Footballer's rifle tattoo

[Accy cyclist]

I was going to post this in the football thread,but i think it need wider discussion as it's more than just a football topic. Maybe it's too heavy for the supposedly light hearted cafe section and it'll get moved to the news and current affairs section.
Anyway, it puzzles me why anyone would want a tattoo of a rifle on their body in a supposed tribute to their dad who was killed by a gun.
So another of our overpaid too much time on their hands footballers does something daft,out of boredom or attention seeking maybe? This time Raheem Sterling has gone and got a tattoo of an assault rifle on lower his leg.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...erling-aiming-World-Cup-gun-rifle-tattoo.html
He says it's a tribute to his dad who was shot dead when he was just two. Now why would you have a rifle tattooed on your leg as a tribute if it was rifle that had killed him? If someone's dad had been run over by a bus and died,would they have a bus tattooed on their body? If someone's relative had taken a fatal overdose of paracetamol would one of their children go and get a bottle of paracetamol tablets tattooed on their body? These idiotic unsightly tattoos are getting out of hand!

 

[Drago]

If his Dad had been stabbed would he have a tattoo of a dagger dripping blood? The guy is simple a nodder who fancies himself as a bit gangsta.

 

[User10119]

Other people's tattoos are other people's business. It doesn't affect me or, as far as I can see, anyone else so why would I care?

Unnecessary excessive use of bold text, however, doth offend mine eyes.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I'm sure in his mind he sees it as some sort of tribute to his dad, but surely there are better ways of showing it. It's a shame, he seems a nice enough lad from what you can tell reading about him, he just needs a bit of guidance from (no pun intended) a father figure.

 

[Accy cyclist]

[QUOTE 5260036, member: 10119"]Other people's tattoos are other people's business.[/QUOTE]

But they are when that person is in the public eye. People are paying to watch him and some who pay to watch him will be offended by this tattoo. I'm not too sure but i think he's been picked for England's world cup squad for the finals in Russia. This tattoo is going to be seen by millions of worldwide tv viewers during close ups of "the action".

 

[vickster]

He just needs to pull his socks up (literally)

 

[User10119]

An alternative presentation or two of the "story"...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44285455

Lucy Cope, who founded group Mothers Against Guns after her son was shot dead in 2012, said Sterling should not play for England unless he gets rid of the tattoo.
Speaking to the Sun newspaper, she said: "This tattoo is disgusting. Raheem should hang his head in shame. It's totally unacceptable.
"We demand he has the tattoo lasered off or covered up with a different tattoo.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/05/28/raheem-sterling-reveals-meaning-behind-gun-tattoo/

a career in which seemingly innocuous behaviour, such as taking a budget airline flight, has attracted opprobrium from some quarters

 

[Mugshot]

Maybe it's too heavy for the supposedly light hearted cafe section and it'll get moved to the Personal Matters section.

How about News and Current Affairs? Whilst it's quite clear you're not a fan of tattoos I'm not sure that they affect you so much that you'd need a thread about them in Personal Matters.

 

[Milkfloat]

I am more concerned that he thinks he only has one shooting leg, rather than two. That just shows a severe lack of ambition.

 

[Accy cyclist]

How about News and Current Affairs? Whilst it's quite clear you're not a fan of tattoos I'm not sure that they affect you so much that you'd need a thread about them in Personal Matters.

Yeah,my mistake,i've now changed it to news and current affairs.

 

[User10119]

[QUOTE 5260050, member: 9609"]I'm sure if someone had a tattoo demeaning women you would be the first to complain (and quite rightly so)

But back to the tattoo - a gun on a footballers shooting leg, I like it, and I hope he puts it to good use out in russia.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your massive assumptions about me. It's always nice when people respond to who made a comment, rather than what the comment is, isn't it? For what it's worth I reckon there must be hundreds of thoudands of 'demeaning to women' tattoos out there in the world. I suggest having a look at Channel 4's tattoo fixers for a few lovely examples. I wouldn't choose to have one*, I might be a little cautious about engaging with a person who had one* so I would probably be less open to friendship with someone who had one* (although, as tattoo fixers does show, sometimes people get really stupid tattoos and then regret them so, y'know, don't judge a book by its cover) - but I wouldn't demand that they get them lasered off or covered up.

I think if a person in the public eye had actual visible hate speech emblazoned on their body then, hopefully, it might affect their marketability and employment prospects.

Anyway, back to the tattoo in question.... I'll repeat the bit you quoted again, shall I?

It doesn't affect me or, as far as I can see, anyone else so why would I care?

*Edit to add, to avoid possible confusion, that the 'one' I'm talking about here is a tattoo that I found demeaning towards women - or to anyone really - rather than a tattoo in general.

 

[Seevio]

... a tattoo of a rifle on their body in a supposed tribute to their dad who was killed by a gun...

Many millions of christians use a cross as a tribute to Christ.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Many millions of christians use a cross as a tribute to Christ.

Good point,but they'd say that's because they wear one to show Jesus's suffering and how he died for our/their sakes etc etc.
I don't think Raheem Sterling's dad died for anyone's sake.

 

[User10119]

I don't claim, or need, to know how he thinks a tattoo of a gun honours or celebrates his dad. For him, it apparently does. It's his leg, his tattoo, his dad.

You might think it is tasteless, or not aesthetically pleasing, or icky or squicky or thuggish or chavtastic or whatever your objection may be - what I'm not seeing is what is wrong about it?

 

[raleighnut]

Many millions of christians use a cross as a tribute to Christ.

Warning - NSFW

Bill Hicks nailed it.

View: https://youtu.be/pJSZcxXe7IQ


As for Tattoos I think they're really ugly.