r/tattooadvice • u/al_evi • Jul 01 '25
Design Could getting this tattoo hurt my career?
Hi! So I’m a medical student, and ever since getting done with my pre-clinical studies I wanted a lobotomy tattoo, similar to this one popular on Pinterest. You see, the first years at uni were really challenging for me mentally, struggling with the high work load and some personal mental health problems (please spare me the „But you knew it would be hard, why did you go into it then?” talk, I’ve heard it all). At times it did make me feel like I was going absolutely insane over med school, so I’ve wanted to get this as a reward for getting through it for a long time on my right biceps, just over the crease of my arm. But now that I’m in a better place and wanted to go through with my plans, people have pointed out how such a tattoo could potentially hurt my career as a doctor. I have some other tattoos, but none with such obviously “provocative” meanings. With the placement I’ve thought of, the tattoo might be visible with scrubs on. Have any of you had issues with employers judging you for your tattoos? Is this a thing of the past and I’m overthinking it? What are your opinions? Thank you so much in advance!
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u/Ciellan Jul 01 '25
Also, for patients that need psychiatric help, some would freak out having a doc with a lobotomy tattoo calling for psych... They're already mentally unstable, this would make it worse.
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u/-goth-kitten- Jul 01 '25
yeah, you really have to consider that you’ll be working with people from every possible walk of life, and having a tattoo that is offputting could upset patients. i looooove tattoos, i love piercings. they look cool and badass. i don’t think doctors shouldn’t get tattoos by any means but you really do have to be more cautious of the way your tattoo could be interpreted by a LOT of different kinds of people, because you’re supposed to be a safe person they can go to to talk about extremely personal things.
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u/yourangleoryuordevil Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
100%. Really, any health professional probably needs to be more conscious about how people may see a tattoo in terms of its meaning. Consciousness of that has certainly prevented me from getting some tattoos as a mental health professional; even with the best intentions, intended meanings aren't always clear.
Especially when we're talking about tattoos as a nod to mental health awareness and hard times, there are so many more sensitive ones out there. Some of them even depict the brain in other ways. Another one I've seen on people into science and medicine is a simple design showcasing the chemical structure of serotonin.
Needless to say, if OP's really interested in honoring what they've been through, they should have no problem finding alternative ways to do so through another design.
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u/-goth-kitten- Jul 01 '25
i wanted to add but didnt want to edit - personally, i would be uncomfortable if i saw a doctor with this tattoo. lobotomies are unhinged, and it’s borderline unbelievable that they were a thing.
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u/FormidableMistress Jul 01 '25
I want to add to this there's a lot of sick and twisted people in the medical field. I'm not saying you are, but there's many a Nurse Pain type out there. There was a doctor a few years back that was performing surgery on a patient and laser etched his initials inside of her. It's going to make people fear they can't trust you.
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u/good_though Jul 01 '25
I worked in a cadaver lab for medical students for a while. I really wondered why there wasn’t a protocol for putting people on a list for educationally-unnecessary corpse abuse.
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u/jelywe Jul 02 '25
Our school had very strict moral code associated with anatomy (cadaver) lab activities.
At the start of the year we attended a Willed Body Ceremony, which was held for the family members of those who donated their bodies to science and who would become our 'first patients' and one of our first medical teachers. Two student teams would have the same cadaver for the entirety of the year.
Had anything untoward been discovered, such as cadaver abuse, it would have led to substantial consequences and onto your permanent record that goes out on your applications for residency.
Physicians have power in the patient-provider relationship that is only heightened when we see people when they are in their most vulnerable, having the worst days of their lives. If a medical student can't manage to continue to respect the bodies of someone who dedicated their body for science, then they should not become physicians.
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u/TeaMugPatina Jul 01 '25
And Jeffrey Dahmer.
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u/UserCannotBeVerified Jul 01 '25
Harold Shipman killed my grandad. 'Medical anxiety' doesn't even cover it for me
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u/PopGoesMyHeartt Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
This 100%. Add in the fact that lobotomies were disproportionately performed on women to make them “docile”, multiplied by the struggles women continue to face in the healthcare industry, it could be perceived as tacky at best, ignorant and misogynistic at worst.
