Sometimes as humans we are quick to judge, especially with each other. One thing we primarily judge each other on is whether one has tattoos or not. Personally, with having four tattoos myself, I sometimes feel like I'm wrong for having tattoos. People give you the remarks as “those will be on your body forever,” “you'll never get a good paying job with those,” or “you're a bad person for having those.”
I've personally had only two of those comments brought to my attention about my tattoos. My response? “It's my body, I'll do what I want” and “I already have an amazing job who didn't deny me because of my tattoos.” Again, people are quick to judge, aren't they? Tattoos are a silent way of expressing yourself.
A body is blank for a reason. Some people dress it up differently. Some wear super cute clothes, get piercings or in this case tattoos; and it's okay. You're going to do what you want, and again that's okay too! I love my tattoos and I wouldn't trade them for anything, well I physically can't even if I wanted too. My tattoos describe who I am. Yeah, I won’t lie, not all of them have meaning to them, but guess what? They don’t have to.
Tattoos are a creative way to not only express yourself, but for some people, it's there to cover up something they regret. The big one with this is scars. A lot of times I see posts of people getting tattoos covering their scars, cut marks, etc to show how strong they are and how far they have come. Again, don't judge someone over their tattoos because you probably don't know the story.
Tattoos do not make people “bad people,” if you think that, you're crazy. There are many people who have tattoos that you wouldn't even know - doctors, Jessica Alba, Emma Stone, and Winston Churchill! These people are great huh, even with their tattoos. In many cases, tattoos are covered very simply with clothing, or in other cases they are right out in the open; that’s okay too.
“You're a bad parent for having tattoos.” I think this is ridiculous. What does tattoos have anything to do with someone's parenting skills? If a parent has tattoos, I think this shows kids a side of creativity. If tattoos were bad, no one would have them, not even parents. Ink on your body does not define your parenting skills or your capabilities to be a good parent.
Next time you go to judge someone who has tattoos, take a second and admire what they have. A lot of the work that gets done is incredible. And lastly we can’t forget this one… Just because you don't like tattoos, NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO GET ONE.
If you're a Maine local or just in the area and are looking to get some work done, go on down to Til Death Tattoo in Portland. They're fantastic, and I highly recommend them. Check out their Facebook page or Instagram!