Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
When tattoos make you look ridiculous
- Thread starter crow01
- Start date
LOL i wouldnt put sid and GG in the same context. 2 totally different attitudes I would put GG Allin with tesco Vee and Jello Biafra and Sid Viscious with Courtney Love and any other wannabe punk drug addict.
Point taken, it was merely an opportunity to make a point. Punk is not a look, it is an attitude to be undertaken. Sid was not a punk, GG was...we all know this. Well, those who buy more than just hot topic shirts of The Ramones and The Sex Pistols.
Blah blah. This thread is going way off on a tangent.
Okay...I read half way through the thread and got sick of hearing the same 2 things rearranged.
Here's my two cents:
In response to the original question, I'm not only tattooed, but a white guy with dreadlocks, and I get all three responses on a daily basis.
You WILL be judged on the personal choices you make. I know I am. It's a load of @#$%, but hey. I can judge people right back. I'm usually right too. The suit who works as a county prosecutor may judge that I'm a lackadaisical hippie or white trash, and that's fine, because I would judge him as a hypocrite, and guess who's right? Me. Said prosecutor just got busted for DUI and hit & run.
I've made a few personal choices, appearance-wise, that a majority of AMERICANS would and do stereotype me for.
My first tattoo was a full forearm piece of my band's logo done by a methed-out ex-con who ended up putting the high E string he had sharpened into the machine backwards. After drilling me for an hour with the dull, jagged end of a guitar string, I made hm stop. Never got it fixed, because most reputable artists won't touch it. It looks awful and it's right out there for the world to see, but do I regret it? No. Like I said, anyone who judges me based solely on the way I look is a hypocrite. And like Joe Strummer said, "If I get aggression, I give it two times back."
Personally, I've come to thrive on the misconceptions my appearance causes. It's made me a much stronger person, Ten years ago, before I looked so, uh, intimidating, I would get pushed around and put down and never stood up for myself. I'm not talking about violence either. Violence is the last resort of the incompetent. I'm talking about self-respect. After ten years of people giving me looks and comments, I've come to respect myself much more as an individual, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to stand up for myself and my beliefs.
In summation, if you have to worry about whether or not you should get a tattoo because of perceived cultural stigmas, or because you may regret later in life,you definitely should NOT.
It sounds to me like you aren't tattoo material.
Here's my two cents:
In response to the original question, I'm not only tattooed, but a white guy with dreadlocks, and I get all three responses on a daily basis.
You WILL be judged on the personal choices you make. I know I am. It's a load of @#$%, but hey. I can judge people right back. I'm usually right too. The suit who works as a county prosecutor may judge that I'm a lackadaisical hippie or white trash, and that's fine, because I would judge him as a hypocrite, and guess who's right? Me. Said prosecutor just got busted for DUI and hit & run.
I've made a few personal choices, appearance-wise, that a majority of AMERICANS would and do stereotype me for.
My first tattoo was a full forearm piece of my band's logo done by a methed-out ex-con who ended up putting the high E string he had sharpened into the machine backwards. After drilling me for an hour with the dull, jagged end of a guitar string, I made hm stop. Never got it fixed, because most reputable artists won't touch it. It looks awful and it's right out there for the world to see, but do I regret it? No. Like I said, anyone who judges me based solely on the way I look is a hypocrite. And like Joe Strummer said, "If I get aggression, I give it two times back."
Personally, I've come to thrive on the misconceptions my appearance causes. It's made me a much stronger person, Ten years ago, before I looked so, uh, intimidating, I would get pushed around and put down and never stood up for myself. I'm not talking about violence either. Violence is the last resort of the incompetent. I'm talking about self-respect. After ten years of people giving me looks and comments, I've come to respect myself much more as an individual, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to stand up for myself and my beliefs.
In summation, if you have to worry about whether or not you should get a tattoo because of perceived cultural stigmas, or because you may regret later in life,you definitely should NOT.
It sounds to me like you aren't tattoo material.
Random Fact: My singer used to be GG Allen's singer when GG played drums back in the 80s and early 90s in a band called Gutwrench and a few other groups.
Not that I know of.
I've known my singer for a long time and we used to work at a restaurant together.
He told me a story where GG Allin came down to the restaurant (I'm guessing in the 80s?) the first time he worked there. He was bu the door in the parking lot when GG came over and went "look bill! I shaved for the show!" and dropped his pants while a family of four tried to make their way to their minivan.
I wanted to get a tattoo but the Mrs. wouldn't let me.
I don't wear rings so I was going to get a wedding ring tattooed on my finger. The Mrs. got my ear pierced instead!
