Friend's Friend's 1 Year Old Nephew Given Tattoo

[Greenday]

I don't have a problem with having your baby's ears pierced, even though I wouldn't do it myself. Ear piercings are overwhelmingly common, relatively painless, uncontroversial (for the most part), can be adjusted easily to match the person's style (when they get old enough to have their own style), and can be allowed to heal over if the person doesn't want pierced ears.

Tattoos are none of these things.

Wait, tattoos aren't overwhelmingly common these days? Honestly, when I got mine done, it wasn't that painful. Heck, after a couple minutes, you barely notice. I just sat there and watched Cribs while the guy did it. Most aren't controversial. You can get rid of it if you want to.

Which one do tattoos not apply to again?

[DesignFox]

Wait, tattoos aren't overwhelmingly common these days? Honestly, when I got mine done, it wasn't that painful. Heck, after a couple minutes, you barely notice. I just sat there and watched Cribs while the guy did it. Most aren't controversial. You can get rid of it if you want to.

Which one do tattoos not apply to again?

Tattoos are not easily change-able. They are costly to remove and they do not 100% disappear.

You can choose not to wear earrings and the holes will very likely close over. You can change what type of earrings you are wearing very easily to match your dress.

While I agree a lot of the stigma attached to having a tattoo has disappeared, this is not true in all parts of the country/world.

There are few areas of the planet that condemn or judge women if they have their ears pierced- it's pretty standard practice. In fact, I'd say it's hard for me to name a woman friend who doesn't have her ears pierced.

[Lady_Foxfire]

Wait, tattoos aren't overwhelmingly common these days? Honestly, when I got mine done, it wasn't that painful. Heck, after a couple minutes, you barely notice. I just sat there and watched Cribs while the guy did it. Most aren't controversial. You can get rid of it if you want to.

Which one do tattoos not apply to again?

When I said "overwhelmingly common", I meant that almost every female over the age of 16 has pierced ears. Tattoos aren't exactly rare, but they're not practically universal, either.

Getting a tattoo is far more painful than getting your ears pierced, especially if you are a small child who doesn't understand what's happening.

Tattoos may not be controversial in the areas or with the people that you're used to, but a lot of companies won't hire people with visible tattoos because many people do judge people by their tattoos. I'm not saying it's right, but it's true.

Tattoos are not easily removed at all. Yes, you can get laser treatment, but it's expensive, painful, and not completely effective.

[IDrinkaRum]

Then tape a pink bow on her head and put her in a pink frilly dress. That should remove all doubt.

Nope, doesn't work.

I took Child Rum to physical therapy when she was about 9 months old (for her shoulder that needed to be readjusted and such).

I had her decked out from head to toe pink. She was born with hair and I put one of those headbands for infants on her head. It was pink. Pink little sweat pants, pink matching shirt, pink socks. Pink coat. Pink, pink, and more pink!

The couple sitting next to me asked if she was a boy or a girl.

[BroomJockey]

The couple sitting next to me asked if she was a boy or a girl.

Maybe... they... were... colour...blind? Err. No. They don't like to assume? No... aHA! They were dumb!

[DesignFox]

<snip>
I had her decked out from head to toe pink. She was born with hair and I put one of those headbands for infants on her head. It was pink. Pink little sweat pants, pink matching shirt, pink socks. Pink coat. Pink, pink, and more pink!

The couple sitting next to me asked if she was a boy or a girl.

So, only girls are allowed to wear pink, now?

I'm kidding!

Although it could open up a can of worms about color and gender role assignment...maybe this couple was trying to think progressively?

And then of course there's all the metro guys who wear all sorts of traditionally "girlie" colors...

(I'd assume a baby in any overly frilly outfit, especially if it were pink, was a girl..I mean, duh!)

Even if you're color blind, I think it's safe to assume that a boy would not be dressed in frills and bows...could be a good way to mess with people though.

[Flyndaran]

My girlfriend has hated pink with a passion as hot as a thousand suns since her birth. Any toy colored pink would get tossed onto her local freeway to get crushed by passing semis.
I, male, was born loving pink.

[IoRamona]

When my brother was a baby he was often dressed in hand-me-downs from when I was little, some of them were pink. He was often mistaken for a girl.

[Lace Neil Singer]

As a child I often wore my older brother's handmedowns. I hated frills and girly stuff like dolls; if given dolls, they'd be destroyed in a variety of different ways. My fave toys were a cuddly frog and a plastic Triceratops.

However, I never was mistaken for a boy. Not sure why; then again, I had hair down to my butt for ages, and often had it in plaits.

[Flyndaran]

My dad made sure all of use boys got dolls. He didn't want to force over-masculinization like his father did. The dolls also gave me a reason to play with the neighbor girls.

[AdminAssistant]

My dad made sure all of use boys got dolls. He didn't want to force over-masculinization like his father did. The dolls also gave me a reason to play with the neighbor girls.

And Dad made sure my sister and me had all the tractors, trucks, and cars any little girl could ask for. I wanted a tractor big enough my Barbies could ride in it, but alas..... Hey, that's an idea Mattel! Anyway...

And Mom has oft regaled me with stories of what a time she had with me as a baby, since I didn't have much hair to speak of for a couple of years. It was so fine that bows and barrettes wouldn't stay...so she just used headbands or taped bows to my head for pictures. Of course, I was one of those wonderful children who preferred to not wear any clothes, so there ya go.

[Shangri-laschild]

The more I think about this, the more I'm inclined to believe that it was a fake tattoo. I can't imagine a tattoo artist actually agreeing to such a thing.

While in this specific case we know it's a fake, as far as the general subject goes...not everyone gets tattoos done in parlors. There are people who get their own tattoo kits and then will proceed to tattoo themselves or any friends who ask or are willing. I've known plenty of people who have gotten tattoos like that or from people who used to be tattoo artists or who still are but only follow certain standards while in their shop. It would not be impossible, nor really hard, to get a tattoo done even if it's something like this. I'm not saying it's a safe or quality way to get a tattoo done, just that it's very possible.

[Boozy]

I hadn't really thought of that. Of course someone could find an amateur tattoo artist with no affiliation to a licensed parlour.

But I still don't see this happening in reality. Child cruelty aside, I'd think someone would say "Hey, this kid's still growing...."

[Nyoibo]

Didn't a guy get charged with getting his kid tatooed with gang symboly not that long ago?

[Flyndaran]

...
But I still don't see this happening in reality. Child cruelty aside, I'd think someone would say "Hey, this kid's still growing...."

You could say nearly the same thing aboud adults.
To paraphrase a comic.
It started out as a lovely unicorn on the breast, and years later it's now a giraffe with a bump on its head.