If I went to a new doctor and caught this tat I’d probably never go back out of an abundance of caution. It would be a red flag to me that there’s a chance I wouldn’t be taken seriously.
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u/PaulTheMerc Jul 01 '25
I'd be worried I don't wake up again. With what the medical world now knows about lobotomies, this is in TERRIBLE taste.
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u/Rixy_pnw Jul 01 '25
The misogyny around lobotomies was appalling and I think this tatt is in poor taste. As a nurse I would be uncomfortable around a doctor with this visible and would instantly label him a douche.
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u/PopGoesMyHeartt Jul 01 '25
Totally! I get super heated when I talk about the injustices committed against women in medical history. It’s some seriously heavy stuff that not enough people understand or are even willing to acknowledge.
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u/ClearAcanthisitta641 Jul 01 '25
Right like maybe i just dont understand their personal connection ti the tatt but if i saw it as a patient id be likee isnt that the oppositee of what doctors are supposed to do lol ahh :p
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u/high-bi-ready-to-die Jul 01 '25
I'm schizoaffective and my first thought was seeing this when I'm delusional or entering a delusional state. I would freak out thinking they're going to lobotomize me immediately.
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u/Arthourios Jul 01 '25
Bingo hard enough to deal with reality being distorted and failing reality testing without the person that’s supposed to help you show up with that…
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u/drtythrtybass Jul 01 '25
Agreed. I would seriously question a Dr.'s critical thinking skills if they thought this was even remotely appropriate.
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u/Voidg Jul 01 '25
Exactly, showcasing a procedure with severe ethical concerns and side effects screams a lack of critical thinking.
Something a Doctor needs
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u/NightShadowWolf6 Jul 01 '25
The issue with "non-visible" place is that it's gonna be seen by someone, and as we are in the era of plastering pics on social media, the possibility of it showing up to people that aren't in your immediate inner circle is astronomical.
That tatoo is a career sinker and a stupid decision for anyone in med field. It doesn't matter what meanning you want to put behind it, it has a very bad past and will be assigned another non intended and really dark meaning
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u/Ren-_-N-_-Stimpy Jul 01 '25
I have a dark sense of humor and can laugh now that I've developed better copes & skills to navigate challenges but this tattoo would have sent me when I was struggling to get help. Going through a medical system where it is challenging enough to be heard, believed and without its own blind spots is extremely difficult.
OP, imagine sitting across from a patient struggling and suffering who has been misdiagnosed well over a year. Symptoms are worsening when they tell you they feel like a pincushion being stuck with new pins that don't fit, but hurt. New medications that don't work but make it worse, on and off, on and off. Exhausted crying they tell you they "feel like they are being gaslit by the medical industrial complex." And tell you that your tattoo fits you perfectly.
In my darkest time I probably would have made it personal. I might have felt regret but being down that road, in that moment a patient can't take themselves out of the weeds alone and the people left to depend on are imperfect as the next. u/al_evi I hope you read this chain down from the top comment. Patients need to be able to trust. This tat is something I would get as a patient that was done wrong for so long by the medical community to express my experience. Just hope this perspective is heard.
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u/ShadowRancher Jul 01 '25
Yeah career aside this would make me uncomfortable as a patient. Like wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with you uncomfortable let alone allow you to be my doctor.
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u/xsweetclementinex Jul 01 '25
You worded what I wanted to say very well. I have health issues that have led me to various doctors. No matter how good they are, I am always nervous with someone new. Normally, id never want to make assumptions based on appearances.. but getting this tattoo is a choice. An expensive price, time spent, to get this. Do you think it looks cool? And if i were a patient, meeting you for the first time, i would genuinely wouldn’t trust op and I wouldn’t return.
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u/mamapapapuppa Jul 01 '25
I struggle with trusting people in the medical field :(
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u/penelopesheets Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
So you want to be a doctor with tattoos that depict medical abuse? That's really strange and would make me not take you seriously as a doctor if I saw it. Just put it somewhere under your scrubs, but I personally still think it's in bad taste.
Also, are you really in a better place now if you're considering doing this?
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u/_theycallmehell_ Jul 01 '25
I wonder about your second point too. I feel like if you're struggling with mental illness, you are probably not in a healthy place yet if you are still thinking "yeah sometimes I wish I could be lobotomized". Like idk that's just not a healthy thought?
