Are people discriminating against tattooed and/or pierced persons?
Yes
No
0voters
Some of us feel an erotic urge to be modified. This is more than an aesthetic desire. It is the enjoyment of being pierced, marked forever. It is the actual enjoyment of the process of getting a piercing, a tattoo. It is the enjoyment of being permanently marked. It is the enjoyment of the irreversibility of the mark.
The majority of the society is obviously not like this.
There is a very real discrimination against modified persons.
Even women with only pierced ears are more likely treated as sex objects by men.
If the choice of being modified is based on erotic and sexual desires should the law protect modified persons as a sexual minority?
Or is it just a sexual perversion which is really disturbing for the majority? Should someone discriminate against an other human being just because that person’s sexuality disturbs him/her?
Perhaps your perception of this discrimination is part of the thrill? Do you relish, on some level, the looks of disdain and disapproval of those not so sophisticated and daring as you?
Discrimination and admiration are not the same. Being a pariah and being special are not equal. Prejudice and rejection are not exiting. Being marked is certainly about being different and being humiliated but not rejected. Being marked is a way of becoming more by the instrument of humiliation. But the source of humiliation is not society but your own will to be modified. Your own spirit humiliates and changes your body. Only the needle, the ink, the jewellery humiliates you, not a person.
The tattoos, the jewelry, etc is just the meaningless trappings of vanity. You must think they mean something or you wouldn’t do it, so can you be surprised that others also ascribe a meaning to them, too, but that their meanings may not be the same as yours? If you can be so shallow as to assume that staining your body with ink or altering it surgically will make you special on account of it, why be surprised that others just as shallow and ignorant think that doing so makes you unsavory?
But what if body modification is part of my sexuality? This is not my choice to be me. I just wanna be happy and God (or bad or good luck) gave me this body.
Is it a sin to be happy? Is it a sin to enjoy your desires? I don’t hurt anybody, except myself and it feels good. But how can others cause me pain by discrimination? They are hurting me and I didn’t do anything against them.
How do you know this? How many sexually active women do you know who do not have their ears pierced? I’m not sure I know any. I have never discussed this with anyone, in over thirty years of locker room talk. What am I missing?
If “body modification” is part of your sexuality, something is likely crossed in your wiring probably in the dopamine sectors.
The reason people who are excessively tattoed or pierced draw attention is because it is not a normal “want” so to speak. As a matter of fact, with profuse tattooing there is a high correlation of mental disorder as tattooing on that scale is often a “disguised” sort of self-mutilation.
It MAY be the case that the person is perfectally fine, but one only has to go so far as a prision to notice that that population is largely tattooed or “modified” in some way.
It is noticed because it correlates highly with other issues.
I don’t know of anyone that has tattoos or pearcing because of just sexual proclivities. They have them because they enjoy them and the way they look. No different then getting your hair cut or styled. Sure there are pearcings to enhance sexual acts but, nothing wrong with that. I wouldn’t do it but then again I faint and puke if you come at me with a needle or try to put a hole in me. did that once, never again.
I see folks working management positions all over the place now, that have odd colored hair, oddly cut hair tatoos all over and multiple pearcings. It is commonplace now. It is not nearly as odd as you think. Heck, I live in a very conservative bible thumping part of the country and these folks that have all those modifications are accepted with very few exceptions. Only one horrible story of bigotry have I heard that resulted in tragedy. but, over all they are just someone’s kid or parent.
FYI. my son sports a mohawk and wears all black, he is saving to get an elaborate tattoo on his back and thinks pearcings are dangerous but cool. All black in the summer? That bit of him he gets from his father’s family not mine.
People are getting more accepting now of differences thanks to an increased mobility ability.
If you think people are not giving you a chance, move or check your own attitude perhaps you are defensive and folks know it, so hackles go up on both sides.
I am so sorry but, your post makes me laugh so hard.Shinton, you need to get out more. For some, what you say maybe true. but, most, no no it is not true. To most it is a possesion, like designer jeans or diamond jewelery. It is just another form of physical appearance enhancement. No different then getting your hair cut. It is style, they have people notice the, just like the folks that wear expensive jewelery or clothes are noticed. LOL It is vanity for the most part pure and simple.
Not mental problems. Prison population Jeez that is a whole different post.
In this particular case, I’m right. I’m glad you find my correct statement humorous, and I suspect I’ve “been out” quite enough. Maybe you were out “too much” and missed out.
Based on what?
I think you are over-simplfying.
Excessive tattooing is correlated with increased mental problems. Here’s a link you can peruse. If you want additional links I’ll be happy to throw some your way. Please note that because something IS correlated it does not mean it is causal. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3225/is_n5_v41/ai_9080219
It might be just vanity, but it isn’t the same thing as vain people who buy designer clothes are experiencing. Clothes decorate the body. Tattooing and piercing change it.
There could be many reasons, but almost all of them come down to the person looking in the mirror and not being satisfied with what they see. It might be that you want to be ‘sexier’, so you get something suggestive. Perhaps you need to look ‘tougher’, so you get a skull. Maybe you need to be ‘cooler’, so you get your name in Old English on your back. Whatever it is, you aren’t satisfied with the body that you’ve got, or else you wouldn’t be modifying it. There is also the juvenile tendency to destroy, even if it’s your body itself.
I never said it was a ‘sin’- the whole concept is silly, IMO. Shallow and silly as I think it is, I’d never call it a sin. Nothing that you do to yourself is a sin, even putting a pistol in your mouth and blowing your head off. Society may have it’s rules concerning what you can put in or do to your body, but morally I can’t see how anyone can have a higher claim to your body than you do.
