Cycling UK Forum

kevinp wrote:... What difference would it make to you if they were tattooed ? ...

A couple of years ago, I was in the market for a new car. A salesman in a main dealership - not under a railway arch - had self-inflicted tattoos across his knuckles with his name. Now, that might be a sign of a lad who has been able to move on from a tough start but I'm suspicious of the car trade in general, without something like that. The difference there was that I did not buy a car, although that was by no means the only reason.

I'm a wimp and I'd not willingly submit to unnecessary pain so that makes me cautious of those who would. Some must have a very poor self-image.

There's a whole area of hygiene (eg nuts and bolts in the nostrils, tongue or mouth) and infection. (My sister-in-law contracted MRSA in a hospital having a tumour removed from her foot. It's hard to see that the standards in many of these outfits are much higher.) There also seems to me to be a risk of a cock-up. This applies to some cosmetic surgery as well - Leslie Ash's lips come to mind here.

If we set aside those issues, and stick to what's going on in people's heads, it's easy to assume quite wrongly that they must inevitably be a bit whacky. Of course, most of these bodily adornments, from bones through the nose to bound feet have a cultural base, so most people are just adopting a particular idea of what's normal (or having it imposed on them in childhood.) All fair enough. It seems to me that the current fashion for tattooing is just that and nothing more. Most fashions are soon forgotten (except when somebody trots out those old pics of short back and sides haircuts, Michael Parkinson flares, flower-power, or whatever.) Noddy Holder can get away with the same style forever but there are few like him. Dedicated followers of fashion need to be able to react - hair over the collar one minute, shaved pate the next. With tattoos the fashion's more or less with you to the grave. This isn't just a question of what to do with the 'I love Mavis ' tattoo when Muriel come along. If it's visible everybody will see it forever, if it's not, it's likely to be one more reason to feel silly when the togs have to come off with an audience, especially when the entire canvas is heading south. So the difference would be that my prejudices would make me wary of their judgment.

Doug Deep

I'm sorry, but you don't seem to have even begun to understand the point I was making.

AlbionLass wrote:No tattoos here, I think they are ugly and cheap on women. I like good tattoos on an attractive man though, along with pierced nipples.
No piercings to speak of either except my ears. Used to have my tongue pierced but let that heal up a few years ago.

Seriously? Do all women find pierced nipples attractive? Is it painful?
jonty

Jonty wrote: Would you be happy if your male doctor/dentist/lawyer/teacher/nurse/minister of religion were obese, AND wore ear jewellery and sported tattoes?
Apparently there's a high correlation between wearing tattoes, mental illness and criminality. That isn't to say of course that anyone with a tattoo has mental issues or has a tendancy towards criminal behaviour.
jonty

It wouldn't bother me in the least. I'll bet there are a fair number who are fat, inked and pierced who wouldn't judge people the way you seem to .(1st issue).

Where did you obtain this information? (2nd issue)

thirdcrank wrote:

kevinp wrote:... What difference would it make to you if they were tattooed ? ...

A couple of years ago, I was in the market for a new car. A salesman in a main dealership - not under a railway arch - had self-inflicted tattoos across his knuckles with his name. Now, that might be a sign of a lad who has been able to move on from a tough start but I'm suspicious of the car trade in general, without something like that. The difference there was that I did not buy a car, although that was by no means the only reason.

I'm a wimp and I'd not willingly submit to unnecessary pain so that makes me cautious of those who would. Some must have a very poor self-image.

There's a whole area of hygiene (eg nuts and bolts in the nostrils, tongue or mouth) and infection. (My sister-in-law contracted MRSA in a hospital having a tumour removed from her foot. It's hard to see that the standards in many of these outfits are much higher.) There also seems to me to be a risk of a cock-up. This applies to some cosmetic surgery as well - Leslie Ash's lips come to mind here.

If we set aside those issues, and stick to what's going on in people's heads, it's easy to assume quite wrongly that they must inevitably be a bit whacky. Of course, most of these bodily adornments, from bones through the nose to bound feet have a cultural base, so most people are just adopting a particular idea of what's normal (or having it imposed on them in childhood.) All fair enough. It seems to me that the current fashion for tattooing is just that and nothing more. Most fashions are soon forgotten (except when somebody trots out those old pics of short back and sides haircuts, Michael Parkinson flares, flower-power, or whatever.) Noddy Holder can get away with the same style forever but there are few like him. Dedicated followers of fashion need to be able to react - hair over the collar one minute, shaved pate the next. With tattoos the fashion's more or less with you to the grave. This isn't just a question of what to do with the 'I love Mavis ' tattoo when Muriel come along. If it's visible everybody will see it forever, if it's not, it's likely to be one more reason to feel silly when the togs have to come off with an audience, especially when the entire canvas is heading south. So the difference would be that my prejudices would make me wary of their judgment.

