‘I was disgusted and horrified’: Female tattoo artist shares red flags women should watch for in their male tattoo artist
A tattoo artist's PSA for women who get tattooed by men has gone viral online.
In a TikTok video that has racked up over 59,000 views, user McKynzie (@ever.inktattooo) shared the red flags women should watch out for when getting work done by male tattoo artists.
"I spend all day tattooing women and girls and the amount of horror stories I hear from them about being tattooed by men, in your traditional tattoo shops, is insane," she began in the clip.
McKynzie prefaced the tattooing horror stories by explaining not all “traditional” tattoo parlors are problematic.
“I have been tattooed at traditional tattoo shops, and I’m not saying that all of them are bad or all of them are scary,” she said. “Or every male tattoo artist is gonna take advantage of you.”
Still, she believes women should be on the lookout for several red flags whenever they decide to get inked by men.
“No. 1 is if they insist to take you to a private room,” she said.
McKynzie explained there is a particular tattoo shop where an artist insists on taking young women to a private room. Allegedly, several women complained that artist behaved inappropriately with them in the past. She stressed getting work done in a private room isn’t necessarily bad, but the artist should always respect boundaries like keeping the door open.
Another red flag the TikToker said customers should watch out for is if the artist makes fun of your design.
”This happened several times to me in a traditional tattoo studio,” she continued.
McKynzie explained that women who go to traditional studios encounter negativity if they desire designs they found on Pinterest.
”They may poke fun at it, laugh about it, scoff at it or be rude about doing a Pinterest or basic or girly design,” she explained.
She believes that tattoo artists who don’t love a design won’t do their best. Ultimately, a customer may walk away with work that they don’t love.
Lastly, she warned about male artists who tell inappropriate jokes.
”If they are doing that, that I’d a huge red flag and probably not someone you want in your personal space,” she said.
@ever.inktattoo stay safe ladies!!???????? #redflags #tattooredflags #finelinetattoo #finelinetattooartist #tattoosforwomen #trampstamps #tattoosafty #tattoohorrorstory #womensafety #girlytok #girlytattoos #fy #viral #femaletattooartist #womentattooers #smalltattoo #tinytattoo #tattooideasforgirls #greenscreen ♬ original sound - McKynzie
In the comments section, other ladies shared their own negative experiences with male tattoo artists.
“The man who secretly recorded when I had a shoulder done,” user @owlandtwine commented.
“I’ve walked into a tattoo shop shop for an estimate once. He was asleep on the couch??? And said ‘yea I’ve never drawn that. It may look good. It might not. We can see’ ... like SIR NO,” another said.
Others shared more positive takes and experiences.
“My male tattooer was nicer about my pinterest tattoo than I was,” user @et_phn_bmw said. “I immediately started roasting it before he could and he was so kind and recognized that it meant a lot to me and my mom.”
“I never realized how lucky I got w my tattoo artist,” another person named Mallory wrote. “He’s been married for like 20+ years and is obsessed w his wife lol.”
The Daily Dot has previously reported on McKynzie’s popular tattoo-related content. She previously shared that she no longer accepts male clients after several scary incidents. That video racked up over 1 million views and earned praise from women who saw it.
The Daily Dot reached out to McKynzie via TikTok comment for more information.
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