Don’t fall for the hype; individuals with tattoos are not criminal or inherently incapable of being able to raise a child to the best of their ability due to the particularly powerful stereotypes surrounding parents with tattoos. Tattooed parents are those who have dared and acted upon going against the grain and the conventional external appearance that close-minded individuals have tied toward the almighty parenting role.

Consulting with a tattoo artist pertaining to bringing to life a mental and creative fixation that you’ve had in mind has become a fairly common way for human beings to express their individuality. It is often expressed that tattooed individuals, and tattooed parents in particular, still often feel stigmatized through wandering, judgmental eyes for their choice of body art. Even though the popularity of tattoos have drastically increased, it has been studied and published that the more tattoos that an individual sports, the more they feel stigmatized. Tattoos are no longer exclusively adorned by individuals rockin’ the long-haired, “bad boy” look that leaves modern-day society internally shook. Tattoos are being adored and worn by the young, old, brave and collectively controlled. And whether a mother or father is rocking full sleeves with ease or freeze at the unease of wandering eyes, at the end of the day, they are parents with the same blood flowing through their veins as those who have fallen for modern-day society’s crooked conformity.

Around the world, tattoos serve as important symbols of an individual's achievements, aspirations, belief systems, deeply intimate perceptions, etc. How does it make it any different if an individual choose not to be a parent and was a living, breathing canvas? Are those individuals who are parents deemed to press the “I quit” button on their creative lives once they have birthed a human being?

For crying out loud, we live in the 21st century where you can carry a gun with a permit in many states across America. The mindsets frozen in time which are unable to adapt to the ever-changing times are truly the individuals that are deserving of more attention in regards to their stagnant mindsets. Letting go of the stigma surrounding tattoos as symbols of rebellion, gangs, etc is crucial to both the development of oneself and the early development of a parent’s child’s mind. Your critical thinking and discernment skills are an alarming concern when you allow an external appearance to create a judgement surrounding the core of an individual.

Yes, you will stumble upon the time in which your little one blossoms from their cocoon and acknowledges that mommy and daddy have tattoos, but if anything, may that create a hallway within your child’s mind to travel down and learn to explore and express themselves within the creative form of their choice as well. Yes, you may stumble upon death stares from soccer moms if you even dare to join the PTA in certain counties across the nation, but guess what, mama? You lucked out either way.

Yes, you can compassionately comfort your children whether your bicep is covered in koi fish or not. Yes, your love for body modification is legit and unquestionable; by no means should you feel any necessity to justify your choices to tattoo your skin as a parent, period. Yes, you are a parent, but at the end of the day, you are also still a human being. Irrational arguments and judgments are irrelevant.

I never personally understood how an individual’s appearance affected the manner in which an individual is perceived by society as a parent. What ever happened to deciphering whether a parent is a “good” parent or not by examining their crash pad rules or consequential lack thereof? Doesn’t that set pivotal limits or roadblocks for your child that help him or her think in an orderly manner and mesh well with other children and adults? What does that have to do with the tattoos and/or artwork on your skin? Firmly demonstrating that there are consequences to a child’s actions aid in the child developing the vital skill of self-control as the child matures and encounters situations in which wise decisions due to influence counter the child’s desire to rebel, not the artwork on their parents humanely figure. Parent’s set the tone for their child’s behavior.

Yes, you will get older, your skin will sag and your tattoos may stretch especially without proper aftercare along the way; so f**king what. What matters is now, and that you choose to express yourself creatively in the manner that you deem worthy. Be the man or woman with a tattooed sleeve in the nursing home. Stand out. Times are changing, and those who are unable to acknowledge that will get left behind. At the end of the day, whether tattooed or not, parents are parents. And that’s that.