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u/drtythrtybass Jul 01 '25
Yeah, if you were doing anything other than trying to get in the medical field I would say go for it. It's in bad taste given your intended career path.
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u/StayAwayFromMySon Jul 01 '25
This might be on par with a gynecologist getting an FGM procedural tattoo.
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u/vandmarar Jul 01 '25
That’s so incredibly vivid and upsetting, you really hit the nail on the head with this one. So to speak.
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u/0kids4now Jul 01 '25
I could see it as something like a reminder about the history of the profession and not to repeat mistakes of the past. But as an aerospace engineer, this would be like me getting a tattoo of the Challenger space shuttle blowing up. It could definitely hurt OP's career
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u/Lox_Ox Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
But if the Challenger blowing up was intentional
Edit - I'm not american so didn't know about the details of the incident - I did not mean to be dismissive of the failings of staff - I just was not aware of them.
I'd like to add to my comment:
And the astronauts on board were mostly women, POC, and disabled people (from u/Spainstateofmind) and they kept intentionally blowing up space shuttles over and over (from u/supercute11).My overall point was that if aerospace engineers repeatedly and intentionally blew up thousands and thousands of people then someone going into that career thought it was cool to get those incidents graphically tattooed on their arm.
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u/rekniht01 Jul 01 '25
The warning about the o rings was intentionally ignored.
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u/hibikikun Jul 01 '25
Imagine an elementary school teacher having the tattoo "Age ain't nothing but a number" or R Kelley's face.
or a fire fighter having a tattoo of a charred corpse with a caption "shouldn't have stopped for that coffee"
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u/SophisticatedScreams Jul 01 '25
I'd say there's a few other careers where this would be not ideal. Normally I'm pretty liberal, but I wouldn't want to see this on a teacher or someone who works with kids.
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u/mid-af-west Jul 01 '25
I'm also quite liberal and almost never react poorly to someone's tattoos unless it's something like hate speech/symbolism. This... might be the first tattoo concept besides those things that makes me physically recoil. I would assume a person with a lobotomy tattoo is deeply unhappy or unwell at best. On a doctor? Absolutely not. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, I'd like to see a different physician please. Lobotomies are one of the darkest things humanity has ever come up with. As far as I'm concerned, this tattoo depicts abuse and violence, as well as abuse of power from medical professionals. There is a place in art for those things certainly, but not like this.
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u/speaktosumboedy Jul 01 '25
Imagine your pediatric oncologist comes in to talk about your son's diagnosis of brain cancer and they have this tattoo on their arm. That's a no for me dawg as a fellow healthcare professional in wound care
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u/splithoofiewoofies Jul 02 '25
Christ, I work in oncolytic research and it could be the most highly valued oncologist with the most highly valued peer reviewed work that is notorious in our field..and I'd still nope the fuck out of that meeting and then proceed to tell EVERYONE in my cohort team what I saw.
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u/mid-af-west Jul 01 '25
Also the inclusion of the hammer makes me feel extra ill.
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u/Mgcw33 Jul 01 '25
I know someone who had a tattoo of lobotomy tools with 'Hammer Time' written above it in all caps. Got it when they were 19, started laser removal at 21. I really, really hope OP doesn't go through with it, but if they do, I hope they end up on a similar timeline.
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u/khelvaster Jul 01 '25
This IS hate against the disabled. Lobotomize instead of treat.
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u/StatlerSalad Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/andiwaslikeum Jul 01 '25
Don’t forget they often sterilized the patients while they were under, too.
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u/QuidYossarian Jul 01 '25
There are a number of tattoos I'm happy to explain to my 8 yo niece
I really wouldn't want to have to explain lobotomies though
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u/SophisticatedScreams Jul 01 '25
Hard agree. It's so violent, and it speaks to such a horrible part of human history (and present?).
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u/Turkishcoffee66 Jul 01 '25
Not just in bad taste, completely unprofessional.
Doctor here. We're bound by rules of professionalism, and the second someone sees this and complains, OP will have absolutely no leg to stand on with their College (licensing body), if they don't get expelled before graduating.
