I start with the practical, and when my son was a teenager and he became interested and had a few friends who had a small one, my advice was to 1. Make sure that the tattooist was qualified and safe to use, and check up, dont just take their word for it. 2. Dont choose to have any girls names put on, as however much you may think you will spend your lives together, things change and it can be a real hassle, later on.
3. When you are over 18 , it will be entirely your choice, but I suggest that you make sure that you have your tattoos where they could be covered over with shirt sleeves or whatever, and DEFINITELY , do not have one of the really ridiculous visible lines round your neck with cut here or other daft things. You do not know what you may decide to do in your life and jobs, so whilst you are looking for work or wanting to be promoted, there will be those who are anti tattoos and it may affect your chance of a job etc. Whatever kind of work you decide to do, as you hopefully get promoted over the years etc, I dont think you will find a line as described round your neck showing above your shirt , will inspire confidence in your efforts!
Thankfully, he did take my advice, and over the years has had more tattoos done, Personally , having had a needle break in my thigh, when having a vaccination, and being very ill and having a chunk out of my leg because of it, I have absolutely no wish to have a tattoo and find it hard enough to have necessary needles.
However, I believe , as adults , that we are all entitled to choose what we want to do, so long as it is not harming other people, or causing damage to our surroundings. There are those who like piercings and so forth and those that dont. But I do see again the typical bias against women, when there seems to be one rule for men and another for women and people think that women are not as entitled as men to choose what they want to do with their own bodies. Others are entitled to like or dislike of course, but it still comes down to the choices that we make in life, and apart from any medical reason that could make a difference, I think we are all entitled to do as we choose. I hate smoking, but I dont go up to smokers in the street and say stop or why are you smoking. If I see someone wearing an outfit that I think they look awful in, I would not dream of approaching a stranger and criticise their choicee. Why is there seen to be any difference with tattoos? If you dont like the look of them, then look elsewhere, and whether it is beautiful or awful in your opinion basically MYOB!!
