is this section necessary?

Jen: is this section necessary?
I’ve been tattooing for eight years. I served a formal apprenticeship under a very reputable artist who has been published in many books, magazine, and has been on the discovery channel several times. Having said that, I wish to ask this simple question.
Is this forum necessary? All this forum will do is create problems for an already saturated business. I’ve seen people asking “how can a non-tattooer get some tattin’ ink”. the answer to that is quite simple…YOU DON’T YOU IDIOT!
What makes people think that they can just go out and buy some equipment and start tattooing? You have no idea what Universal Precautions even mean. You have no idea what cross contamination means. You have no idea what proper sterilization is, not to mention how to achieve it! All of you who are reading this who are guilty of the above…please, do humanity a favor…CUT OFF YOUR THUMBS! If you can’t live with that…go find a person who knows what they are doing, serve an apprenticeship!!!!
1000 characters was not enough!

We’ve been trying and trying to protect this business since it began in the early 1900’s. This is not to say that we are some elitist group who are unwilling to share our mystical knowledge of what we do. What we are doing is protecting those who are the ones getting tattooed. What happens is that you teach some jackass how to tattoo, and two months into their apprenticeship they’ve quit on you and opened up a shop down the street from you. They, in turn, teach some more jackasses how to do the same thing and before you know it freakin’ WALMART will have tattoo kiosks with some of those jackasses who didn’t bother to learn the proper way to do things. Then they start to complain about how they now have to work for WALMART because there are too many shops! Worse yet, the health department has banned tattooing altogether because too much disease has been spread!
Just because tattooing has made it to mainstream television (thanks cary hart) doesn’t mean every redneck, non tooth having, jerk has to go out and buy up some tattin’ kits and start slingin’ sick tats out of their kitchen.
you wonder why tattooers are jerks. take a look at this forum!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Lovin it
uhmmm was that a question or was that just an immature rant?

Answer by Myryia
First of all, I completely understand where you’re coming from on your question/statement. I just want to point out that the majority of people on here just want another perspective on what kind of tattoo to get or where to get it. Also there are people who are just proud of their tattoos and want to share with others. Finally there’s the ever popular question on what the pain is like. I feel that it’s a good section so that qualified people like you can provide real answers and help separate fact from fiction. But of course, if you really don’t like it, no one is forcing you to read it.

Answer by burberribunni
Yes this forum is necessary, in case you didn’t read the other posts people ask a lot of legitimate questions about tattoos and the experience others have had.

I’m pretty sure your business isn’t the only one that uses universal precautions to prevent the spread of HIV.

Cross contamination is also very prevalent in a lot of other industries as well, it can happen in the kitchen at your own house!

And you definitely aren’t the only one that uses the autoclave for sterilization purposes.

Get a clue and go rant elsewhere. Goodnight and good luck.

Answer by K.T.
I totally agree with what you are saying….stupid people should ask their tattoo artists questions….I’m sure proud of whats her face for all of her examples…..by they way cross contamination is different in the kitchen than in tattooing…you can get salmonella from your own kitchen….hopefully not Aids!

Answer by kristina807
This forum does provide useful information if the information is from the correct people. There are quite a few individuals in this forum who are either tattoo/piercing professionals or they are enthusiasts and they do provide legitimate information. I do agree however, that there are some very disturbing questions posted in this section as well.

I only have one tattoo…yes…one whopping 3×2.5″ dinky tattoo…BUT I also have a needle phobia going in to all of this.

Before getting my tattoo, I learned ALL that I could about it, ranging from needle formation, rate that the tattoo machine pulses, depth that the needle should go into the body, autoclaves, what to look for and what to look out for, all procedures followed, aftercare, nursing and tattoos, pregnancy and tattoos, statistics….everything… I pulled any information that I could get my hands on….from the net, from my tattoo artist, from other tattoo artists, friends with tattoos, my doctor, my daughter’s pediatrician, la leche league….etc. I even asked a few questions on YA…

It is frustrating and scary that there are so many “scratchers” out there but not everyone on this board is one or not everyone is a teeny bopper looking to get their first ink fix (legally or illegally)…there do seem to be alot though, huh. I wish that there were heavier penalties on those that scratch or those that do not follow sterilization procedures that they should.

