"According to a new study conducted by Brookdale Community College, women with large visible tattoos are more likely to be perceived as unattractive, dishonest and less intelligent than their non-tattooed peers." OUCH!

This particular study concentrated on the perceptions of tatoos on women as opposed to men but this struck me . . .

“In the late 19th century, women were tattooed in order to pursue careers as sideshow circus attractions. Their costumes were scant and, therefore, considered rebellious for their time. Despite their tattoos, these women were not regarded as revolutionaries, but instead as social outcasts to be marveled as well as ridiculed,” according to Daina Hawkes, Charlene Senn and Chantal Thorn in a 2004 study published in the academic journal “Sex Roles.”

Sadly anti-tatoo bias does exist and my advice for people interested in Tatoos is to get them in a place where it can easily be covered.

Aditional interesing information can be found below. My quotes are from the first link.

http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2005-09-07/Front_page/003.html

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt_feB940tk

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:18400674

I would have to look into it, but I believe that they have a positive image in some groups, Ex. Punk, Neopagan, Hippy . . .

Looking at a tattoo as a form of self-expression, it would seem no different from ear and other body piercings, dying hair, or choosing hair and clothing styles. Whether you have one should depend on whether you think it looks good on you and whether it appeals to your personality. The problem is that people in general tend judge the character of others by outward appearances and personal taste. For example, I might have a negative impression of an elderly woman who dyes her hair light pink and a favorable impression of a 20-year-old who dyes her hair bright pink. Older people associate tattoos with sailors and bikers, and assume those with tattoos are unsavory, unlawful,or somthing else bad. I never did understand why sailors, as opposed to soldiers or marines, liked tattoos. How is it possble to having a negative impression of sailors who are serving our country? Until we stop making superficial judgments about people, this kind of prejudice will persist. People should focus more on what they prefer and realize that other people prefer different styles.

Some, probably particularly parents, are very concerned about the health implications of tattoos. Questions about the ink, the cleanliness of the tattoo parlor, etc. Some of these worries are legitimate but can be overcome by finding out the facts.

There is a cultural element to style in general. For example, I know many American moms and dads who won't allow their daughters even to get their ears pierced once until they are a certain age. In contrast, my granddaughter, who has a Columbian mother, had her ears pierced at the age of one month. Often in Columbia, baby girls have their ears pierced before leaving the hospital. Similarly, in some parts of the world, tattoos are considered to enhance a person's beauty. Trees are quite important in Africa and Asia, and tree tattoos are frequently used in those regions but not other places in the world.

There are also those who worry about "what others will say." For example, parents of a young girl may be OK with tattoos, but worry about what their friends, neighbors, or fellow church members will think. This becomes paramount over their daughter's personal preferences. No one likes to be a pawn to the opinions of others. Thanks to my grandson, I learned once and for all that what people think is usually unimportant, especially when something else is far more important. When I was with my grandson, who has autism, in public places when he was younger, you would not believe the comments and looks I got when he had a meltdown. At first I was embarrassed by his behavior. Then I started commenting back about how they had no idea about my wonderful grandson or what his circumstances were. Then I decided that I did not know those people and I could care less about their opinions, especially when trying to help my grandson cope with something over which he had no control. With practice, I have learned to have the same attitude in other areas of my life.

Then there are questions about conformity in the workplace. That is different than worring about what one's friends will think. In the case of a business, a personnel director may think tattoos are fine, but has to take into account what the customers will think. As the goal of a typical business is to make a profit for owners, it is counterproductive to allow things that will be perceived negatively by customers or clients, regardless of how valid their perceptions may be. So people have choices to make. Suppose a person with tattoos on both arms applies to be the public relations director for a business and, other than the tattoos, is the most qualified appicant. The employer can hire him, can hire him but require that he wear longsleeves, or may not hire him because the business has a policy against tattoos. The applicant also has choices -- accept the position and wear long sleeves or look for another position where tattoos are allowed. Of course, both the company and the applicant have other important factors at stake then personal prejudices or preferences. The business may be on the verge of collapse and desperately need a really good public relations director in order to keep the business afloat. The applicant may desperately need to provide support for himself and his family after being laid off from another a job. It would be hard to call the appliant hypocritical even if he did accept the job with the employer-imposed limitations.

Situations in the workplace are not new and will continue to arise regardless of what the next new style is. When I got my first job as an attorney, I was advised that long hair was unprofessional and made me look too young. And that dresses, as opposed to suits, made me look too feminine. Although I disagreed with all that, I cut my hair short, which I hated, and wore suits some of the time. When my daughter was in her early 20's, she worked for Disney. She had her ear pierced on the top of the ear and wore a ring through it. When at Disney, she had to put in a stud earring to keep the hole from closing. It looked like a tiny little antenna sitting on the top of her ear. We both compromised our personal preferences in order to satisfy an employer. Today I wear shorts and she wears sweat pants almost every day. She wears her tongue and ear piercings every day. It feels much better.

I myself have 10 tattoos but all are hid-able if the occasion calls for it, such as; church, a wedding, funeral and so on. As for the majority of the time I wear my tattoos with pride, I don't cover them or hide them, if people don't like what the see, tough I really don't care what others think, if you know me and know me well you know what each and everyone of tatts mean and why I got them to begin with.

I once had an older woman ask me what I would do if my daughter (then an infant) grew up and wanted a tattoo my reply was "pay for it" and I did, when she was old enough and asked if she could get a tattoo I drove her to the studio and paid for it, she now has two. I will do the same for each of my boys when they are ready.

