If you’re a tattooed person with a generous collection of tattoos, then it’s quite likely that you’ve been the subject of some odd questions or comments from people who don’t have tattoos (or from people may be tattooed but just aren’t that into the whole tattoo culture thing). There are of course a lot of misconceptions about tattooed people, and tattoos in general. At Magnum Tattoo Supplies where you can visit our Tattoo Shop in Cheshire, we wanted to talk about some of the common and quite often irritating misconceptions that exist about tattooed people.

1. Your tattoos must have meaning: 
This is probably one of the most common question someone with tattoos will be asked. ‘What do they mean?’. There’s no rule to say that tattoos have to mean anything at all. For people who aren’t really into tattoos, they may well deem the purpose of a tattoo to be a symbolic physical representation of someone or something in their life, a symbol of strength or love for example. This is absolutely fine, but that doesn’t mean that the only purpose a tattoo serves is to have some profound meaning. It can sometimes be quite difficult for people to accept that there are people who just wanted a particular ‘thing’ tattooed on them for no reason other than ‘they felt like it’. 

2. You must really love pain of you like tattoos:
No. Absolutely not! We’re sure there are some people out there who may enjoy the painful side of tattoos, but for the majority of tattooed people the answer is no. Of course not! We love tattoos, and just because the tattoo process is painful, it certainly doesn’t mean we enjoy it. It’s a means to an end, and the only way to achieve the end result. People do things they don’t like or enjoy all the time in order to achieve their end goal, and it’s the same with tattoos. Take going to the gym or cutting out all of your favourite junk food in order to achieve a particular body size or loose weight. It certainly doesn’t mean you have to enjoy the process, but it’s all about the end result. 

3. You must be such a rebel / black sheep / anti authoritarian:
Again, no. Indeed tattoos are quite often seen as a rebellious thing to have, especially in films and in the media, and there are some connotations that come with certain groups of people who adorn tattoos. But, it’s the 21st century and these days every other person has a tattoo. It’s fashionable, it’s trendy, and it looks great, so why should people automatically assume that it’s reflective of a political stance? There are still some taboos surrounding tattoos which may lead people to think that it’s an act of rebellion, but in this day and age, your tattoo probably doesn’t mean you’re particularly rebellious. 

4. People with tattoos can’t get ‘real’ jobs:
This is absolutely not true, at all, especially these days. There are doctors, nurses, teachers, accountants, successful business owners, policeman, with tattoos. The list goes on. You name the career, and you can guarantee there will be a bunch of people in that sector with tattoos. Tattooed people aren’t limited when it comes to job prospects. Unless you want o become an air hostess, in which case that’s a no go area, but aside from that, having tattoos shouldn’t really hinder your career prospects. 

5. People with tattoos must be so spontaneous:
People who don’t have tattoos often say that they’d love a tattoo, but wouldn’t know what to get, or would likely change their mind years down the line so they couldn’t possibly have one.  If that’s your reasoning for not getting tattooed then that’s fine. This isn’t to say that heavily tattooed people are spontaneous, irresponsible or unfased when they opt to get tattooed. Tattoos don’t equate to spontaneity. Some people just know what they want, and aren’t scared of the idea that 20 years down the line they may not feel the same about their tattoo, and that’s absolutely fine. 

6. People with tattoos must love attention:
No, why would we? Just because we choose to have tattoos, this doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we crave attention and want people to ask us questions and touch our tattoos. Oftentimes it’s quite the opposite. Most people with tattoos get tattoos for themselves, not for the benefit of other people, and believe it or not, we don’t like people prodding them, asking if they’re real (of course they’re real!), and asking a whole bunch of daft questions about them. 


As tattooed people we can generally accept that as tattoos aren't completely mainstream, and the idea of tattoos can still seem a bit alien to people, and that’s ok. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but as long as they’re respectful about people who do have tattoos then that’s cool. Genuine questions of interest are fine as well, most of the time people are happy to oblige and talk about their tattoos as long as they're being spoken to with respect! Hopefully you haven’t had too many negative experiences with people projecting their misconceptions about tattoos on to you, but if you have an experience that you'd like to share with us, good or bad, then please feel free to leave us a comment below! 

Don’t forget, if you want to visit a tattoo supplies shop in the UK then why not pay us a visit at our store in Cheshire? Our friendly team are always glad to help and guide you through our huge collection of tattoo supplies!



Love Toni