General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: You sound like my mother or my grandfather or some grouchy older person I know [View all]Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)He was born in 1880. Yes, aesthetic preferences and styles change.
When I was younger, it wasn't just "aesthetic preferences." Visible tattoos were mutually exclusive with getting a job, unless you were decidedly blue collar. Auto mechanics, ditch diggers, boxers, and manual laborers could have tattoos. This was true even for the Navy where a lot of young men were tattooed. (If discovered you could go to a Mast for destruction of government property, be reduced in rate, and fined.)
I have a daughter who wanted a tattoo and I told her until she was 18, no. She respected my rule and on her 18th birthday she picked up leopard spots and some in places that are none of my business. That was her decision. I am very proud of her, for she has grown to be fine young woman, tattoos and all.
I see it an example of times and customs change. When I was young, anything but a blue collar job required a suit and tie, and most of those jobs women were not allowed to work in. We've come a long way.
There are some jobs today where people who wear tattoos would find it hard to get hired, but not many. It is a matter of choice, and people should be given leeway to decorate their bodies as they see fit.