There was a time when tattoos were considered the marks of deviant members of society. But times have changed and rules have loosened. These days, society is far more accepting than it has been in the past. Tattoos can be for almost anyone, including toddlers, evidently.
One father sparked quite a bit of uproar on social media after he posted a video of himself tattooing his daughter’s hand with a simple smiley face. In fact, parents posting videos of their kids getting tattoos has become something of a trend on TikTok.
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The little girl was scared of the sound of the tattoo gun.
In the video, we see a father hold out his hand for his toddler to bring hers closer so he can ink her up. She places her hand in her father’s. With the sound of the buzzing tattoo gun, she’s understandably skeptical and immediately snatches her hand away.
But it is her father, and he assures her that she shouldn’t be scared. “It doesn’t hurt,” he says. “I just did it to Gemma.”
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In the overlay, the dad explains what's really going on.
Looking for additional confirmation, the girl asks, "Did it hurt you, Gem?" He tells her no, it didn’t.
After the first marks of the dots are in place, a text overlay pops up. “Just so everyone’s aware. I made it so there was no needle. it’s pretty obvious that a marker was put in the tattoo gun rather [than] a needle. she’s also laughing because the vibration.”
Still, some people were upset.
But despite this dad’s explanation, the comments section was filled with outrage.
“That’s illegal,” one commenter wrote simply. Nearly 12,000 people liked the comment.
Someone else must have been angry typing before realizing what was really going on. “deletes paragraph,” the person's comment reads.
This is not the first time this has happened.
As much conversation as this video caused, it isn’t the only one out there. Another tattoo artist gave his 7-year-old a fake tattoo, complete with the mock-up and all. It was a skull and featured red flames going up his arm.
In this video, you don’t see or hear any motors running and there are no cords connected to the tool the tattoo artist is holding. Still, people in the comment section thought it was real.
Someone commented: “That tattoo is going to be all morfed when he’s older. Skin stretched when you grow.”
One tattoo artist who stenciled an infant caught major flak for it.
In a story we wrote last year, another tattoo artist — a woman — went viral for "tattooing" an infant with artwork that matched her parents' tattoos. Even though the infant is seen laughing and smiling in the video, there were still people who thought this artist was actually inking a minor.
Others came to her defense saying that it was a temporary stencil. With all of these kids getting their first taste of tattoos in such a fun and pleasant way, one user offered this somber note: “Imagine her shock when she gets a real tattoo.”
