When I hear the word "tattoo", I picture a beautiful piece of artwork that someone wanted permanently on their skin. Most people see a man or woman with a tattoo as having pointless, colorful ink all over their body and disgrace them for it. In everyday society, people with tattoos are considered unfit for certain jobs, social standards, and are even proclaimed to be unprofessional. These pieces of artwork on your skin somehow define you and supposedly make you unable to perform tasks in today's society. The stigma that tattoos make you into some kind of "hoodlum" needs to be put to rest.
Tattoos are one of the greatest permanent choices that you can make if you carefully and responsibly choose where and what to get. As a person who has seven tattoos, I have had many different experiences with each one. As a young adult, I was warned by my peers, family, and sometimes my best friends that I should be careful when getting tattoos because I may not be able to get a job in the future. I never understood why expressing myself as an individual would be an issue with work, but honestly it is a very huge factor in the hiring process. If you have lots of visible tattoos, then you somehow go on the "DO NOT HIRE" list. For this reason, I kept the few tattoos I did have hidden during high school. I then made a very prestigious dance team and the same rules applied; no visible tattoos at any time. I saw tons of people with tattoos at my campus and I wondered what it was like to show off your body art. Once I was done with this team, I transferred to a new college that accepted tattoos. I was also hired to a dance company that has no regulation on them. I was finally free to express myself. I thought about it for a while. I questioned if this was a mistake and I would regret it later on in life. But then I realized something I should have so long ago: being you and expressing yourself is what being young is about. You shouldn't ever let someone or something define you as an individual. I walked into 3 different tattoos shops after that and I got exactly what I had wanted for so long. I was able to show the world my creativity and express the person I am with my artwork.
It did occur to me that maybe one day, I will regret having visible tattoos. They may fade, but right now I am happy with each of them and the stories that all of them have, which make them even more special to me. If you are a person who is contemplating getting a visible tattoo or you are someone who has them, I advise you to embrace it. Freedom of expression is a part of everyday society and is the basis of how our country is run. If a company will not hire you for having tattoos, then maybe that is not where you truly belong anyway. Express your individuality and never be afraid to be who you truly are because you may be judged. Now when you hear the word tattoo, I hope you see the true beauty behind the artwork and know that each person who has an ink-stained body carries a story behind it all.