That said, any time you choose to step beyond the bounds of societal norms, there’s a consequence. Conformity, for better or worse, is expected. Minor deviations may be considered quirky or charming, or slightly rude and menacing, depending upon your personality & demeanor. Major deviations will be met with less tolerance. That’s the reality of the situation, and calling that a sin would be equally foolish.
Where do you live that tatoos make you an outcast? Catholic school? In my (what passes for) social circles tatoos are fairly passe. It would take something pretty outrageous, like full facial tatoos or something, to even raise an eyebrow. Of course, those of my grandmother’s generation still think too much makeup makes you a Jezebel. So there you go.
If you tried to show me how edgy & cool you were I’d just politely say ‘yeah, cool’ or at worst just tell you to get over yourself.
My knowledge is based on actually knowing people, not reading others assumptions or studies that could be prejudiced.
Some folks have mental problems that have exsessive tattoos, but most do not. I know too many successful happy folks that have their bodies “modified” with a lot of tattoos and or pearcings. If they wear a suit to work, you can’t see them as much, but, on their off hours they wear clothes that display them. Do you realize how much it costs in money, time and patience to get these works of art? We had a neighbor that moved from this area a while back, he is a true artist, his tattoos are beautiful, if I wasn’t squeemish, I would be proud to have one of his works. A small tattoo starts at 50$ from him then goes up to the thousands level. Tattoos are not just for thugs and mental problem people. Tattoo parlors are not smoky dingy nasty places anymore, they are clean, proffesional and proud. Sure there are some that still are nasty but, so are some beauty parlors, manicure places and Doctor offices. You will always have the bad with the good.
They are for those that wish to display their bodies in a different way, Vanity. No different then spending money on clothes or hair or jewelery or cosmetic surgery or makeup or skin conditioners. It is a different way to display your body with enhancements. The only difference is ; it is more permanent.
Look at it this way. Those that spend thousands in these tatto parlors must for the most part be pretty confident and moderately successfull.The tattoos you see on most people walking the streets have multicolors, fine lines, not marred. Look closer , you will see normal pride and vanity , simple.
Prison tattoos are not the same as what you see on most people. Prison tattoos tend toward monocolor, lack definition, often marred by scars from infections. The statements made from these types of tattoos are quite different then your everday tattoos.
As for pearcings, well jewelery ain’t cheap if its real. Although I will admit some pearcings just defy common sense and are more for shock value it seems. One girl I saw in my son’s group had corset pearcings(loops with chains like a corset) along both sides of her rib cage area. Not ugly but, definitely lacking safety and common sense. The effect was not grotesque on the contrary. It went well with her style of dress. She has different loops and chains to match colors of clothes and styles. That is not a messed up mind, that is confidence and vanity. For me Not in a million years would I do it, but hey, whatever turns your ticker and makes you happy , rock on.
Tattoos and piercings are a form of “look at me”. They can be for public or private display. The private markings are… well, private. Public display become symbols that can be interpreted in many ways depending on the pov of the viewer. Anyone who displays publically their tattoos or piercings subject themselves to the judgement of those around them. If those judgements are sometimes negative, it says nothing about the person with the body adornment, only the viewer. BUT all judgements carry consequences and the person with the adornment has to accept that. The intent of the message sent is not always received with understanding of that intent.
Like a painting, the meaning is in the eye of the beholder…
Whenever a subject like this comes up, I think about women’s hair styles. Now here, I am talking mostly about the styles worn my middle-aged and older women. White, middleclass suburbanites. Some of these styles have nothing to do with the shape of the human skull, or the way hair looks “left to its own devices”. Big puffballs of hair, trained and sprayed and boufed into shapes that resemble nothing in nature. Clipped here, teased there, colored, highlighted and waxed, for all I know. Frankly, a lot of this looks plain stupid - to me. Tats and piercings, some of them, pale in comparison as “body-altering”.
As Kris says, vanity is vanity. And as tent says, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. But a kid with a blue ponytail looks more “normal” to my eyes. And I’d rather see a tasteful eyebrow stud than some of the horrible crap some women hang on their ears. There ought to be a law against bad taste. I volunteer to write it.
Bad tastless hair LOL! Little old ladies have had blue, purple,green and bright orange hair for decades now. They proudly wear these colors. LOL No one looks at them like they have problems.
But we all know they do right? Those colors are from the notorious Grandma Gang. Forcing you to sit up straight, eat your cookies and wash behind your ears. They are demented females that care only for protocol and keeping up with the Joneses. Abolish them, the tasteless witches. They frighten young children into proper behaviour, terrorizing neighborhoods with gifts of homemade potpourri and cakes. They are shameless in their affection for the younger generations, How dare they share!.
(This rant in noway reflects on the sanity of the poster being this is in the physchology dept.)
Because your knowledge is beyond prejudice? Because YOU don’t make assumptions? Just so you know, I TOO know people with tattoos.
And this is based on your sample of how many people?
Uh…I guess this all hinges on your definition of “successful and happy”. I don’t know what that means, but I can tell you that “ability to hold a job” doesn’t mean that they are successful and happy.
Since I’ve designed some, yes.
So I know.
I’m not sure why parlors that are nice and tattoos that are expensive exclude thugs and mental problem people moreso.
And it ALSO happens to be done with a needle so that it is a BIT more painful. I maintain that it has something “more” to do than simply “customizing one’s self.” Vanity, to the level of a tattoo especially excessively means something is off with the person in all likelihood. It’s like the person who gets excessive plastic surgery. Something is likely wrong with them because they surely aren’t liking what they are seeing.
Crazy people can have money just like anyone else.
I think YOU do, and you might be right in some cases.
Not all of them are that way, but what that says to me is “we don’t have as much money as the people with the fancier tattoos.”
I’d say she probably did it out of a lack of confidence, actually.