Doug Deep

I'm sorry, but you don't seem to have even begun to understand the point I was making.

I take issue with your statement.
I understand precisely what you are driving at, but I do NOT judge people by the way they look. I may be surprised by someone's appearance, but judge them, never.I love diversity and individualism.
What people do with/to themselves is absolutely no-one elses business, not even yours. Not everyone wants to look/be like you.
We will have to agree to differ.

Jonty wrote:

AlbionLass wrote:No tattoos here, I think they are ugly and cheap on women. I like good tattoos on an attractive man though, along with pierced nipples.
No piercings to speak of either except my ears. Used to have my tongue pierced but let that heal up a few years ago.

Seriously? Do all women find pierced nipples attractive? Is it painful?
jonty

No more so than all men finding the same things attractive in women.
Pierced nipples on guys are only nice if the guy is buff and attractive, not some geezer with bigger boobs than me lol.

AlbionLass wrote:Pierced nipples on guys are only nice if the guy is buff and attractive, not some geezer with bigger boobs than me lol.

Gosh! Never occurred to me I might suit pierced nipples.

AlbionLass wrote:

Jonty wrote:

AlbionLass wrote:No tattoos here, I think they are ugly and cheap on women. I like good tattoos on an attractive man though, along with pierced nipples.
No piercings to speak of either except my ears. Used to have my tongue pierced but let that heal up a few years ago.

Seriously? Do all women find pierced nipples attractive? Is it painful?
jonty

No more so than all men finding the same things attractive in women.
Pierced nipples on guys are only nice if the guy is buff and attractive, not some geezer with bigger boobs than me lol.

So what ARE these thing that ALL men find attractive? We all have preferences, surely they can't all be the same otherwise we would all fancy Louise Redknapp, and she's MINE.

Sorry, I didn't get my point across very well, I meant to say that not all guys find the same things attractive and neither do all women.

AlbionLass wrote:Sorry, I didn't get my point across very well, I meant to say that not all guys find the same things attractive and neither do all women.

Men come in, see what's in the fridge and then go to bed.

Women come in, see what's in the bed and then go to the fridge.

AlbionLass wrote:

Jonty wrote:

AlbionLass wrote:No tattoos here, I think they are ugly and cheap on women. I like good tattoos on an attractive man though, along with pierced nipples.
No piercings to speak of either except my ears. Used to have my tongue pierced but let that heal up a few years ago.

Seriously? Do all women find pierced nipples attractive? Is it painful?
jonty

No more so than all men finding the same things attractive in women.
Pierced nipples on guys are only nice if the guy is buff and attractive, not some geezer with bigger boobs than me lol.

you forgot the paunch!

my dad was one of those who had tattoos on his arms a hangover from his nat service and each one had the location of where he had been stationed accompanying them.
i never thought it strange for a man to have tattoos having grown up with them, his mum hated them and shuddered at the sight/thought of them.
in my 20's i did consider having tattoo, but never got as far as taking the plunge having never really thought what design i would have and my money all being swallowed up by my bottomless pit (cycling) hobby.

these days i am glad i did not. why? cos i would have done it to be different and now that would not hold up.
my sister in her later years has met a tattooed hairy biker (yes i know cliched) as a result all her family are heavily into tattooing and body piercing, she does body piercing and the biker and her daughter are now qualified tattoists.
they are very good and my niece is extremely artistic and talented.
but it means they sport new tattoos everytime i see them.
do i want to look like the rest of family?.............. i do not!
also unless it was really unique i have never found a design that i would want to keep for the rest of my life as my tastes continually change. (hmmm winged wheel had not thought of that one)

i do try to take people as they are and not as their appearance suggests, regretfully my biker b-i-l and the rest of sister's family do nothing to assist in people's 'prejudices' they come across as very right wing, white superemicist(? spelling), tattooed bikers on both appearance and attitude.

