Tattoos

[adamgunn 1,460]

Okay, I'm not putting them down, if they turn you on to have one or to see someone with one, that's your thing, no problem here.

 

What I'm wondering is if a fairly young woman gets a tattoo in her teens or twenty, what will it look like in her fifties and sixties?

[njbm 2,871]

They are popular with a younger demographic than we are. We have nieces and nephews in their twenties who went to town on them. No one asked me what I thought and it’s not my business. 
 

One of my young office assistants was going to get a nose piercing in the middle like a bull or cow. She was in college and would be going on to greater things. I told her it would not go over well at future job interviews. Her mother privately  thanked me profusely. She said she wouldn’t listen to her, but my employee thought I made a good point. 

[Lionheart72 2,190]

39 minutes ago, adamgunn said:

Okay, I'm not putting them down, if they turn you on to have one or to see someone with one, that's your thing, no problem here.

 

What I'm wondering is if a fairly young woman gets a tattoo in her teens or twenty, what will it look like in her fifties and sixties?

Depends on the tattoo and where she gets it. It's art on skin. Naturally, as the skin changes shape so will the art. Still, as I said, depending on the design and the location, it will probably stand the test of time.

[Lionheart72 2,190]

19 minutes ago, njbm said:

One of my young office assistants was going to get a nose piercing in the middle like a bull or cow. She was in college and would be going on to greater things. I told her it would not go over well at future job interviews. Her mother privately  thanked me profusely. She said she wouldn’t listen to her, but my employee thought I made a good point. 

I think as more people get tattoos and piercings, and as those of us without age out of leadership roles, it will become less of an issue. I've already seen my employer shift their policy regarding visible tattoos and body piercings - not to radically embrace them fully and freely, not yet, but to allow a little flexibility and to acknowledge that they can no longer afford to pass up good prospective employees for an increasingly outdated aesthetic standard.

[Fundamental Law 2,885]

12 hours ago, adamgunn said:

Okay, I'm not putting them down, if they turn you on to have one or to see someone with one, that's your thing, no problem here.

 

What I'm wondering is if a fairly young woman gets a tattoo in her teens or twenty, what will it look like in her fifties and sixties?

One of us works in the "acutely ill" segments of hospitals (trauma, ER, ICU). We see body are acquired during youth all the way into the ninth decade of life. (Some of this began with servicemen deployed during WW2 and Korea, e.g.)

 

1. Skin is dynamic. It stretches and sags and discolors with time. 

2. Dyes used in tattoos differ in terms of response to light and to oxygen and other compounds in the local environment. It's not just "fading", colors change.

3. Sentiments and images that seem appropriate during youth may not translate well to older ages.

 

All told, these are sort of "visible memories"--faded, distorted, sometimes happy and sometimes awkward. From a clinical standpoint, we take care of the patient the same way--with or without body art. From the patient/family standpoint, we have heard both perspectives--they enjoy the enduring memory versus some level of embarassment around "a youthful indiscretion". 

 

No tattoo remains unchanged over time, however. Biology isn't like that. 

[AndrewandAnn 360]

12 hours ago, Lionheart72 said:

I think as more people get tattoos and piercings, and as those of us without age out of leadership roles, it will become less of an issue. I've already seen my employer shift their policy regarding visible tattoos and body piercings - not to radically embrace them fully and freely, not yet, but to allow a little flexibility and to acknowledge that they can no longer afford to pass up good prospective employees for an increasingly outdated aesthetic standard.

The human brain is not fully formed until the age of twenty-six. Unfortunately, many decisions that can effect someone for the rest of his/her life are made before then. Many people under the age of twenty-six simply lack the intellectual capacity to project into the future. They are impulsive and want immediate satisfaction. To them, "long-term" is a season watching The Bachelor.

 

The "acceptance" of tatts, body mods, etc. entirely depends upon both the local social culture and/or business culture. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for people, especially on the coasts, to think of the United States as being this one, big cultural monolith. In reality, it's nothing of the sort. In fact, there can be huge cultural differences from one town to the next in the same state (for example, Austin versus San Antonio; Miami versus Tallahassee.)

 

Likewise, certain industries have entirely different cultural norms. Being covered head to toe in tatts and ornamental hardware might be perfectly acceptable in the worlds of, say, big tech or certain hospitality businesses. But in the perpetually conservative worlds of, say, finance, economics, or advanced medicine? No chance.

 

 

 

[AndrewandAnn 360]

13 hours ago, njbm said:

They are popular with a younger demographic than we are. We have nieces and nephews in their twenties who went to town on them. No one asked me what I thought and it’s not my business. 
 

One of my young office assistants was going to get a nose piercing in the middle like a bull or cow. She was in college and would be going on to greater things. I told her it would not go over well at future job interviews. Her mother privately  thanked me profusely. She said she wouldn’t listen to her, but my employee thought I made a good point. 

Our industry is heavily tech dependent, but is involved in a business line that skews quite conservative. As a result, we have a lot of young employees who remain fully covered year-round. I'm certain most never considered that would be a consequence of of being "cool" when they were nineteen.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't have, either. I probably would have been the first person in line for a tatt or three if they were part of my culture growing up. Thankfully, they weren't.

Edited February 26, 2021 by AndrewandAnn

[Numex 2,416]

I work with a young woman who has a large tattoo of a naked woman on her arm that would make a sailor blush.  After the first several days of employment she started wearing long sleeves all of the time.

[njbm 2,871]

35 minutes ago, Numex said:

I work with a young woman who has a large tattoo of a naked woman on her arm that would make a sailor blush.  After the first several days of employment she started wearing long sleeves all of the time.

She would probably be a hit at a lifestyle house party. Another endorsement for temporary tatoos.  

[Baconheads 432]

On 2/26/2021 at 7:38 AM, AndrewandAnn said:

The human brain is not fully formed until the age of twenty-six.

 

 

 

I turned 60 last year.  I won't claim to be fully mature.