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cattoolady

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  1. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from sighthound in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  2. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from soraya in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  3. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from soraya in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  4. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from soraya in Tattoos and the workplace   
    Such an interesting thread. Doesn't seem like generalizations can be made about type of employment, size of employer, or anything else, with regards to how an individual's tattoos are treated in the workplace.
    I'm a lawyer at a small plaintiff's law firm. For the first several years I practiced, I made certain my tattoos were covered. Over time, as I've "earned" my reputation for being damn good at what I do, I've loosened up about my tattoos showing. I also have more visible or potentially visible tattoos than when I started.
    My boss, who is male, and who leans to the extreme conservative, is not a fan of tattoos at all. If asked, he will generally comment that he has no idea why an otherwise attractive woman would tattoo her arms all up, but concedes a small rose on the ankle is sexy. :rolleyes:
    To his credit, though, after I got my half sleeve done, he did acknowledge that it was pretty "neat." For female professionals especially, I think it largely comes down to having "earned it."
    I'm fortunate in that I work in a practice area and with a client base, where my tattoos can, in some instances, be an asset. In fact, my boss has had me join him in a meeting or two with a new potential client specifically to point out that I'm tattooed. A bit annoying and offensive, of course, but if it helps establish a rapport with a potential client - sure.
    That said, my tattoos, other than my small one on my wrist, are never visible in court. Usually they're not visible when meeting with a client or with opposing counsel. The reality is that female lawyers are absolutely judged on their appearance, and looking polished helps my clients in court, and it helps me in securing new clients.
    Other than a couple small ankle tattoos, and a boob tattoo, I'm the only one in the office with any large amount of tattoo work. I don't care if my colleagues' tattoos are visible when it's quiet in the office, but I don't want to see that boob tattoo when there's a client in the office. Same thing goes for hiring. We hired two new young female attorneys in the last two years, and during the interview process, a young woman, who was otherwise very qualified came in for a second interview. Her dress was far too low cut and showed too much cleavage, and I could see her large tattoo on her boob - and it annoyed me. I thought it actually showed somewhat poor judgment. Why would you show your cleavage and a boob tattoo during a second interview at a law firm??
  5. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from soraya in Tattoos and the workplace   
    It's possible, I suppose! We made it clear to our interviewees that we wanted them to make sure our practice area and firm culture would be a good fit for them. However, she did share that she had had 20 interviews, and ours was only the second call-back interview she had had. At the time we were interviewing, the job market for brand-new baby lawyers was dismal. We had over 100 applicants, and interviewed 20 people. The field of candidates was outstanding, so she was up against tough competition. I suppose there are some brand-new baby lawyers with zero experience out there that don't have in excess of $100K in student loans to pay off and that are independently wealthy, and that can afford to test the waters during an interview, but I would assume those people are very few and far between.
    While I know there are lawyers with tattoos, and even some that might be considered "heavily" tattooed, in my practice field, I've never seen another lawyer's visible tattoos, and am only aware of one other lawyer that does defense, that has two full sleeves. Us lawyers are a judgmental, uptight bunch when it comes to our own kind. ;)
  6. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from polliwog in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  7. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from polliwog in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  8. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from TrixieFaux in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  9. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from TrixieFaux in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  10. Like
    cattoolady reacted to tattedteacher in Tattoos and the workplace   
    I am a high school history teacher and I have never had any issues with my tattoos. The only visible one I have is star wars related and I find it breaks the ice more often than not.
  11. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from AverageJer in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  12. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from Princesa in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
  13. Like
    cattoolady reacted to ghostknife in Feminism & Tattoos   
    I am totally necro-ing this but I have noticed that since I started getting more into tattooing I am sometimes the one staring when someone walks by with a great piece...then if I get caught staring I want to clarify and say, "wait, it's just because it's awesome!" and actually talk about it. By then usually the interaction is over and I just feel awkward. I always hope that my looking is not interpreted as being a menacing/disapproving stare. The weirdest thing is when you think you see an artist's work that you know. I have yet to approach someone and say "hey, is that so-and-so's work?" because I feel like that would even more so freak people out, especially if I am right.
