Do you like tattoos on the opposite sex?

[Coily]

I'm rather turned off by them, on a few levels. But the biggest objection is the obsession of being an individual by doing something everyone else is doing. To each their own, but I prefer to project an air of mystery and keep me to me. But then I am a fairly private person, with this being one of the few exceptions thanks to anonymity. The costs of good tats also are a turn off, but again to each their own.

[BritterSweet]

not to change topic, but what is "skank flank" never heard of that before...

 

Skank flank is a tattoo at the ribs, like this:

image removed

 

I just recently heard of it too. It doesn't look like the phrase has become as much of a thing yet as "tramp stamp." Of course, it's just as judgmental.

[Fudgie]

Hope anyone who gets a "skank flank" stays their weight forever. Any amount of fat gained in that area and your tattoo is a total waste.

[tiredofvampires]

No. Any guy with completely virgin skin would be gold to me. Because:

 

1. I don't like the idea of something done permanently to myself (especially to decorate/identify myself), and want someone who thinks on a similar wavelength

2. It looks like graffiti, and that aesthetically bothers me -- it ruins the surface of healthy skin to my eye

3. Even the most well-done ones don't have enough variability to look unique to me; on some level, they all look the same (limited color palette, limited techniques)

4. It's too trendy

5. If it's big and and/or in sexual areas, it spoils the mystery of eroticism and the person doesn't really look naked in that spot (it's like they're wearing clothing they can't take off, sometimes with a message I have to keep looking at)

6. Most of them are too literal, so boring

7. Looks worse and worse with age

 

I could probably find more reasons, but that sums it up. It's not a dealbreaker (depending on what it is and how long ago he got it). But they're an unslightly blemish as far as I'm concerned. i don't even keep art up in my home or want the same decorations in my house forever, because that bores me, I get tired of it. So why would I want to keep looking at the same art on someone's body all the time. I can tune it out, but that's the best case scenario.

[ming1]

They have to be tasteful - and not excessive. Tattoos are far more likely to turn me off then turn me on, but it is possible and has happened.

[Raiden]

4. It's too trendy

Indeed.

 

I don't doubt some people's tattoos actually hold some intimate significance for them, and were never procured for fashionable reasons. But I don't believe people with random doodles all over their body got them for any other reason than they thought they looked cool.

 

An old school friend of mine got his entire torso and both sleeves inked within the space of about two years. All arbitrary designs which don't mean anything to him, which costed god-knows-how-much to boot. Naturally, he's come to regret it.

 

So, yeah. Permanent fashion accessories are never a good idea.

[Fudgie]

Everyone I know who has tattoos has them because they think they are cool. Like a fashion or individual statement. Well, those things change over time. Plus why the need to spend so much money to permanently affix these things to yourself. I don't get it.

[Batya33]

I think people often assume that non-conformist behavior reflects depth. I prefer the alternative Forrest Gump "because I just felt like running" for many of these seemingly "deep" or "creative" impressions.

[superfan]

I think people often assume that non-conformist behavior reflects depth. I prefer the alternative Forrest Gump "because I just felt like running" for many of these seemingly "deep" or "creative" impressions.

 

I don't really see how it is "non conformist" behaviour anymore. It used to be perhaps, but now I can't think of a single person that I know (and these are all varying ages, education levels, etc.) that DOESN'T have at least one small tattoo on their body somewhere. It has become the norm and NOT having a tattoo has become the exception, not the rule.

 

Again I dislike the assumption that just because I (or others I know) have a tattoo that I got it so that other people would think I have "depth". Do my tattoos have special and significant meaning to me? Absolutely - especially the family shield on my ankle that I got on my first trip to Scotland. It holds incredible amounts of meaning for me in all kinds of different ways (my love of history, genealogy, first trip I ever took on my own, the place I had always wanted to visit, the day I met my husband, etc. etc.) but that is the meaning it holds for ME. Most people I meet (other than my friends or family) don't know I have tattoos. Most of the time they are hidden and unless somebody asks me, I don't volunteer to show them. It is none of their business what it is or why I got it.

 

I don't give a rats you-know-what why people think I got it. I certainly didn't do it to make people think I am "deep" or to showcase some "nonconformist behaviour". I did it for me and nobody else.

[jonny15]

I don't find them to be very attractive on a woman. Espically if there on their boobs or feet. That's ugly as can be.

