The buzz of the needle, the initial piercing of the skin, the smell of fresh ink, the beautiful end result. The rush of a brand new tattoo can make you feel like it was one of the best decisions that you’ve ever made, but there’s always someone that will be there to burst your bubble of inked up bliss.

“You’re gonna regret that when you get older.”

“Why do you want to mark up your body?”

“You’re not going to be able to get a good job with tattoos.”

SILENCE! All of you!

There is a certain taboo attached to tattoos that I feel as though I should clear up. Tattoos are one of the most amazing forms of artistic expression when executed correctly. I have one rule when it comes to tattoos. Make sure that they mean something! I’ve seen people who have gotten tattoos of random things like Sonic the Hedgehog and when I ask them what their reason behind getting the tattoo, all they have to say runs along the lines of “I was drunk” or “It just looks cool.”

First of all…what?! So you’re meaning to tell me that you decided to mark up your body, sit through hours of searing pain, and have a piece of ink on you because you thought it looked cool? Excuse my language but that sounds like a load of bs. Tattoos are something that you have to see or others have to see, depending on the location of the tattoo, so this is not always an easy decision. Not to mention if you wake up one morning and decide “This tattoo was stupid. Sonic is so overrated.” Do you know how much tattoo removal costs?! Google it. It’s between $200 and $500 PER SESSION, you can do the math if you want to but that price tag is definitely way higher than the initial tattoo. All because you made a drunk split-second decision.

Dumbass.

When I got my first tattoo, I ran into similar resistance from my parents. My mom was flat out against it and quickly reminded me of the fact that I was deathly afraid of needles. Granted, by the time I decided to get my tattoo, I was over 18 so I didn’t need parental consent to get it but I didn’t want to come home for break and they just see random ink on my forearm. I was trying to be courteous! But when I told her my idea for my first tattoo, she let up a little. I have a younger brother that was diagnosed with nonverbal autism when he was 3 years old and we are insanely close. I have 3 other siblings but I’m ironically closest with the one that can’t speak. Don’t get me wrong, I tolerate my other siblings … sometimes but EJ and I have a bond that doesn’t need many words, we communicate through sarcastic looks and devilish laughs. He’s my favorite. Don’t tell anyone though; I’ll deny everything. So getting the tattoo was a no-brainer. And here is the end result: 

My second tattoo story (& don’t worry I only have two… for now) was a little more dramatic. I had just ended a really toxic relationship a couple months earlier and I was not in a good place. All in all, I have moved on from the situation but one thing that stuck with me even though we haven’t been together in almost a year: he called me queen a lot. So paired with my new outlook on life, I decided to get some new ink with the first thing coming to mind is my true queeness (That totally is not a word, I’m aware. Leave me alone.) My Nefertiti tattoo is probably my new favorite tattoo just because of the purpose behind it. A rough translation of Nefertiti is “a beautiful woman has come” so it fit the occasion perfectly!

Yes, those are stretch marks. I embrace my tiger stripes, don’t hate!

Of course the debate started with my parents about the correlation between a collection of ink and finding a good job and while they brought up decent points, I feel as though I won the fight. With the field that I want to go into, it doesn’t matter much whether or not I have tattoos everywhere, as long as they are tasteful. There’s already a debate about tattoos and other body modifications in the workplace but in certain occupations, the regulations are coming a lot more lenient. Let’s take nursing, for example. Why would you deny a job to a nurse just because she has full tattoo sleeves on both arms? Just because she’s tatted doesn’t take away from the potential that she has to save lives. You shouldn’t discriminate against someone because of body modifications.

If my body is my temple, then why can’t I decorate the walls?