Wish you better luck in finding individuals that are more to your liking in this YA area…

Answer by elis_mommy
Blllahhhh bllllaaahhhh blaaaaahhhhhhhh……gimmie a break if they wanna screw up there bodies let them. If you wanna rant and rave then go write a blog where people who care might read it…..I got bored with waht you had to say after cut off your thumbs….

Answer by etrigone
I agree that this forum serves a purpose, although perhaps not as much as originally intended, and certainly not as much as it could.

You are correct in that there are people who come here looking for answers to questions that would/do lead to a degradation of your industry. However, there are also a fair number of people who are right there leading a crusade against those people – and this includes other artists, shop owners, and so on. This in addition to us enthusiasts who, in all the times that I’ve seen, yield to legitimate sources of information but otherwise act as field units. To argue that it hasn’t been fought with enough force would ignore the number of regulars who have received multiple warnings from yahoo on the harshness of responses.

I don’t honestly know if this is a fight that’s being won or not, but I don’t believe it’s a done deal that it’s lost. Your profile lists account creation as of May 5, so I could argue that such is only minimally sufficient – if that – to see the highs (and lows) of this space.

I do sympathize with your concern, as do the rest of the regulars I suspect, but I do believe you might be taking a slightly too negative view of the situation.

I’ll admit I’m curious what the other professional artists (& piercers) have to say about this.

Answer by Kristie G
Let people screw themselves, I enjoy cover-ups

Answer by somebody
honestly there are many more questions on here that deserve to be asked. and the people that want to tattoo themselves are going to do it whether they ask on this forum or not. i firmly believe that some of us on here have given a lot of valuable information to people who had genuine questions and have steered people clear of some shady tattoos and such. if you don’t like this forum then you don’t have to participate in it OR you could swallow a little of your anger and actually try to make a difference on here by educating.
not everybody will listen to rational reason but nobody is going to listen to the rantings and ravings of someone who attacks them in their questions.

Answer by PANTERA_XZX
Tattoo`s are linked to homosexuality, lesbianity & gross perversion.Tattoos have strong associations w/ high risk behaviours in adolescents. This is indisputable.

Answer by jkc
We do our best to steer people in the right direction and I do my best to ignore and not respond to certain questions so as not to encourage people.
However, responses like the one above mine (below somebody) are why I get on here. People with those kinds of views are the most dangerous of all, giving such false information with scare tactics.

Answer by heathenchef1
Is this forum necessary? I would have to say yes. I certainly empathize with your frustration but I think you overlook a great many excellent responses by people who the love the industry as you do. Are there scratchers on here asking for info…yes there are. There are also, however, a lot of people on here who jump on them and call them out for what they are….. often resulting in their hands being smacked by Yahoo.

“Vision without action is a daydream
Action without vision is a nightmare” Japanese Proverb

Knowledge carries with it a responsibility to share, however humble or compact the truth may be. To complain and do nothing to combat the problem is the very essence of impotence. If this forum reduces the demand for home grown scratcher tattoos by one person then it justifies its existence. Don’t let frustration and bitterness blind you to the possibilities.

Answer by sylvery_fae
I almost agree with you – you touched on some important issues from the artists side..but, there are some kids or non-inked people who do want information. You just have to wade through the idiots to find them. Have patience babe, we all need a spring board at some point in our lives…

Answer by name
in my opinion, the people who ask those questions about making their own tattoos and what not….are the ones that are stupid, but not the forum itself. i know what u mean, about doing an apprenticeship…but just like every forum on yahoo there are going to be ppl who know what they are doing and are going to ask good questions and give great advice, and then there’s ppl who come on here and post nonsense, like, “tattoos are stupid and a waste of money” or “i want to make my own tattoos.” those ppl we have to ignore. i can tell u know what ur talking about, so save all that for someone who can really use it
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