Apparently you're too young to remember the days when only sailors, bikers, thugs, and other people with questionable morals had tattoos! There are still a lot of us folks that do remember, and that's why you're getting those looks.

I'm pretty inked up (myself (Backpiece, chest to quarter-sleeves on both arms - traditional Japanese style) and I did it like that for the exact reasons you listed above. I keep my tattoos hidden so I can be taken seriosuly in the workplace.

For some reason, the older generations refuse to take anyone who has tattoos seriously, as if we're not intelligent, we're troublemakers or on drugs or something. This perception breaks my heart as it's just simply not the truth.
I think it stems from a number of things possibly all the way back to the ancient japanese tattoing criminals to the bawdy sailor stories that accompany getting tattooed in the Navy during World War II to the type, placement and subject matter of modern tattoos.

Still, I think we've made a breakthrough: my mom who sincerely, deeply and honestly LOATHES tattoos (especially on me) got the chance to meet my best friend Matt who is easily 80% covered in great art and absolutely adores him. He's one of the most dedicated fathers, the most loving husband and the hardest worker I've ever met - and my mom didn't even want to give him a chance because of his tattoos. When she finally talked to him, she realized that, "Hey, this kid has got it together, maybe first impressions aren't correct after all."
Now she's invited him to holiday dinners, sends christmas cards and always says hi when she calls me and he's over.

So perhaps there's hope for us yet!! In the meantime, try to keep your chin up and let your inner light shine and show these folks that just because we have tattoos, they don't mean we're horrid people.

P.S. Your profile pic is gorgeous! Love the chestpiece - where do you get your work done?

People came back from war with tattoos and it was acceptable as it was for the outfit you were in. But then tattoos turned to symbolism for outlaw bikers and gangs. Even if you go back to the old fifties movies the bad guy always had tattoos and this was even in cartoons. So tattoos becamee associated with the outlaw lifestyle. And for a long time people who went on to a profession didn't get tattoos. And if a girl has a tat she is either biker trash or a gang mama. But once again tattoos are becoming mainstream as Jesse James said nowadays if you have a tattoo and a big bike your a dentist. But the older people have not come into new times yet. So if anyone asks tell them your the lead singer in a hard rock band and your worth millions! lol

In the past - before my time, as I'm only twenty-eight - tattoos were associated with outlaws, rebels, military personnel, etc. Tattoo parlors were often smoky, dark little places in not-so-wonderful parts of the city or town and not all of the proprietors were overly interested in keeping clean, safe shops.

I'm not saying that all artists and shop owners were bad people, or that everyone with tattoos in the past was a bad person. That wasn't true. It's just that society, not too terribly long ago, had an overwhelmingly negative image of tattoos. Nice girls didn't have tats, period, and "upstanding" citizens like bankers, lawyers, and doctors didn't have them, either, regardless of gender. There were exceptions, I know, but they're a lot more common today than they were even just a few decades ago, what with tattooing having gone mainstream.

Some older people who were around during that "Nice girls and boys don't have ink" era haven't changed their mindsets. Others, of course, are fine with tattoos, as evidenced by the fact that people of all ages and backgrounds have them. I have one myself, so I clearly don't buy into the "Nice girls don't get tattoos" idea that some of my older relatives still embrace. (I just keep the tat covered when I visit Grandma because I really, really don't want to hear it.)

Those folks have a right to their opinions even though I obviously disagree with them. I've met some younger people with the same ideas, incidentally, which is also fine because they, like their grandparents and other older folks, have the right to think what they want. They're the ones missing out on opportunities to get to know wonderful people who just happen to have tats, but that's their problem.

Ah yes, the tattoos I have 7 myself, and 2 are on my wrists, 1 on my shoulder. I get crap all the time for them showing. What really shocked me, I was volunteering at a Medical office, as a receptionist and I had a patient come up to check in. She went to hand me her insurance card and she screamed when I reached for the card. I said what's the matter!? She sternly said you're tattooed, do NOT touch my things I will wait for the other receptionist. I was BLOWN AWAY. She told the other receptionist people with tattoos are diseased....man did I want to put her in her place, but I didn't!

Anyways, what I continually hear is they look trashy, or it's ruining your body, but in my opinion everyone near my age, at least (21) has a tattoo. It's something this generation embraces, whereas some folks in previous generations (not all I know plenty have tats themselves) are still experiencing a culture shock with this tattoo thing and just find it wrong. There will always be people out there, it's just unfortunate that employers include those kind of people.

It's hard for the tattooed, when it comes to employment it seems, in certain fields like desk jobs, and those with a lot of customer interaction. I do think it's slowly getting better though, and I hope it never backslides. Tattoos are not bad, they are an expression, just like piercings, the clothes you wear, the bumper stickers on your car. People need to get over it. Just because we have ink on our bodies, doesn't mean we are bad people, gross people, diseased people, or anything else.

http://i50.tinypic.com/291kw3p.jpg

Personally I don't care if people have tattoos in their private life. If you come to me looking for a job that is a different story.

Exposed tattoos are unprofessional. The tattoo that can't be covered up says to the person doing the interview "I am impulsive, have poor judgement and make bad long term decisions". When you interview for a position you are asking them to trust you with their companies image.

I don't know why they look so awful, but in my opinion, I have never liked the looks of those things. It projects a look of a bad nature, makes the skin look rugged, makes the person look like they need to possess one to project their personality or something.
To me they are just GROSS!!!!!
On men they look bad enough, but on women it looks double bad.
Only my own opinion.
pinky8