Good to see we've got open minds all round

I'm a 40 yo male teacher and I've been into motorbikes since I was about 13. When I was in my mid twenties (good grief is it all those years ago!!) I had both nip's pierced. It didn't hurt as much as you think - They've gone now (the piercings not the nipples ). I also had (still have) two piercings in one ear, just normal rings, no bars or anything fancy. My head teacher all thought the piercings were funny and often used to comment about having bells put in, I'm sure he thought it was some strange sexual thing. All the kids (secondary) thought it was cool. I guess I was tolerated as being an eccentric music teacher.

I've never had a tattoo, mainly because I always thought I'd tire of whatever design I got. My wife hates tat's so I doubt its ever going to happen now anyway.

This was all done before it was trendy and I must admit seeing as everyone has them I probably won't, Ozzy is right. I'm different

As for judging others by appearance, its already been said, we all do it, it's knowing that we are doing it thats important. I've been treated like scum because I've had leathers on (many years ago admittedly) and been called scary when I had my head shaved. I'm still the same person, and yes your children are safe with me

Many people I know made judgements about people based on how they look, or sound, even if they haven't met them. You often hear people saying "Cameron's a toss pot or Brown's mad" even though they've never met them or spoken to them. I'm much more open-minded. I made initial provisional assessments which are then open to reconsideration and change once I have met the person and have had the opportunity to come to a more informed view.
I think this is quite normal. I believe it's called Theory of Mind, where you try and put yourself into the shoes of the other person.
It seems this was essential for survival. In the long-distant past the most dangerous animal we could expect to meet was another human being, so we had to assess them quickly at a distance.
When I see someone who is overweight, heavily tottooed and wearing ear jewellery the following thoughts pass through my mind. Why would someone wish to look like that? He's possibly a manual worker, unemployed or a member of the underclass. Certainly not professional. Possibly poorly educated. Perhaps an habitual criminal? If so, he could be illerate. Does he have "I hate screws" tattooed on his fists? How does he expect to get a job looking like that? Has he got heavily tatooed to look "hard" even though it may take the form of "hard to get up in the morning." If so, he has obviously embraced the "hard man" culture so approach with caution as he could potentially be aggressive or violent.
If I see a man sporting a tattoo on his arm which looks like a dagger or says "Rule Britannia" I assume there's a good chance he's a member or an ex-member of the armed forces, so I have positive feeling towards someone who has possibly risked life and limb to keep me and the country safe.
If I see an attractive young woman with a swallow tattoed on her back and sundry piercings I make the inital assessment that she's been unduly influenced by celebrity culture and footballers' WAGS, so she may be slightly dim but of course she may not be.
If I see a man who looks quite fit but has tattoes and lots of piercings and is shouting into his mobile, I think to myself "I wonder if he's a drug dealer?"
If I see a man wearing an ear ring I say to myself "he may be gay" and then give the matter no further consideration.
However these are all initial provisional assessments which can be subject to radical change on meeting and speaking to the individual concerned.
If when out cycling I'm approached by a large, heavily tattoed man festooned with multiple piercings, and he says "hello my good man, what a lovely bike, great day for a cycle ride, how far have you come?" I will have strong positive feelings towards him, once I get over my initial shock.
In other words, I make provisional inital assessments but accept that I could be proved wrong. Don't we all do this?
jonty

Jonty, that was a very interesting post. I like the way you say you're open minded. i.e you don't like tattoos, but if it's a armed forces tattoo it's an "well earned" tattoo. Then as we go down the list in preference we have the drug dealer, followed by the gay man. I suppose the gay might be worthy of reconsideration, if he isn't one of those types that tries to pinch your buttock (I hear they're terribly promiscuous, these gays!). Perhaps this is a new take on "I'm not racist, but...".

I think what you've spewed out is a fantastically stereotypical example of middle age, middle class superiority complex, if the tattoed, overweight guy didn't have a middle class accent and extended vocabulary, how would you feel about him enquiring about your bike/day then (I suppose he's likely a drug dealer, or worse...a gay!, either way, almost definitely a thief only interested in making off with your cycle).

Jonty wrote: heavily tottooed and wearing ear jewellery

i have two friends who'd have you crossing the street or breaking into a run

one's a motor engineer, other's a tattoo artist. both are self employed in their own shop/repair garage