To be fair, the OP does have a point. Certainly in the UK (and it seems US also) in the generations up to ours, a woman would be seen as 'common' if she had a tattoo, no matter how tasteful, it was really a masculine preserve.
Attitudes do seem to be somewhat changing now, and you do see a lot of women in the 'professional classes' getting them, but the stigma is still there, as the previous generations are still knocking about. It doesn't matter how smart or well paid you are, your tattoo still marks you out as 'not quite ladylike' to a large percentage of the population.
Presumably you aren't bothered though, so why get defensive about it, just ignore the less broad minded people, if you got your tattoo for the right reasons (i.e. cos you liked it, rather than to annoy 'them'), what do you care?
Seeing how prevalent piercings, unnatural hair colors and so on are here in Basel, I tend to think that the thoughts and feelings regarding those things as well as tattoos are different here.
After all, Switzerland is not a "class based" society in the same way as the UK and it is not even so worried about SEEMING to fall into different social strata as society in the US... so why would views of what makes one appear "common" be the same here as there?
Also, it is seen differently in different areas of the US anyhow - my brother, sister and sis-in-law all went through school in Florida. Such things as tattoos and piercings is very common in the area where we lived, no stigma there really and all three of them have tattoos.
For gawd's sake .... it ain't so deep ..... it's personal choice, freedom of expression, fashion statement, a dare or a bet, peer pressure, a drunken laff, following or bucking the trend ...... or any or none of these.
You'll be writing next that (with the exception of Tim Curry), anyone who wears black stockings and sussies, is fresh out of a porno flic, or a hooker or a (pop)tart.
There is none, except for extremely socially conservative types. Bankers have tattoos nowadays. And you seem to seriously misjudge the place (or just insist on stereotypes too much) if you think people care about social stigmata here. As long as you don't shit on their lawn people couldn't care less how you live your life.
I cant decide where to place my tattoo, I want it to be in a place where I can see it, but somehow not in the normal spots chosen for a tattoo.
After the very sudden death of my mother, I realised that life is just too short, to worry about people who stigmatize you because of your choices in life, let it be a tattoo or a piercing. My mother lived her life to its fullest, and now I intend to do so, as well.
A friend of mine has a tattoo artist, who is extremely talented, he visits every 3 months from USA, so the next time he will be here, I'm finally going to get one.....finally.
Another thought strikes me is this: How do you know who has and doesn't have tattoos in the US? Many people (particularly among the social sphere who'd care what folks thought of their tattoo ) have large homes with their own pool, so you never see them in a swim suit. For all you know, those business types quite easily could have tattoos that simply are covered by their day-to-day attire.
Here, it is more common for folks to go to a public pool, go swimming at the lake or on the river or whatever, so you do see what everyone has (both natural AND applied). I'm pretty sure a society where it's not unusual to let it all hang out in communal showers is less repressed about things like tattoos.
Where I come from, a tattoo was what you earn along with your status in the community..
It was precisely the queen, who would get a tattoo.
On my last visit back "home", there was a man with a full-face moko sitting at the neighbouring cafe table. In a suit. I did not have the inner strength to dare look at him- eye contact of course is something you would never dare with someone of such status.
LOL. No, the same is true in German: "Links cool, rechts schwul" (earring on the left: tries to be cool, earring on the right: shows that he is gay...)
In Appenzell, the earring is a sign for being a farmer. That's a very local and unusual tradition and I bet that Chemmie has never seen somebody wearing a traditional Appenzeller earring (looks like a little golden spoon) in Zurich. I for sure haven't.
I doubt that many men have a single earring on the right without knowing that it is a symbol for homosexuality. Yes, in Switzerland as well.
