Tattoos Make You Look "Uneducated"?!

So I was at a restaurant earlier and overheard a conversation behind me between a mother and her kid. She got mad at him about drawing on his arm and said, WORD FOR WORD, "Why did you draw on your arm?! You're never getting a tattoo! Take that crap off, it makes you look uneducated!" and I swear I almost turned around and told her off.

I mean really? Are you freaking kidding me? Just because you have body art, it makes you automatically STUPID?! I think she's the uneducated one for thinking that just because you have something that she didn't approve of, it made you automatically stupid. Yeah, because that's totally how stuff works.

I want to know what your opinions are about this...

 

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Style_over_substance_fallacy

'nuff said.

 

Wut?

For a woman with not only a huge chest tattoo and other small ones, I must say it is difficult. I've had stupid looks to terrible insults, judgments and idiocy. If I was you I would have talk to that woman. Every child colors on him or herself in life. I swear they even say they'll get it was a tattoo but half the time they don't even know what there talking about. There just kids, right? So why punish them?

I grew up with a very big father, who was inked from the face down. And no one payed attention to him. He was so tan from work that when he wore a white button up shirt you couldn't even tell he had tattoos. All you saw was a old man, who had to many wornout tattoos (done by family) who worked hard for his family. It was unique. Body art was rare thirty years ago. Now its a huge deal.

Normally, the first I'm asked is how I got my job. Well you know, behind all these things I put in and on body I'm actually a human with emotion and so many other capabilities. I Feel that yes, some people do find me uneducated. Because I have this huge (semi-finished, just needs some waves added -w-) octopus, BRIGHT octopus on my chest. I was turned down once for a job because of it. I felt so comfortable that I could wear a button up shirt NOT BUTTONED UP all the way and omg I'm done. This subject makes me emotional. Women are more judged in public then men are in my opinion. Its unethical, degrading, and not a woman's placer to do things like this. Our world has a hard Time adapting. -____-

 

Not sure how much of it you read so :

Is that clearer ? Basically don' t judge a book by its cover.

 

Sorry, I read the first paragraph and then I just skimmed it. ._. Basically. But this in this age where elders are still stuck in old times it's easier said then done. ;-;

 

I have 3 tattoo's and I never felt any dumber after getting them. Most people who badmouth tattoo's will always badmouth tattoo's regardless of what you say to them, due to some upbringing misconception that we must all be hoodlums and cretins.

I wouldn't call someone uneducated because they have body piercings, which I don't like but i'm not going to attack a persons entire being because of one of their style choices, it's another thing along the lines of religion and music and the like. Enjoy what you enjoy but you have no right to force your views onto others.[DOUBLEPOST=1393261978][/DOUBLEPOST]

I'm laughing because that's one of my tattoo's. I wanted one to represent my love of gaming and FF is my favourite franchise, and it's such a well designed graphic that it felt right.

 

My own personal opinion; Is that it's just a stereotypical social type about motorbikers and other people who typically have a tatoo but don't have a good job. But I'm sure many successful movie stars and so on have good careers. It's just that there's more of a negative stereotype than there is positive when it comes to tattoos. but What this mother said was stupid. Every child draws on their arm if they're bored. or do it for the sake of fun it's stupid to think she'd do that to him. Honestly my thoughts on this person aren't positive, leave the kid be until he's older and more mature when he needs input on stuff like that not when he's a kid and doesn't understand much of anything. though I'm seeing this in my mind as a mother shouting at her 4-8 year old child.

 

Its still an

to be fair its still an insult. She said it to her child in a public place. Some people have different views as stated, but someone else could have overheard it, who was uneducated. From the jobs I've had and the places I've lived the south is the worst. I'm not saying all but most of the stupid **** I've gotten was from religioust old farts and some young couples. (In live in front of three churches)

I had three little girls who didn't know any better call me is freak (because of my piercings and dress) their parents laughed it off till I left the register. And she said to her kids that if they looked like me God would never forgive them and they would be disowned. Kids! Little babies!

 

What the actual hell is wrong with parents? Telling your own kids that they'll be DISOWNED because of having piercings, tattoos, and how they dress? It seriously makes me so mad that parents can have the audacity to say such things to their kids.

 

Tattoos are a personal choice. However from a workplace perspective, I would highly recommend getting them in places where they can be easily concealed if you decide you absolutely need a tattoo(s). Many jobs require tattoos to be covered up not because they make you look "uneducated" but more because they are "unprofessional" and an eyesore to a lot of people. You can tell the world what your tattoos mean to you and be proud of them all you want, it doesn't change that fact. While it's not right to judge, impressions and especially first impressions of someone showing up to work or to an interview with exposed tattoos is deemed unprofessional. Don't get me wrong, there are jobs out there where you can have tattoos up to your ears if you want, but tattoos also last forever... working in environments where you're allowed to express your body art may not.

 

I can understand the sentiment. Tattoos, especially on young people under the age of 30, generally point to stereotypical behaviour, and can mean they're hasty, whimsical, free spirited or rebellious. Not a science, but I've seen the trend in people with over protected childhoods, coming from peer pressure or even fanaticisms, especially in football fans.
Stereotypes don't just come from anywhere, after all.

But, basing anyone's characteristics on appearance is not 100% accurate by any means.

 

Let me ask you something then. Well, several somethings. How many people do you know with tattoos? Do you know them for a fact to be hasty, whimsical, "free spirited" (which doesn't even sound like a bad thing) or rebellious? Do you know for a fact they have tattoos for those reasons?

 

This, I agree 100%.

And yes it's a personal choice. But it's not something sinful, toxic or influential in any means necessary. I'm sure, just like everyone else with ink they're wonderful energetic and probably work very hard!

