Hi,
Without becoming too tangential in my reply, as the previous response to your question was very eloquently put, I'll keep this simple. I am a woman and work as a registered nurse. I grew up with an authoritative, raging, German father who made his disgust with tattoos and piercings extremely vocal. For some time as I teenager I adopted his views but secretly admired that which he despised. I dared not bring anybody I knew with "body art" anywhere within close proximity to my father for fear he'd "go off" on a wild, explicitly verbal and anger filled rant. As the years passed, my mother died and a few years later, my aunt (her sister) committed suicide. I was extremely close to both of them. A few years after losing my mother, I was determined to have a tattoo done in her memory. After thirty-six hours of ink work in total, I had my back piece finished and to this very day, I love it to pieces. It is an extremely personal work of art with very deep meaning. I designed it in such a way that it is only visible if I purposefully show it (I rarely do).
After losing my beloved aunt to suicide, I did the very same and designed a very special piece of ink in her memory. Again, in an area that is always covered unless I choose to show it (which I rarely do). Both my pieces are quite large. To see me out and about, one would probably never even guess that I had even one very small tattoo, let alone two very large ones.
Simply put, the tattoos that I now have are extremely personal and one of many different ways that I have honoured my loved ones. I wouldn't have it any other way. Only for me, I keep them very private. Also, after many years of fearing my father as I child, I made sure to tell him about my tattoos and why I decided to have them done. Up until telling him, he had absolutely no idea and I absolutely didn't give a sweet f¥€k how angry he might become. Surprisingly, I think he secretly admired me for my decision to honour my mother and aunt in this way. I've often wondered if my father still lives and operates in fear of his extremely abusive, dead father.
I do not see body ink as being a red flag at all. They often tell a story.... Gang work, vulgarities and swastikas etc., would for obvious reasons, raise an eyebrow but these aren't the types of tattoos I'm referring to here.
Thanks for sharing your question.
