“You’ll never get a job!”
“Do you have any idea how bad that is going to look when you’re old?”
“That’s a lot of money… Wouldn’t you rather spend it on something better?”
Ah, the many arguments against one of the most personal and intimate forms of self-expression. What are Millennials if not an edgy, tattooed generation? If there is one physically defining feature that I have heard most torn down and attacked about my age group, it is our glaringly scarred and ugly tattoos. Those pieces of flesh that we have forever altered in a way that was never intended. Tattoos come down to being nothing but a reminder for our future selves to look back on mistakes of our youth.
In reference to this overarching view, I have but one response: You are wrong.
Tattoos are a piece of soul that has been transformed into a piece of visual art. They are deep and personal and nothing but beautiful. In fact, mine is so personal that I rehearsed an explanation for when people ask me about it. It’s short and sweet and to the point and if I go any further than the spiel I have memorized, I often cry. My tattoo is the furthest thing from heinous or ugly anything can get, and I believe nearly everyone who has made the choice to get one would agree with this to some extent.
In reference to the three arguments above: keep reading, I’ve got more.
“You’ll never get a job!”
Well, ya see, no… I have a job. Two, actually. And I’ve held others in the past held while having a tattoo. Sure, there are some jobs where you can’t have visible tattoos. There is also more than enough skin on the human body to have tattoos placed where they aren’t visible unless purposefully displayed (example: mine). On top of that, there are plenty of other places of employment out there that simply don’t care about tattoos or their visibility.
Plus, so what? I don’t want a job that doesn’t allow me to have tattoos. I know where I want to go in my career and what I want to fight for in this world, and one of the central values of these goals is self-expression. My tattoo means the world to me; it is an important reminder of what I believe. There are a lot of counterarguments to this idea of unemployment-caused-by-tattoos, but when it comes down to it, there’s no way to argue that a strategically placed tattoo is worth a job, especially when the meaning of the tattoo, the skills of the individual with the job, and the importance of self-respect are factored in.
“Do you have any idea how bad that is going to look when you’re old?”
No, I don’t, but I assume it’ll look just as bad as the rest of me.
I watched the film “The Guardian” once, and one line stuck with me for years: “Getting old ain’t bad, getting old, that’s earned.” I would not consider myself old (yet) but I hope to have this outlook when I am, whenever I decide that may be. And in the present, I have the outlook that I’m going to earn my old age. I’m going to live my life and express myself and take control of it into my own hands so that in thirty or forty years I can look back on what I’m doing today and tomorrow and next week and know that I didn’t waste my youth.
For me, and for many others who share my love for the art of tattooing, these marks I have put on myself represent a significant part of my life. Yeah, it will wrinkle and fade and distort as the years go on - just like my body would with or without a tattoo. But because I have it, because I have had this part of my soul etched onto myself, the memories and ideas it represents won’t wrinkle or fade or distort. They will be crisp and important and remind me of all the crucial lessons and pieces of myself that make my tattoo what it is. It is not the long-term appearance of it on my skin that is important; it is the lasting idea I need to stay with me for the rest of my life.
“That’s a lot of money… Wouldn’t you rather spend it on something better?”
Like what? Perhaps my overpriced college tuition, textbooks, housing and meal plan? My generation sure does have a lot of expenses that consume a significantly higher percentage of my budget than tattoos… And I’m pretty confident that my fourteen-year-old self wasn’t responsible for popping the housing bubble that caused so much of the increase in my cost of living. Just sayin’.
Once I take care of my school-related expenses, I don’t have many more. I have plenty of experiences going out with friends and I make sure to budget time and money to do that regularly. I am responsible and well-grounded, realistic and reasonable in how I manage my life, and I have made the conscious choice to spend my money that I have earned on something that matters to me. On top of that, there are plenty of other pricey spending choices that don’t get much criticism for their cost when they could just as easily as tattooing.
Expensive drinks and food, cars with poor gas mileage and high insurance rates and magazine subscriptions are just a few that come to mind. They are all either enjoyable or convenient, but they are also not necessary, or at the very least the cost of them could be cut down. I guarantee my tattoo is going to last longer than a coffee, no matter how much I spend. My tattoo is with me until I die, my car is with me until I need a new model. My tattoo brings me much more longevity in its meaning and purpose than any enjoyment a monthly installment of a magazine has or will.
There is nothing wrong with choosing to spend money on these things if they can be afforded. There is a problem if vices like these exist in people who cast judgment on those who spend money on tattoos.
When it all boils down, tattoos are a choice. A choice that only impacts the person getting the tattoo. There are plenty of worries that go into getting one, perfectly reasonable concern over making sure it’s the right choice, a completely justifiable sense of apprehension leading up to the decision in many cases… But those aren’t for others to deal with. It is an independent journey to choose to engrave a crucial piece of identity or a lesson or a memory with such permanence onto oneself.
The fact of the matter is I may have an expensive, soon-to-be-saggy tattoo, but I also have a job that allows me to afford it and the meaning behind it that constantly reminds me to never regret it.