 

Hmm, depends what you mean by know. In terms of people close-ish at some point or another, I guess, instead of just someone I've met once or twice.

• My Mum got a tattoo when she was in her 40s. She got it because she wanted, but more precisely, because my grandfather who wouldn't have approved had died a few years back and she felt like could finally get one. Partially, I also believe she was doing it to feel 'young' again. So rebellious and maybe whimsical.
• My old babysitter and my mum's friend has several, many when she was a teen. She married young, smoked young, took drugs young, had kids young and has gone through more drama than a soap opera. The tattoos she has were not well designed and she regrets not having found a better tattoo artist. Hasty and whimsical.
• My Dad has several, one with my name and birthdate even. He's tattooed them several times over because of not liking the images or getting bored of them. He also is frivolous with money, wasting money on crap eBay auctions and other things he believes are a deal. He changed cars every year for a while. Whimsical and hasty.
• One of my classmates at Uni got a tattoo when he was on a mate's holiday abroad, somewhere like Ibiza, but cheaper and more student friendly. His parents never really let him do much when he was younger so for the last couple years he was off the rails with drink, drugs, casual sex. He got dared to have a tat of this face thing with boobs on his back. He was drunk too, when he agreed. Whimsical, hasty, rebellious and i'd like to add idiotic and inebriated to the reasons he got a tattoo.
• A guy I use to go to school with, and have/had on facebook, apparently got a gang tattoo a couple years back. Not sure what's going on there, but thought i'd mention that.

They've all had them because they wanted them. I just analyse their reasoning behind it. I've also seen a lot of documentaries on tattoos, and people get the weirdest stuff for benign reasons. It's a trend in young people especially, I remember one of the documentaries stating 35% of tattooed people in the UK are under the age of 30. Also, in 2010, 25% of under 30 year old Australians had tattoos.

Free spirited isn't necessarily good or bad, neither is rebellious, hasty or whimsical in certain amounts. Free spirited people generally lack focus and commitment. I know one girl on my course who has switched between three courses to finally stick on this one because she didn't care and hadn't planned what she wanted to do. She doesn't keep on top of the work and believes that uni work is constraining her creativity at times. She'd rather just read and write what she likes. She has piercings, died hair, tattoos, a penchant for hats and is a regular smoker of marijuana.

 

Then allow me to provide counter-examples.

• I knew someone in highschool who had entire sleeves of tattoos. He majored in engineering, and my mother who worked in the office at the time told me she'd hear him talking about stuff that boggled her mind, said he was a genius in the making. If I'm not mistaken he was on track to graduate a year early and never changed his major.
• My ex-girlfriend got a tattoo on the back of her neck in college. Not because her parents disapproved, but because she wanted one. It was fairly modest, she put a lot of thought into it, and she has yet to regret it.
• Speaking of which, at my first college I knew quite a handful of people with tattoos. They were focused and driven, and they were among the ones who managed to graduate on time. So were most of the weed smokers I knew.

Yeah, stereotypes do come from somewhere. They come from people being judgemental and generalizing. The stereotypes do not hold true, not nearly enough to be used as criteria to choose who you associate with in social settings and who you hire in professional settings. Just because you know a few people who fit the mold means nothing. Fact is, people don't deserve to be profiled for their life choices, even if they've made some bad ones, because - for instance - just as many people drink and I don't know a one who does it responsibly, yet they all seem to get jobs like it's nothing and nobody minds their smell.

 

Inversely then, just because you know a few people who don't fit the mould means nothing too.
I know people with tattoos can be as smart as anyone. As much as I know some alcoholics, drug abusers or such to be smart and intelligent. I've watched a couple of prisoner documentaries, one by Louis Theroux about a max security system in Detroit, I believe. He interviewed one criminal, murderer, who during his time in prison read books, learnt history, art, literature and began writing his own books, 7 in his 4 year stint if I remember right. And another, in solitary confinement, multiple murderer and anti social, carved beautiful figures out of soap using his nails.
We're all more than one aspect. We're human, generally complex, more so than we sometimes realise in ourselves.
Stereotypes are basically group social norms. It's not silly to judge a person by typical traits associated with stereotypes, blonde, loves pink, has false breasts, i'd easily judge that woman to be below average intelligence, love fashion and care more about her looks than most over things, spending thousands on plastic surgery. I'd be welcome to be proven wrong, she may be Oxford educated, read the works or Orwell or anything. But my instincts shouldn't be easily ignored without proof.

Deserving aside, we all completely judge one another in one way or another. It's natural instinct, comes with first encounter judgement. I've profiled people, been spot on and completely wrong sometimes, it's all about allowing yourself to take in new info and be proven wrong if the evidence presents itself. We judge others so we can judge what actions to take, it's smart survival and part of being human.

 

You're getting really general when you know what I'm talking about specifically. Of course I'm inclined to agree. But at the point people are getting shut out from getting jobs 'cause they have a couple marks on their skin? That's a problem. That's too many judgements. And yeah, it does stem from those baseline judgements, so maybe we need to reconsider them.

 

I generalise because it encompasses all stereotypes, not just the one. At least tattoos are a choice to make, compared to racial or sexist stereotypes, can't stop being a woman or such.
But of course jobs should never be considered purely by looks. Meritocracy and such. But I doubt a law against all stereotypes will just stop it happening, and there will always be closed minded people, who lack to see beneath the skin. 7 billion humans. That means a lot of them have got to be idiots. And there will always be idiots.

 

Yeah, one half are idiots, the rest are apathetic. We can educate people who don't know better. And if they refuse to learn? We snub them. We don't allow them power. Because if they're content not being smart enough to make informed decisions, they don't deserve to be in a position where they can ruin the life of someone who is smart and who does keep an open mind and who wants to be educated, and above all else, deserves what they're applying for. Fatalism is no excuse.