Science Of Small Talk

The science of social behavior, one interaction at a time

Untattoo You

Several people have forwarded to me the story of the criminal defendant in Florida whose attorney successfully petitioned the court to pay for a cosmetologist to help him cover up his swastika tattoos with makeup before trial each morning... Read More

Tattoo coverup: understanding the meanings behind the symbols and how theyre misused

Is the Question aimed at political beliefs? If so, then the argument would be made that the associations with thses symbols arent universal, and that in nature is also one reason for people choosing to display them. If they were eveidence one would have to understand what the defendent's intentions were. Wouldnt this add a second dimension? If the defendent is on trial for actions and not associations or tattoos then they were rightly covered up. I understand this by the courts advising particular attention even to an individual who represents himself. Then we need to ask if the individual has the right to make a political statment? though I dont know the words needed to express this in a legal sense; I do know that a person is required to proper attire when appearing before a judge. This may be for both of the party's benefit, and would suggest adaquate reason that cases are judged on an individual basis.

I have tattoos, too

Those tattoos are a choice made my that individual, largely to communicate something to himself and others. He has made a choice to display externally things most people elect to keep on the inside. I know many people are getting tattoos and then having them removed these days. But as a tattooed person myself, I think that tattoos are something that you and everybody around you have to live with-- that's why they should be carefully considered before they are applied.

i believe that this man has elected to say things through his tattoos that most people would have chosen to keep to themselves. He still has to live with that decision, now that he will be in court.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You may quote other posts using [quote] tags.

More information about formatting options

Subscribe to Science Of Small Talk

Sam Sommers, Ph.D., is a social psychologist at Tufts University and author of the forthcoming book Situations Matter

more...