    I have excellent resting bitch face and live in a pretty accepting city so thank goodness no one has touched me yet, knock on wood. I think if they did I would almost certainly snap at them. I have definitely endured staring (though as I believe someone else said most of the time I don't notice and other people point it out to me), strange reactions, and creepy comments along the lines of "but you seem like such a good girl" *shudders*. Most of the time when people ask nicely and respectfully I will indulge them...maybe that's due to social expectations. It often leads to good conversations, so there's that.
    I think in general people feel entitled to women's time, space, and bodies...as a tattooed woman you are visibly deviating from social norms and are thus singled out for attention. Often times I think people just inquire about them in order to shame you for getting tattooed, particularly with questions about price.
  14. Like
    cattoolady reacted to alice in Feminism & Tattoos   
    When I was working service industry jobs, I would frequently be stopped by customers who wanted me to stand still (while holding hot food en route to a table!) so they could inspect my tattoos, people would grab me and try to touch my tattoos constantly. Almost always older men, but sometimes women! My husband is heavily tattooed and other than the occasional "sick ink, bro!" he has never been accosted the way that i have. The worst thing about something like that happening at work is that you are trapped and you have to be nice, even if people are being totally inappropriate. I used to complain that if i were a stripper, at least i'd have a bouncer who'd boot the jerks trying to grab me.
    working in service jobs in a more affluent neighborhood also brought to my attention the fact that a lot of square, office-type dudes definitely have a sense of exoticism about tattoos, like "ooh you look just like a suicide girl!" like i'm supposed to be this available babe who loves taking her clothes off because i have a lot of highly visible tattoos. nope, sorry bro. i'm a married mom, just like your wife. calm down.
  15. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from The Tig in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  16. Like
    cattoolady reacted to Bunny Switchblade in How do you react to stares??????   
    I don't even notice the stares anymore!
    I always tell people that you made a conscious decision to be "different" than the rest of
    society so you have no reason to complain!
    It's how I have felt since my first tattoo....so I don't complain or generally be ignorant back!
    Someone touches me....whole new game plan!
    Men I tell them to get the fuck off of me very loudly........women I just grab there boob! ;)
  17. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from marley mission in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  18. Like
    cattoolady reacted to lape in Hello from Norway/Canada   
    Hey.
    Figured I might just make an account here after a bit of lurking.
    I got my first tattoo 13 months ago and got 8 professional tattoos since that time, with more planned. After getting into tattoos, I've really enjoyed reading and learning about the history of tattooing, especially after I found out that my great grandfather got tattooed when he was a ship captain between 1910-1925. So I ended up here after watching a bunch of the LST interviews...
    I'm born and raised in Norway, but I currently live in Vancouver BC where I work for a major sportswear company.
  19. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from byzantine in Hello!   
    Thanks for the kind welcome!
    This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it.
    I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL.
    This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha!
    And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.
  20. Like
    cattoolady reacted to LadySparrow in Hello!   
    Welcome! The cats are amazing!
    I have one tattoo on my inner forearm and it's that kind of watercolour tattoo which is "cute" and "is it real or is it just drawing?". I'm going to get tattoo on my arm (shoulder to elbow) in the near future and somehow I perceive it much more as a commitment than that forearm tattoo.
  21. Like
    cattoolady reacted to byzantine in Hello!   
    It's a strange one. I think I'm in that kind of place at the moment. I previously had two tattoos on my arms which were kind of hidden so some people barely even noticed them but in the last couple of years have got quite a few bigger and blacker pieces in visible spots- calf, forearm, elbow. I got mixed reactions for my plainskin friends but it doesn't really bother me. I really enjoy everything about getting tattooed and part of it that appeals to me is that I do it for myself and nobody else.
    As I get more coverage I definitely feel the need to cover up a bit more at formal events- weddings etc. But to be honest I've always hated that kind of thing so try to avoid them at all costs anyway!
