometimes has me start to project some judgements their way. I try to be as open-minded and non-judgmental about it as I can, but I can’t help having negative feelings about it.

^“but I can’t help having negative feelings about it. ”

Why not? What drives your disdain for people with ink? Do ya think? ...

@MrGrimm888 Well, for one thing, when I see someone with a piece of metal through their nose, for example, I often have an immediate physical squirming sensation in a NSFW place (seriously) and/or the same pierced place on my own body, that I also get when I see an awful wound or hear about someone with a terrible health condition that makes me feel physical sympathetic / fear / dread / horror sensations in my body. I also tend to imagine what it might feel like, which also tends to make my skin crawl and make me uncomforntable and bothered.

Also, it often just seems really unappealing aesthetically even when I filter out the feelings. I don’t remember seeing a jewel in a nose or eyelid or cheek that I thought was an improvement over flesh.

No pre-judgement regarding what type of person they are. I admit to sometimes thinking maybe they should have put the tattoo in a different place or that maybe they don’t realize how people perceive the tattoo. Specifically on the perception, that’s usually about women getting tattoos and how men perceive them—like tattoos on the lower back.

Yes. Only wannabe gangsters, slags, ex-cons and Yakuza wear tattoos.
Did you know that Japanese Onsen ban tattooed people?

As some answered above, I don’t like to see them on the face or neck. I also don’t like to see piercings all over the face. One or two on the face doesn’t even draw my attention, but all over the face and I’m noticing and probably making a face at the sight of it.

I do judge, because the person him or herself made the decision to mar his or her body. So it doesn’t matter how beautiful the tattoo is – and I have seen some very well done ones – the bottom line is that the person made the judgment to have it done. So I can judge the person based on that decision.

Somewhat. A person who gets/has tats has skin litter, and I dislike litterers. It’s unnatural, and so many tat wearers and tats are over the top.

Well, it depends on the tattoo, really. This is insane to me.

What I don’t understand is why people with tattoos talk about getting more, almost like it’s some sort of need. Can anyone explain that to me?

My 75 year old aunt went to Stergis one year. She was very, very crippled by arthritis, but she went to Stergis. And got a small tattoo of something Dutch on her calf. SMH! I loved her.

Some older jellies will remember my “would you have sex with a clown?” question. It was based on a guy I met, that had clown makeup tattooed on his face….

Dutch. I have heard it refered to as the “itch.” It’s when you haven’t been inked up in a while. I know that with some people, the pain is a big part of it (not me.) And they want more.

Others just feel weird, with just one or two. And they may have been intimidated by the pain aspects, and realize that they can handle it.

I have, all total, probably 40–50 hours of ink on me. I’ll probably be getting another one I’ve been thinking about for a few years soon.

As far as appearance over time, it’s like many other things. Maintenance is important. You have to go heavy on sunscreen, and usually with a high SPF. I use 80 SPF on my color tats, if I’m going to be in the Sun. Colored ones will fade in the Sun. But you can usually just get them touched up.

Choice of ink is important too. Places that may get saggy, or flabby over time (ie necks) should have carefully planned ink.

I kind of want to get one, just a small one, on my calf some place.

@ragingloli Are you Japanese? For some reason, I thought you were German.

Japanese cultural and societal norms in regards to tattoos is very fascinating to me. Would love to hear more from a native.

Sure. How could we not?

I don’t care much one way or the other. I have no tattoos. Not because I view them as evil or bad, but because I can’t think of a single thing I want to put on my body for the rest of my life. I see women running around with butt hat tattoos and can’t help but think “what will she look like when she is a 75 year old grandmother with a butt hat? I knew a guy that had gotten tattoo sleeves when he was younger. They were all cartoon/video game characters. How do you take a 40 year old guy seriously with cartoons lining his arms? BTW, I feel the same way about the gauge ear plugs. These people that have huge gauges can never get rid of them, or they have a huge droopy hole in their ear lobes. Not a good look. So what…you’re going to have 1” or 2” gauges for the rest of your life?
Times and styles change. Some of the decisions made in our youth are not really good for our older selves.

I judge, but not by the existence of tattoos. I judge by placement, relevance, significance.
A woman who gets a butterfly on her breast because she was in a mood and that was what she ended up with, I would judge as frivolous and stupid, as eventually this butterfly will stretch, and look more like a battered Luna moth.
Now someone who lives on the edge of danger, like a firefighter, or stunt double with a dragon on their arm, tail tip down one finger, looped around like a ring, extending upward across their shoulder, one wing down their chest, the other down their back, open mouth around their neck…
never seen it, but gawd that would be hot! I would do that guy.
if anybody does this I want the credit.
and their phone number.

