Breaking the Stereotypes - The Story of Mary and M.J.
As I approached them, covered in my own share of tattoos and piercings, they were immediately on the defensive. I told them who I was and asked if they minded if I sat and chatted with them a bit. They were hesitant, but agreed.
I asked them what they thought of all the crazy tattooed people walking around, and M.J. (73) admitted that they had been whispering about it just before I approached them. They confessed their feelings of confusion and even dislike for what they were seeing. Instead of being offended, I let them know that I completely understood what they were saying and I shared some of the reasons why we do what we do.
In the course of 15 minutes or so, Mary (63) who had been relatively quiet during this conversation but had been listening raptly, began to join in the discussion which had turned from accusatory to understanding. Both of them began asking questions about the tattoo process and how we know it's safe when we get them. At the end of our conversation, both of them agreed that there is too much hatred in this world to judge people simply because they are different and that my taking the time to talk to them had changed their perceptions of tattooed people.
If we could all take a few minutes out of our day to change just one person's stereotypical views of us, just imagine what we could accomplish in a year or more.
Read More:
Comments
Bravo to you, Karen, bravo!
You rock Karen!
I’m a 35 year old single mother, very strong spiritual woman; I work for the Department of Human Services… I don’t “look” like I have tatoos but I suprise many people. I use to judge tattoos and piercings on other people. But today, I Bless each individual for expressing his/her individuality in some very cool and interesting ways. I use my tattoos to tell a story about my life. I wear my art on my body and I am proud of it.
Educating people leads to more tolerance and love in the world! Again, You Rock!
I am a mother of 4 and the wife of an Army Major. I am tyring to break sterotypes. I have a few tattoos but I am now a body piercer. I myself don’t have anything but my lobes, cartilidge and nose pierced so I don’t “look” like someone who would be a body piercer. I surprise alot of people when I tell them what I do. I think alot of people that would not normally consider getting pierced or tattooed change their mind when I talk with them. I am also a Christian and a Sunday school teacher. I have a tattoo on each wrist that show my faith. If someone asks about my tattoos it give me an opportunity to share my testimony with them. I don’t ever preach to them but I just share my life with them and why I chose to put the tattoos I have there in that spot. If I can touch one person in what I am doing then that to me means more than anything. And it just goes to show that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Here’s to decorated covers!!!