Seems like every time I see a US police officer on video they have full arm sleeves.

Is getting tattooed a bragging right in US police circles?

  • carl_dungeon@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Everyone in the us these days is heavily tattooed. The stigma around it has faded and you even regularly see face tattoos now. Even pop stars are tatted up- something you never saw 20 years ago. There’s like a generation of guys walking around looking like post Malone now.

    • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Im Canadian and same, i had a Karen where I work get upset because I got a visible tattoo. She previously complained about my hair being too long for a man. That’s why we have laws that say that unless it’s an offensive tattoo, it’s not an issue, and unless it’s a health or safety concern, your hair is nobody’s business. So many of the “offensive or inappropriate” hairstyles turn out to be ethnic, so laws had to be put in place to protect people from these antiquated work policies

    • RedSeries (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 days ago

      As someone not tatted in the US: I’m happy the stigma is reduced or gone. I want people to get tats if they want them. But there’s plenty of people without!

    • Bgugi@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Even then, “tough guy” culture includes “tough guy” tattoos, and cop is one of the top “tough guy” jobs, so there’s a strong correlation there.

    • RBWells@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Yeah this is another of those things that are so surprising to me. I got tattoos almost 40 years ago, and back then it was so countercultural, if another woman with tattoos saw mine, she would talk to me, it was a small club. I never would have dreamed that 25 years later my boss would be getting a shitty tattoo at the mall.

    • dan1101@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Yep not that long ago employers wouldn’t hire people with tattoos or piercings or wild colors of hair, but I guess it became so popular they had to change their standards.

    • Beacon@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      Yeah it seems like at least half of people age 30 to 60 have tattoos in the the us

      • Psythik@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I just don’t get it, either. I can’t even handle getting my blood drawn; fuck getting stabbed thousands of times a second, just for something that’s going to fade and look like shit after 10 years but I’m stuck with for a lifetime. I can’t think of a single image or phrase I like so much that I’d want it permanently embedded in my skin, regardless.

    • gilokee@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I have a face tattoo! It’s just a cute little tiny star on my cheekbone, but still.

    • itztalal@lemmings.world
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      2 days ago

      The stigma hasn’t faded in the upper class.

      It’s just the lower classes that value that sort of thing at a high rate.

      • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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        1 day ago

        I’ve always had a theory that in the lower classes, tattoos also served as a form of displayed wealth. As in, “I can spend $750 to decorate my arm,” which can be a lot of money in some circles.