Would you possibly NOT have sex with someone because of their tattoos?

If it is this guy
And I am sure that most people on Fluther would agree.

More people judge than don’t by a HUGE margin. Many people place parameters on their judgements, but the judgements are still there. Those of us with significant ink don’t give a rat’s ass if people don’t get ink, but we do tend to roll our eyes (just a little bit) at all the people who declare “I want to get one but…”. Most of us get them for ourselves, we know they won’t be crisp and fresh in 40 years, neither will I, neither will you.

@Dutchess_III, and a lot of us don’t understand why you like MacDonalds so much.
We get more because we like them. It’s usually that simple.

I admit to some prejudice regarding tattoos. If they are not aesthetically pleasing or are too crammed in together so all you see is a muddy colorization I tend to question their judgement.

@MooCows, I never have, but I could absolutely see that as a possibility.

Still, if someone had a tat which could turn me away, probably has other aspects to their personality which would have kept me from going that far.

I had a young guy hitting on me once. He was good looking, and a quality guy, but I was more than double his age.
As a selling point, he asked if I had ever seen one with a gold ring. Crazy man shows me. 14k
gold ring, permanently installed just after birth. Cool, but didn’t change my mind.

Ink would be the same way, one aspect of a person, but not usually an end all deal maker/breaker.

Sometimes ya gotta consider that while it may look good and natural for some folks, for others, more like “Uh, No”.

Tā moko (A Maori Facial Tat) might work for this guy but would look very out of place on your typical Walmarteer strolling down the trashcan aisle or heading toward the checkout

A lot of people do.
My Mom loved my daughter, and always thought she was smart and good.
When my daughter got a number of tattoos, my Mom said she realized she was wrong to prejudge people.

Ugh! @rojo, file under, “stuff you can’t unsee but would blind yourself hoping to.”

Judging people based on tattoos is just as stupid as judging people on anything else superficial. I have 9 tattoos. I love them. I want more. Judge all you want. It just makes you seem ignorant and intolerant.

@tinyfaery, you basically put yourself in the exact same group. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Calling someone stupid for not liking tattoos is like calling people with tattoos dirty.

By the way, what do you have?

@Patty_Melt, that is a false equivalency.

No, it isn’t. When styles change, it is sometimes more than just about appearances.
People who have memory of the skinhead era, when baldness was being favored heavily by violent people, certain folks had real reason to cringe, even when seeing someone bald on TV.
Various styles can mean deep psychological pain, or stress.
Tattoos is included in that category.
Some people are terrified of tats, and sometimes the people who love those terrified people are opposed to seeing them.

Style is attitude. If someone is opposed to a particular style so?
That doesn’t make them stupid. Unless they go around throwing acid on tattoos, then you have action without provocation.

I said judging people based on something so superficial is stupid, and it is.

If someone is terrified of ink in someone else’s skin, well, that’s not very smart now is it? I’m sure the flowers, the butterfly, and the cat that make up my visible tattoos are terrifying.

Style is not attitude. You are reaching.

That’s exactly it, @tinyfaery.

I don’t fear tattoos, see my first post above, but yes, it is a real thing, substantiated.

And don’t bother asking for links. I’ve stated numerous times I can’t get my phone to link, but anyone who isn’t stupid can’t certainly search themselves.

A guy once told me, and he claimed it was true, that a tat of a tear near the eye meant that person had taken a life.

^There are many “achievement” tattoos in many different cultures.
Yes. The tear drop can mean that the person killed someone. Multiple drops, can mean they killed multiple people.
You will often see odd little marks/symbols on the hands. Between the thumb and index finger, on the back of the hand. This placement is so people in the know can see each other’s stripes, or accomplishments whilst giving dap (shaking hands.)

I was watching a documentary about tattoos once. It traveled the world, and explored many different types of doing the tattoos, and their meanings.

Deep in a South American rain forest, the show’s host was speaking with a medicine man/tattoo artist. He did the ink for multiple tribes in the region. In his hut, he had what we would call flash (different images, and designs that he has/can tattoo on people.) The host asked about one image. It was a series of lines, and dots, and squiggly lines. The artist explained that the tattoo meant that someone had decapitated another person. The host wasn’t impressed, and seemed dismissive of the idea. He asked, in a sceptical way, “how can you know a person did this?” Without hesitation, and with no humor in his words, the artist responded. The translator looked suddenly pale, and told the host “to be sure, they have to bring me the severed head.”...
You never know what a tattoo could mean. Interestingly or in contrast, some mean nothing…