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Page: Negative Associations
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Secular attitudes
Some employers, especially in professional fields, still look down on tattoos or regard them as contributing to an unprofessional appearance. Tattoos can therefore impair a wearer's career prospects, particularly when inked on places not typically covered by clothing, such as the hands, neck or face. It is not unusual for tattoo artists to refuse to tattoo these very conspicuous areas.
In some cultures, tattoos still have negative associations despite their increasing popularity, and are generally associated with criminality in the public's mind; therefore those who choose to be tattooed in such countries usually keep their tattoos covered for fear of reprisal. For example, many businesses such as gyms, hot springs and recreational facilities in Japan still ban people with visible tattoos, in part because of their association in the popular imagination with the yakuza, or Japanese mafia. In Western cultures as well, some dress codes specify that tattoos must be covered.
According to popular belief, most triad members in Hong Kong have a tattoo of a black dragon on the left biceps and one of a white tiger on the right; in fact, many people in Hong Kong use "left a black dragon, right a white tiger" as a euphemism for a triad member. It is widely believed that one of the initiation rites in becoming a triad member is silently withstanding the pain of receiving a large tattoo in one sitting, usually performed in the traditional "hand-poked" style. One reason the Chinese associate tattoos with criminals is because historically criminals who were released from prison for minor crimes were given distinctive tattoos on some easily notice part of their body as a "warning sign" to other people.
In the United States many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. This cultural use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, so older people may still associate tattoos with criminality. At the same time, members of the U.S. military have an equally established and longstanding history of tattooing to indicate military units, battles, etc., and this association is also widespread among older Americans. Tattooing is also widespread in the British Armed Forces.
Tattoos can have additional negative associations for women; "tramp stamp" and other similarly derogatory slang phrases are sometimes used to describe a tattoo on a woman's lower back. The prevalence of women in the tattoo industry itself, along with larger numbers of women wearing tattoos, has somewhat changed these perceptions.
Slang within the industry is not limited to women's tattoos.Tattoo artists traditionally refer to a small bikini line tattoo as a "tramp stamp", and the larger lower back pieces as "ass antlers". Tiny, interlocking tribal armbands are often referred to as "tribble", and unskilled artists are referred to as "scratchers", "scab merchants", or "scar vendors", originally according to Sailor Jerry. Slang and jargon within the tattoo industry evolves as quickly as customer's tastes change.
Abrahamic religious prohibitions
Some followers of Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—feel that their religious doctrine proscribes or constrains tattoos among followers, or has other religious significances.
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