I’m a girl, I’m young, I’m educated, I have a wonderful life ahead of me, and yeah, I have tattoos. I currently have five tattoos, some in hidden places and some in plain sight. I intend to get more tattoos and decorate my body in a way I please. Yes, you heard me, the way I please. Not anyone else.

My body is my body and I love to decorate it in jewelry, clothing, and tattoos. I love every tattoo I have and each one has a special meaning to me. I think they’re cute and I won’t ever regret them. As long as I’m happy with them, that's all that should matter right? Apparently not. Nothing frustrates me more than the stigma behind tattoos. I’ve heard every insult you can hear about tattoos. They’re trashy, you’ll regret it, you’ll never get a job, it won’t look good when you’re older, what if you stop liking it, and so on. I don’t think people realize how truly offensive these statements are. This stigma behind tattoos has got to go.

Whenever someone makes a rude remark about my tattoos that's just as offensive as any other rude thing someone might say to me, if not more, considering I chose to put my tattoos on my body. Sure, they aren’t going to be everyone's cup of tea but there should be a certain level of respect so that I’m not being put down for my choices. Tattoos don’t automatically make you trashy, that's such a weird generalization. Trashy is an offensive label that definitely shouldn’t have any association with tattoos.

I get that the generation before us and definitely the generation before that were more than likely raised in a way that looked down upon tattoos and I can’t blame them for that but my elders should respect my choice to get tattoos. Yeah, they’re permanent but so are a lot of decisions I make on a daily basis. I decide things every day that will permanently change my life way more than any tattoo ever could.

I also love my tattoos because they’re a representation of me. I think it is unbelievably cool that I’m able to put something permanently on my body that reflects me as a person. Like that concept is awesome! There is nothing I love more than looking at someone's tattoos and seeing how they’ve represented themselves in them. There shouldn’t be a negative stigma behind self representation.

And now the worst thing I hear about tattoos. Oh, you’ll never get a job with tattoos. This is such a pointless statement to make. In the field I plan on going into, I feel like tattoos and artistic representation are encouraged! I’ve seen plenty of people with respectable careers have tattoos, from doctors to sales associates to CEO’s. People of all shapes, colors and forms have tattoos and still can have very successful jobs!

This stigma is irrelevant and I plan to never have any kind of negative mindset about tattoos. I encourage anyone to go out, get tatted and not care what anyone has to say about it. Because in the end, no ragrets, ya know?