tattoos can get you into trouble

[DrLeftover]

23 April 2014

The authorities in Sri Lanka are tough on perceived insults to Buddhism, the religion of the island's majority Sinhalese, and particularly sensitive about images of Buddha. In March, another tourist was denied entry because officials said he had spoken "disrespectfully" about a similar tattoo. He insisted he followed Buddhist teachings and thought a tattoo was an apt tribute.

Thailand has threatened to crackdown on tourists having religious images tattooed on their bodies while on holiday, saying the trend is culturally inappropriate and erodes respect for religion. Tattoos have also caused problems in Malaysia. In 2012, the country cancelled a concert by US singer Erykah Badu after a publicity photo showed her with the "Allah" in Arabic tattooed on her upper body, saying it was "an insult to Islam".

However, Japan is the country that stands out, according to Dr Matt Lodder, art historian and tattoo expert at the University of Essex. "There's a relatively recent - 20th Century - association of tattoos with criminal gangs, and they are often banned in places like public bath houses. I know a woman in her 30s who was also turned away from a hotel," he says. The anti-inkwork sentiment is stronger is some parts of Japan than others. In 2012, the Mayor of Osaka surveyed all of his 30,000 employees for tattoos, saying that those that wanted to keep them should find jobs elsewhere. "Other places like Tokyo have a vibrant tattoo culture," Lodder adds.

more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27115348

 

[Raven]

Good job I don't plan on venturing there. My tattoos are either religious or symbolic.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Good thing I don't have any.

 

[.Xstinct]

Mine actually has a symbolic meaning......luck.

 

[Jazzy]

This one can really cause a problem:

A Kansas man charged with first-degree murder wants to remove his neck tattoo, which is the mirror of the word "murder."

Jeffrey Chapman asked for a professional tattoo artist to remove or cover up the tattoo. But prosecutors were against transporting Chapman to a tattoo facility.

"The parties reached an agreement that the defendant would wear a turtleneck," Lisa Taylor, spokeswoman for the Kansas Supreme Court's Office of Judicial Administration, told NBC News on Wednesday.

Chapman is charged with the murder of a man whose body was found in November 2011. Chapman's trial begins Monday, reports the Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune.

Source

 

[Crusader]

It seems businesses don't like them either. http://him.uk.msn.com/grooming/hmv-bans-staff-tattoos-and-long-hair

 

[Raven]

I think HMV should be more concerned with the fact they're sales are dropping due to the internet and downloads rather than tattoos and long hair.

And if that is the case then 90% of the staff in Norwich might well say bye bye to they're jobs!

 

[Crusader]

I think HMV should be more concerned with the fact they're sales are dropping due to the internet and downloads rather than tattoos and long hair.

And if that is the case then 90% of the staff in Norwich might well say bye bye to they're jobs!

That is from 2012. I think their changed their minds after a mass outcry over it.

 

[Raven]

Ahh I see