i'm sure this question has been asked a thousand times , but i was just wondering if judges look past tattoos or if you lose points because of them? i would hope it might only matter if it was somehow hiding some crucial lines that made your symetry hard to see, but i also know that people sre sometimes very intolerant of things they don't approve of. just a thought. opinions ? facts ? anyone ?

I'm not a judge, but I was sitting upfront and saw tattoos cover up details. My choices have been close enough because I sat with those test judging. On a couple, I think it made a matter of making top five and it didn't seem like it was biased or taboo.

i have many and i believe it depends on what is is . my left shoulder is covered. long before i started bodybuilding. gotta say i wish it wasnt for the show but they are meaning ful to me and make me who i am. left shoulder def looks less defined than right. i have dreads talk about being looked at in a different way. i havent competed with them yet so well see.

Don't know if it's changed, but at one time the official rules instructed judges to give lower scores to competitors who displayed skin blemishes -- including tattoos.

These days, of course, almost every contest features MORE competitors with tattoos than those without.

To me, a subtle tattoo in a non-conspicuous location -- say, the ankle -- should be no cause for concern. But, as Joe Daniels makes clear in his post above, tattoos CAN obscure definition. Excessive tattoos definitely impair the lines of the body. In these cases, how can judges NOT score the competitor lower?

quote:

To me, a subtle tattoo in a non-conspicuous location -- say, the ankle -- should be no cause for concern. But, as Joe Daniels makes clear in his post above, tattoos CAN obscure definition. Excessive tattoos definitely impair the lines of the body. In these cases, how can judges NOT score the competitor lower?

....and if you make the choice to make a statement with something that is basically permanent, you kinda have to accept the (potentially long term) baggage that comes with it.

exactly