As a 19-year-old college student and former cheerleader, when people find out I have two tattoos, they are usually taken aback. This especially applies to those who are elderly and middle-aged with no tattoos. To them, I am a young and incapable of making decisions that will be permanent for the rest of my life; yet occasionally their views change when they find out what my tattoos are.
On my left ankle is a butterfly representing the beautiful soul of a cousin who passed away at the age of four. The other crosses both of my feet and reads: "Hi Sweetheart, I love and miss you and am always proud of you. Love you. ~Me-Ma." It is my grandmothers handwriting, and it is from a note she wrote me after being diagnosed with lung cancer, six months before she passed away. I didn't get the tattoo until after she passed. For me, it is a memorial for her, a way that she will always walk with me.
Even after the meaning is revealed, many people still think I've made a huge mistake. They believe I should've honored my family members in a "more appropriate" way, that my having something permanently etched onto my skin makes me less of a person. They are wrong, and quite frankly, I believe they are total idiots.
My tattoos don't completely define me. They are just one way to express myself. Even though both of mine hold sentimental value, not everyone can say the same. However, that isn't of any importance. Your body is just that. It's your body. People choose to get their ear lobes pierced every day, even deciding to pierce their toddler's ears. I don't see a parade of people criticizing those with earrings. People choose to cut and color their hair all the time, yet I see no criticism of them either. Since when is it someone else's place to approve or disapprove an image or phrase that a person has decided is of enough importance to them to get it permanently etched into their skin?
Even when tattoos are easily hidden, people still insert their opinion. For instance, my mother, a registered nurse, has several tattoos. They are all covered by everyday clothing and only visible when wearing a bathing suit. This didn't stop one woman from telling me how different she felt about my mom after I mentioned she had tattoos. Her words were "I didn't think she would be the type of person to do that to her body." Well, I didn't think the woman saying this would be the type of person to judge someone based on one small detail, but I was wrong.
This woman didn't know what my mother's tattoos are of, but she still judged away. When tattoos are visible, people judge even harder. They believe that those covered in tattoos are rude, lacking morals, or criminals. When they see someone like myself, they believe I've made a huge mistake because I'm not that type of girl. The truth is that there is no "type" of person that gets tattoos. They are for anyone who wants them.
Those who judge tattoos often question why people would do such a thing, yet the answer is right in front of them. People with tattoos simply wanted the tattoos. Their tattoos most likely mean something to them. Even if they saw it on the wall at the parlor and thought it was pretty, it was still their choice.
The ones you are judging aren't trying to push tattoos onto you, they are only minding their own business. Maybe its time for those who criticize tattoos to do the same.