I don't wear rings so I was going to get a wedding ring tattooed on my finger. The Mrs. got my ear pierced instead!
Funny u say that cuz I said practically the same thing a page ago, funny how this thread reared its ugly head again and newer tb'ers are goin at it as if this thread is something new. Damn thing started when I first got on here, crazy.
No Tats = No Identifying marks for the fuzz to bust you...
That is a very good point.
I have some crazy tats on my neck and arms and do have a hard time getting white collar work. Best I was able to do was Logistics Manager... in the end the only good thing about that job was the hottie I shared an office with, who thought tats on skinny white boys was hot. Go figure.
I really hated that job, it sucked balls... but so did she so that was all good.
At any rate, blue collar work comes no problemo.
I look at it this way, most of our country (the world for that matter) is comprised of douche bags who lack the intelligence to be anything more than blind, nipple nuzzling sheep. They look at anyone outside of the norm as unacceptable... be it race, gender, ink...
I guess I am glad I am a musician. Blacken everything.
You're a rebel if you do whatever it is you want, tattoos yay or nea. Doesn't get you very far in society though. If it gets you far in life, well, that depends on your destination, doesn't it?
- Jul 23, 2007
- 617
- 13
- Disclosures
- Endorsments: Aguilar, Hartke, DR strings, Analysis Plus "Oval" Cables
i have 5 big tatts. one is a bass clef tribal .
i dont give a shhhhhit what people think quite frankly.
and i want more tatts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i also have a nose ring ( septum peircing, and again i could care less. if you dont like it, DONT LOOK AT ME ) lol
i dont give a shhhhhit what people think quite frankly.
and i want more tatts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i also have a nose ring ( septum peircing, and again i could care less. if you dont like it, DONT LOOK AT ME ) lol
I like tattoos.Don't have any though,as i think I'd just get bored of any tattoo I had real quickly.
They gotta be real well done for me to like them ( in that I'm sure I'm not alone).
Those I don't like and find quite sad really are those that show basses or even worse; manufacturers names.
That I'd never ever do...ever.-must be quite embarrassing for the manufacturer too, no?
And Peoples' faces I also tend to find a dodgy affair.
To me they tend to just look kitsch and most of the time real bad...
In the case of a bass it wouldn't be bad at all but those I have seen were just not done very well and looked like after school club drawing projects...mind you I have not really read this thread and maybe some good ones are on show here...I'll have a look around.
They gotta be real well done for me to like them ( in that I'm sure I'm not alone).
Those I don't like and find quite sad really are those that show basses or even worse; manufacturers names.
That I'd never ever do...ever.-must be quite embarrassing for the manufacturer too, no?
And Peoples' faces I also tend to find a dodgy affair.
To me they tend to just look kitsch and most of the time real bad...
In the case of a bass it wouldn't be bad at all but those I have seen were just not done very well and looked like after school club drawing projects...mind you I have not really read this thread and maybe some good ones are on show here...I'll have a look around.
I like tattoos and all.. on other people but I know me. And I know that I would get board with it and add and add and add and get to a point where it would be a mess. Plus they cost money, so does gear... gear wins.
Piercings always seem like to much trouble to me... And I don't like wearing any kind of jewelry so...
Piercings always seem like to much trouble to me... And I don't like wearing any kind of jewelry so...
Interesting thread, and yes I read all 18 pages
Always amusing to see the tired old cliché about people with tattoos being "lowlifes" rear its ugly head yet again. I know quite a few cops and Honorably Discharged combat veterans who would disagree
My observation is that the difference in opinion is a sign of the Class divide. Never met a Blue-collar worker yet who had a problem with tats. OTOH I've met plenty of Middle and Upper Management Cubicle Rats who do
Three guesses as to which group is more responsible for screwing up the planet over the past 20 years....
Always amusing to see the tired old cliché about people with tattoos being "lowlifes" rear its ugly head yet again. I know quite a few cops and Honorably Discharged combat veterans who would disagree
My observation is that the difference in opinion is a sign of the Class divide. Never met a Blue-collar worker yet who had a problem with tats. OTOH I've met plenty of Middle and Upper Management Cubicle Rats who do
Three guesses as to which group is more responsible for screwing up the planet over the past 20 years....
Lmao, yeah, thats a very loaded statement, what with your enrons, bank bailouts, lobbyists for stuff like oil or tobacco, and your Bernie Madoff's of the world, I'd say white collar folk are as much or more responsible for the sorry state of things than the regular "tattoo loving" working man type, they just look more professional as they screw up the planet.