 

I'd rather a woman not have any.

 

I have none and never plan on getting any.

[happpybear]

well i think what this thread boils down to this:

 

some people like tatts and don't judge

 

some people don't like tatts and judge others who have them

 

some people don't like tatts and that is all.

 

Some people are ambivalent

 

Us inked pple, despite the valient efforts of myself, tvnerdgirl, steeljim and a few others, will not be able to sway the minds of those who dislike tatts, nor will those people opposed be able to sway the minds of us pple who have tattoos or like them. I think many people assume that tattoos = someone who makes bad decisions, however, i think the three of us have made a good case for showing that many inked people put a lot of effort and thought into our tatts.

 

To each their own.

 

OP, if you are the type of person that is open to getting a tattoo, and also dating someone that has a tattoo, and you have been considering it for awhile, and it will not be frivolous, then you go and get that tatt. you are old enough and smart enough to choose wisely and get something you will love and be proud of for years to come with no regrets. Its about you and no one else. When you are 70, do you wanna think back on your life and say "well i always wanted a tattoo, but didn't because i thought others would think ill of me..." ?

 

When you meet men who dislike tattoos, or your tattoo, or unfairly judge you because you have one, then that s not the type of guy you wanna date, so don't feel bad.

 

 

.

[happpybear]

100% agree. also want to add that all the people i know who have well-thought out tatts, are in fact, naturally deep and sensitive people.

[superfan]

Agree 1000% I have no problem with the people who have made the statement of "I dislike tattoos and don't find them attractive on a woman/man". I think that is a perfectly personal reaction and one they are entitled to.

 

I disagree with the personal judgments though that have accompanied some of those statements.

 

If you don't like my tattoo because you simply don't find them physically pleasing than that's fine.

 

If you don't like my tattoo and then make further judgments on who I am as a person or my motivations for getting the tattoo, then I have no use for people like that. Aesthetic opinions are one thing, assuming somebody is a loser/non educated/criminal/poor decision maker/wanna-be trend follower, etc. is very small minded.

 

OP, do what feels right and don't let anybody judge you for it. The only person you need to answer to is you.

[pl3asehelp]

Just because a few people get them for good reasons doesn't mean the majority still aren't impulsive bad decision makers. Anyone notice the huge correlation between smokers and tattoos?

[happpybear]

what i find interesting is that the inked pple on this thread have never disparaged or made value judgements on those pple who do not like or have tatts

 

so like I would never think "hey that guy doesn't have a tatt, i guess that means he is really boring, conservative and dry, forget it, i can't date that guy" ...

[happpybear]

majority still aren't impulsive bad decision makers

 

i know a lot of non-tattooed people who are impulsive and bad decision-makers.

 

Would i assume that someone who is not tattooed is NOT impulsive or bad at making decisions...no...

[superfan]

Just because a few people get them for good reasons doesn't mean the majority still aren't impulsive bad decision makers. Anyone notice the huge correlation between smokers and tattoos?

 

Actually, no, I haven't. I don't smoke, and almost none of my friends or family who have tattoos smoke. In fact, (since we are going purely on anecdotal evidence here), the only two people that I can think of that DO smoke, do not have tattoos - everybody else that I know that has a tattoo does not smoke.

 

So clearly that means all people who don't have tattoos are bad decision makers, right?

 

Ahh anecdotal evidence....it definitely "proves" all manner of things about people.

[pl3asehelp]

Actually, no, I haven't. I don't smoke, and almost none of my friends or family who have tattoos smoke. In fact, (since we are going purely on anecdotal evidence here), the only two people that I can think of that DO smoke, do not have tattoos - everybody else that I know that has a tattoo does not smoke.

 

So clearly that means all people who don't have tattoos are bad decision makers, right?

 

Ahh anecdotal evidence....it definitely "proves" all manner of things about people.

 

In my observation and opinion, most, not all. Seems mostly blue collar to me. My accountant, lawyer, and congressmen aren't all inked up, but my garbage man and gardener are.

[superfan]

In my observation and opinion, most, not all. Seems mostly blue collar to me. My accountant, lawyer, and congressmen aren't all inked up, but my garbage man and gardener are.

 

Again that is purely anecdotal - I could counter that by pointing out that I am a teacher, most of my friends who are teachers have tattoos. Almost everybody I know has a University education and professional careers, and all of them have ink of some kind on their body. Whereas, those who don't have higher education levels (my brother who does not have a high school education, etc.) do not have tattoos.

