It's generalisations like this I hate.. One of my best friends has a tribute to her late father, it's a small tattoo of his name and dates on the inside of her wrist. Does that make her a "dumb attention seeker" and "full of her own self importance"? No.. and for the record, she's not a chav either.

I don't mind tattoos to be honest, as long as they mean something to the person, and it looks nice..that's the main thing.
Another best friend has a pirate ship on her hip..it's pretty big but it looks AWESOME.

To be honest most of the tattoo fetishists as you put it are definitely more rock than chav.

I went out and got a tattoo today a little pink shooting star on my wrist. I really like it. Hurt though, even though it only took about 5 minutes

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2445507_n.jpg

Some are personal and intimate - a good friend of mine at work has her son's name on her shoulder and it looks nice along with something next to it but can't remember what. Then she has another on her inside wrist which she got done on her son's birthday but it seems to be fading already - it's a butterfly and some flowers

Others are done on a whim - another work colleague got the word 'tiger' tattooed whilst drunk in Blackpool in Chinese on his upper arm: he doesn't know why either. Then he has a cartoon monkey on his back dressed in a yellow Kill Bill outfit and whenever he shows us we all look at each other thinking 'WFT'? whilst trying to find something nice to say

A girl I used to know had a very small Indian squaw on her shoulder blade/back. She then decided to get it covered over with a Tasmanian devil. However, because the squaw was black, it couldn't be covered over with the brown of the Tasmanian devil so the tattooist decided to put a top hat on it. Oh my God, it was the worst tattoo I've ever seen in my life. It ended up about 15 cms long with this ridiculous top hat and what looked like a teddy bear's face (no body) I am cringing now thinking about how shit it looked

I'll be in the minority with this. I know everyone has them and thinks they are great. But i think they look awful. I don't know why anyone would want one.

Apologies if i offend anyone, but that's what i think and how i was brought up.

You expressed what i wanted to say!

My boyfriend has a piercing and i loathe it!

Your first point was fine but you ruined it with the second one.

Ahh well.

Its a cultural thing, whether you like tattoos or not. When i was growing up in the 70s/80s only men had them and they were seen as being distasteful. Other people had them. They have become socially acceptable thanks to Beckham and celebrity culture and a fashion statement. Even my brother in law with a respectable job has one. Interesting. I still loathe them and wouldn't let anyone tattoo me.

Oh absolutely. If you dont like them then thats totally cool.

To be honest in the 80s im not sure they were seen as being particulary distasteful, just not the fashion item that they have become today.

Ironically its now that people are referring to them as "chavvy" when as you have just explained, people with perfectly respectable jobs have them and they are socially acceptable to the majority.

My parents are in their 60s and 70s and actually really like mine though they are from a generation who in theory are supposed to find them unnacceptable.

Some people in this thread are completely out of touch with modern life. All sorts of people have tattoos.

My husband has one, and plans to do another and he's university educated. . I personally do not like to see them in woman, and i wouldn't do them myself, but i simply can't see in this days age how can someone, just by seeing a tattoo, guess of what strata of society that person belongs to. Maybe in the old days that was possible, not anymore.

It depends what it is and who it is on I suppose. A close friend of my sister is Latin American and lives out in the states, she has an amazing tattoo of a pink flowers on a vine that travels from her shoulder down to one elbow, it is a very well done tattoo and extremely artistic, she is also very feminine and classy and no way could look a chav - it is not uncommon for women to have large but extremely artistic tattoos in her latin american circuit where they dedicate their lives to cars and body art (assuming why the tattoo was very well done). My sister also has a large tattoo up her arm which looks amazing.

I like well done tattoos that have time put into them rather than something which looks like a spur of the moment rushed job. Tattoos on men are nice and add sex appeal however I dislike the use of colour in mens tattoos.

I see what people mean about tramp stamps though, there is nothing worse than seeing generic, dated tribal marks on the lower of someones crepey, sunburnt back, that is just horrid or slogans such as "100% Bitch" or the old "Love" and "Hate" knuckles.

I think the point is, certainly for me, is that you can be as well educated as can be and have a fantastically important job but a tattoo will make you look 'chavvy'....in my opinion.

And thats fine but there would be a world of difference between saying i look chavvy and catergorically stating that i am a chav. You will see the posts on here which make judgements about people as opposed to explaining why you dislike something.

One would be your opionion which you are entitled to while the other would be a false statement of "fact" based on your own stereotype - which i would take issue with.

Love tattoos both for myself and on other people (if done right)
The only ones I cant stand are the Westernized Tribal designs.

Well but like Cantona said that's very different from being a chav. It's just your personal taste nothing more
Nowdays, You certainly cannot infer absolutely nothing about that person when you see a tattoo. That's the reality.
Plus chavs are not identified with tattoos, rocky types are the ones that traditionally wore tattoos.

That's what I've been saying all along. In fact the only people I know who are heavily tattooed are rock types.

I don't mean to be offensive here but the type of tattoos I associate with being chavvy/tramp stamp are ones like fairypenny's. I really don't like 'girly' tattoos.

Others would be offended; I really like my tattoo so I'm not fussed what anyone else thinks.

A well done tattoo can look fabulous but they seem to be in the minority and most I see just look cheap.

However what I cannot understand is why anyone would want to be stuck with the same design for the rest of their lives. Nobody would dream of still wearing the same clothes day after day or be dressing in their sixties as they did in their twenties. I am doubtful that anyone who has a tattoo won't, at some point in their lives, regret it.

I saw this quote on a tattoo website forum and thought it was so true...

"The only difference between a tattooed person and a non-tattooed person is that the person with the tattoos does not care if you don't have any!"

...well said in my humble opinion

My full sleeve is nearly done. Ive had 13 hours on it and i have to say that the non-tattoo people who have asked me about it have been great!

I genuinely dont mind what people say but my best mate is very anti-tattooing and he had to say "i dont like it but that is art"!

I respect every single person who dislikes what i have done, i totally understand. If they say it conforms to a stereotype that still ok.

I made my choices.

When they state as fact that i am "X" cos i have tattoos, i take issue with that.

Lots of interesting thoughts on this thread.

Each to their own is what I say, but I do get annoyed with the antis who seem to think all of us with tats are chavvy. I have also been following Cantona's posts about judging people because they are inked.

I have two on my shoulder blade and one around my wrist. When they are covered I am a middle aged mum of 2 teenagers, respectable, middle class average woman in a professional job.

When I wear a low backed t shirt or roll my sleeves up I'm a chav ?

Only a dimwit would think that way.

Totally agree! I posted something way back along similar lines.

I am a professional woman with a tattoo on my shoulder blade and the base of my spine.

At work I look professional at all times. So how come when I wear a strappy top (which shows my shoulder tatt) I'm suddenly chavvy!

Makes me so mad

Dont let people make you mad.
I love my Tattoos and will continue to do so despite what anyone thinks they make me look like. This is MY body, MY choice and MY taste.
It's human nature that we dont all share the same taste in things ( it would be a boring world if we did). If people want to judge you because you have tattoos then I think it says more about the person with the judgemental attitude than the person who has the tattoos.

Tramp stamps. Absolutely VILE