    Regarding the workplace- I think the forearm is the biggest one for that really. I work in an office too and usually wear long sleeves anyway but it's a creative company so I can get away with showing them if I want to - usually don't though as I can't be bothered with people asking me about them! think they are becoming more and more acceptable some workplaces but corporate stuff is another world. Usually get more trouble over my Madonna piercing than the tattoos.
    Ps. I love Minneapolis. It's rad. Especially Modern Times Cafe
  22. Like
    cattoolady reacted to The Tig in Hello!   
    I think that phrase says so much to so many here. When we combine a growing love of our tattoos with a dose of "fuck it, I don't care what people think", well, you know the rest of the story.
  23. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from The Tig in Tattoos and the workplace   
    Such an interesting thread. Doesn't seem like generalizations can be made about type of employment, size of employer, or anything else, with regards to how an individual's tattoos are treated in the workplace.
    I'm a lawyer at a small plaintiff's law firm. For the first several years I practiced, I made certain my tattoos were covered. Over time, as I've "earned" my reputation for being damn good at what I do, I've loosened up about my tattoos showing. I also have more visible or potentially visible tattoos than when I started.
    My boss, who is male, and who leans to the extreme conservative, is not a fan of tattoos at all. If asked, he will generally comment that he has no idea why an otherwise attractive woman would tattoo her arms all up, but concedes a small rose on the ankle is sexy. :rolleyes:
    To his credit, though, after I got my half sleeve done, he did acknowledge that it was pretty "neat." For female professionals especially, I think it largely comes down to having "earned it."
    I'm fortunate in that I work in a practice area and with a client base, where my tattoos can, in some instances, be an asset. In fact, my boss has had me join him in a meeting or two with a new potential client specifically to point out that I'm tattooed. A bit annoying and offensive, of course, but if it helps establish a rapport with a potential client - sure.
    That said, my tattoos, other than my small one on my wrist, are never visible in court. Usually they're not visible when meeting with a client or with opposing counsel. The reality is that female lawyers are absolutely judged on their appearance, and looking polished helps my clients in court, and it helps me in securing new clients.
    Other than a couple small ankle tattoos, and a boob tattoo, I'm the only one in the office with any large amount of tattoo work. I don't care if my colleagues' tattoos are visible when it's quiet in the office, but I don't want to see that boob tattoo when there's a client in the office. Same thing goes for hiring. We hired two new young female attorneys in the last two years, and during the interview process, a young woman, who was otherwise very qualified came in for a second interview. Her dress was far too low cut and showed too much cleavage, and I could see her large tattoo on her boob - and it annoyed me. I thought it actually showed somewhat poor judgment. Why would you show your cleavage and a boob tattoo during a second interview at a law firm??
  24. Like
    cattoolady got a reaction from marley mission in Hello!   
    Hello!
    Finally decided to register and make a first post after lurking here for at least a couple years now. :)
    I'm a lawyer by day and tattoo lover by night. Also, cats. :D
    I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday, and never looked back.
    Here are my two most recent tattoos:
    The cat matryoshka was done at last year's Minneapolis Tattoo Expo by Shawn Patton. The photo was taken immediately after completion.
    The next two are of my space cats. These are cartoons of my four fur-children. Of course, prior to finishing the piece, our family expanded to add another cat and a dog. Good thing there's space on my forearm. That was done by Dan Dittmer. One photo is after my second to last sitting, and the other is after the last sitting. Finished this about 6 months ago. No formal healed pics yet.
    I have some other random stuff, but probably nothing else worth posting pictures of.
    I'll be at the Minneapolis Tattoo Expo this coming weekend possibly looking for something to fill some blank space on my upper outer arm. :D
    Given my occupation in particular, getting any potentially visible tattoo is a fairly large commitment. I'm more or less restricted to always wearing long sleeves at the office, although on quiet days, I can get away with partially-sheer sleeves, or 3/4 length sleeves. I know for me, deciding to get a half-sleeve marked the point in time where I decided I was going to be a tattooed person rather than a person with tattoos. I'm curious if others - particularly other tattooed women - had this experience - that of knowing that they were committing to being a "tattooed person."
    Thanks all!
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