 

Making judgments about people based solely on observation is never an accurate way to learn WHO a person is. At best it is superficial and shallow.

 

Actually getting to know a person may be time consuming, but it stops people from making all these fun knee jerk judgments about others...but hey, where's the fun in in that, right?

[happpybear]

i know a 2 doctors with several small tatts. I know an IT professional with large scale tatts, and also a librarian with several tatts. i know a guy who is CEO of a company who just got a new tatt (he is middle age) ad his wife who is a bank manager also recently got a matching tatt

 

ypu can't see whats behind the buttoned-up shirt of your accountant or doctor unless you take them time to get to know them. you may be suprised.

[Batya33]

i know a 2 doctors with several small tatts. I know an IT professional with large scale tatts, and also a librarian with several tatts. i know a guy who is CEO of a company who just got a new tatt (he is middle age) ad his wife who is a bank manager also recently got a matching tatt

 

ypu can't see whats behind the buttoned-up shirt of your accountant or doctor unless you take them time to get to know them. you may be suprised.

 

I wouldn't think I knew anything more or different about a person just because I learned he or she had tattoos.

[Snny]

Because whether others see it or not is not why I got it. I am only at work 8 hours of the day (unless I am doing something extra curricular).

You are never off-duty as a teacher. Any time you bump into your students and their parents at a store or outside of the classroom, you wear a public mask and are considered a representative to your school district. I teach in a conservative area and I know certain parents would not be too comfortable with a teacher who has tattoos, but it all depends on the area you work in. I know my statement sort of steers away from the thread's central topic, but I wanted to point that out.

 

Because most of the time it was never meant for others to see, that's not the point, it is for you to see. my tattoos are mostly invisible unless I am wearing a bathing suit, but when they are visible, i sometimes find creative ways to hide them so that i don't get asked by random strangers and nosy people what my tattoo means. many people give you dirty looks when you tell them it is non of their business, i didn't get my tattoos for other random people to comment on

It appears we are at a disagreement. I find it wasteful to spend hundreds of dollars on a tattoo and having to hide it. I'm the kind of person that if it costs a bit of money... show it off OR use it (hence why I drive a sportscar and bring it to car shows). How is covering up for a job being an "individual of society" when you can't have it exposed at certain times of the day? Sorry, I don't get it no matter how someone can try to explain that one to me. Just my personal values since the OP's has asked for mine and everyone else's. Case closed.

[pl3asehelp]

i know a 2 doctors with several small tatts. I know an IT professional with large scale tatts, and also a librarian with several tatts. i know a guy who is CEO of a company who just got a new tatt (he is middle age) ad his wife who is a bank manager also recently got a matching tatt

 

ypu can't see whats behind the buttoned-up shirt of your accountant or doctor unless you take them time to get to know them. you may be suprised.

I might be surprised, but I doubt it. When I take my car to the shop everyone is covered in tattoos which I can see when they're wearing short sleeves. I've worked in offices for 15 years where we wear short sleeves and in all that time still have never seen as many tattoos as I do on one solitary visit to an auto shop. Still seems to me to be a predominantly blue collar thing.

[Kristenelaine]

I have quite a few tattoos and all are tastefully placed and very well done. There is a lot of "attitude" that comes with tattoos in peoples minds so if you are going to get tattoos know that you will be judged before you even speak.

 

I made it a point to cover my tattoos for the first couple months of my job...now they love me so much, tattoos or no tattoos they wouldnt want anyone else in this position.

 

I enjoy tattoos on men, if they are well done and not cliche. I enjoy tattoos on a woman as well. It all depends on how well done they are and the reasoning behind why people got them.

 

To be honest...I could care less what people think of me and my tattoos. Go ahead and judge...if it wasnt for my tattoos you would have found something else to base who I am on before even knowing me. I am no different than if I didnt have them. I got my first tattoo and 21 and didnt feel beautiful, or like my body before having them.

 

Whatever floats your boat! I dont judge a person because they dont have tattoos..dont judge me because I do

[Kristenelaine]

Oh! and if a person wants to get their tattoos removed...go ahead...its your body and technology allows us to change it in so many ways now. I havent gotten any removed, and wont ever say that I never would. People change their bodies every day...i choose not to judge based on what makes a person feel good.