Folks Are Livid After Tattoo Artist Gives 9-Year Old Girl an American Flag Tattoo (Even Though Parents Asked For Donald Trump's Face on Her Neck)
iHeart - An Arizona tattoo artist is defending himself against criticism for giving a young girl a tattoo. According to KPHO, the young girl and her family went to the Black Onyx Empire Tattoo parlor in Yuma so their nine-year-old daughter could get a tattoo.
She wanted a tattoo of Donald Trump on her neck, but Sosa, a part owner of the tattoo shop, convinced her to get an American flag on her arm instead.
Sosa shared a video of the inking process on social media and received backlash for giving her a tattoo. In Arizona, it is legal for underage children to get tattoos as long as their parents approve and are present during the session.
The video in question, which I promise is nothing special, is posted on the tattoo artist's Instagram page. I just felt a little weird about directly embedding a video of a 9-year old girl getting tattooed onto the blog. As opposed to writing about it, which is a noble & mature thing to do.
It's quite the marketing tactic by Black Onyx Empire Tattoo. Posting a video of yourself tattooing a minor, a video you know full well everybody is going to hate, is not something they teach in business school. At least not a traditional one. The co-owner of this tattoo shop goes by the name, "Sosa". He's the man who tattooed the 9-year old. Sosa clearly subscribes to the theory of, "all publicity is good publicity".
His video and subsequent caption hit on two major hot button issues:
1. Making permanent physical changes to the body of a minor
2. Donald Trump
I think on some level, Sosa thought he would be heralded as a hero for talking this young girl out of a large neck tattoo of Donald Trump's face. That the world would praise him for his restraint, and for the sage wisdom he imparted on this child when he told her, "9 years old is far too young for a neck tattoo. I can't in good conscious do that. Come back when you have the maturity and wisdom of a 10-year old."
I'm not exactly sure how Sosa's viral marketing stunt has affected sales at his tattoo shop. But I can tell you it hasn't done his Yelp profile/standing with the Arizona Department of Child Safety any favors.
I also can't help but find it a little strange that their Yelp header photo features an even younger child.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite Yelp review from McQueen S., who's complaint with Sosa is that he had the audacity to talk this 9-year old out of the neck tattoo she originally wanted
The political aspect puts a fun twist on this whole situation. Without knowing what the tattoo is, it's all pretty cut and dry. Almost everybody (except for Sosa and this girl's parents) would agree that it's insane for a 9-year old to get a tattoo. You shouldn't be making any life decisions at 9-years old. You're not even half your final adult size yet. That tattoo is going to stretch out as you grow and end up looking terrible. That's probably why she had to come back after 1 year to get it touched up. It's a stupid decision no matter which way you slice it.
But if it's an American flag… or better yet, Donald Trump's face… then it changes things. "Oh I'm sorry sir, do you fucking hate freedom? Are you not proud to be an American? Do you think ISIS is good?"
Maybe that's why Sosa followed though with the tattoo. He was bullied by patriotism. This little girl might have wanted an American flag tattoo all along. The family probably went in there knowing if they asked for the president's face permanently sketched on their 4th grader's neck, the artist would be so relieved when they eventually dialed back their request to a flag on the arm that'd he give her the tattoo no questions asked.
To add another layer to this story, the family of the now 10-year old tattoo having child is from Turkey.
"I'm getting a lot of hate from it. My employees are getting hate from it. My business, I'm getting so many bad reviews on Google," Sosa noted.
However, he pushed back against the critics, telling the news outlet that the family is from Turkey and tattoos are part of a family tradition.
"Being an artist and businessman, you also have to know the cultures they come from," Sosa explained.
"They were just very grateful to be here in the United States. They were just being grateful. They said they saw Donald Trump as a hero," he added.
Could this all have been a ploy to fend off deportation? Probably not. I'm not gonna make any wild accusations about this family's legal standing in our country. But hypothetically speaking… if you are facing deportation, tattooing Trump's face on your daughter's neck isn't the worst idea I've ever heard. If you're out of options, it's a solid last ditch Hail Mary attempt. I certainly wouldn't deport someone who had a tattoo of me on their neck.
I'd like it on the record that I'm anti-tattooing children. For any purpose. Just wait until you're 18 before you start decorating your skin. But if you do happen to be looking to get your kid some sick ink. Maybe a classy tribal arm sleeve to assure they're the coolest kid in 6th grade. There's at least one poorly reviewed tattoo parlor in Yuma, Arizona that's willing to play ball.