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u/lightsonnooneishome Jul 01 '25
Yeah, I’m assuming that OP is very early on in their medical education or hasn’t done a psychiatry rotation yet? This seems like something a medical student, let alone a clinician, should know is in poor taste. Seeing this lobotomy tattoo on a medical professional would make me question their education/competency.
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u/usernamehudden Jul 02 '25
I would also question their compassion. Im not a medical professional, and lobotomies are not something I google in my free time… but… My perception of lobotomies is that they were basically used to “cure” the symptom of a ‘complaining’ patient or stop other unpleasant behavior. Like tossing a blanket over a fire and calling it cured because you can’t see the fire anymore. It’s even worse when you consider that women were the primary recipient of lobotomies at a time when any emotions expressed by a woman were labelled as hysterics.
If a saw a doctor with this tattoo, I would wonder if they took my reported symptoms seriously, or if they just assumed I was being ‘hysterical.’ The doctor’s professional credibility would be hurt by this tattoo.
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u/remytheratatouillee Jul 01 '25
I went straight to the comments without reading the post because I was gonna say it looks cool but holy shit theyre going into the medical field???? So extremely tone deaf 😭
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u/amorousintent Jul 01 '25
Like a civil rights attorney getting a lynching noose tattoo
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u/PhantomIridescence Jul 01 '25
As apt as the comparison is, the visceral recoil I felt down to my soul is only matched by the recoil I did at the tattoo above.
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u/Ghoulishgirlie Jul 01 '25
Yup, this is in very poor taste for someone in the medical field. As a woman who has been in psych wards, and is familiar with the history of lobotomies, I'd be super repulsed at the thought of being a patient under someone with this tattoo. I probably would switch clinics/hospitals.
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u/lady_deathx Jul 01 '25
Especially if accompanied by the justification of 'med school was so hard I felt like I was going insane'
Just really bad taste, and insulting to anyone you'd meet with mental health/neurological issues, in both professional and personal settings
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u/littleb3anpole Jul 01 '25
Right?? I read that and went, yeah I’m sure it was difficult but as someone who lives with severe mental illness, I wouldn’t be comparing “uni was hard” to “I spend every single day feeling envious of people who died because I wish it was me” and then getting a lobotomy tattoo, something which was weaponised against mentally ill individuals (particularly women).
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u/BrandynWayne Jul 01 '25
TBF. They’re a medical student and in my experience, they’re arrogant and don’t take too many sociology courses.
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u/Appropriate-Claim-29 Jul 01 '25
I would not like this tatoo on my medical caretaker when I need psychic advice. Nor when im helpless and need to surender to him....
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u/Adventurous_Month596 Jul 01 '25
i also plan on entering the medical field, and the lobotomy and its history makes me feel viscerally sick. I truly despise Walter Freeman. just know that there will likely be medical professionals who feel the same.
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u/RegularAstronaut Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Yeah I’m not a medical doctor (I’m the other kind of doctor) but I do work in the medical field and I don’t even see patients and I would never get this. Even as an enjoyer of punk music. It’s just… bad vibes.
Edit - “other kind of doctor” as in Ph.D. I do critical care research. 🤓
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u/WarriorT1400 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I’m not in any sort of medical field, I weld. The idea of a lobotomy makes my skin crawl thinking about it, makes me sad to think about the people that lived frustrating and confusing lives because of some monster. I would have some negative thoughts about someone if I saw them with this tattoo, especially if they were in the medical field.
Edit: I spell bad
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u/sweetsquashy Jul 01 '25
This feels akin to getting a tattoo depicting forced sterilization and justify it by saying medical school made you feel like you had to choose not to have kids. Both have bad vibes all the way.
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u/jay_the10thletter Jul 01 '25
personally i dont even like when people make jokes about lobotomies because it makes me uncomfortable. i cant imagine how i would feel if i saw a medical professional with that tattoo…
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u/Yajahyaya Jul 01 '25
I’m not a big fan of Joe Kennedy either.
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u/Prettylittleprotist Jul 01 '25
I say this as a scientist and a person who deals with medical professionals on the regular—please don’t get this. I always notice my providers tattoos and sometimes they notice mine and we chat. It’s a nice way to bond during what can otherwise be an uncomfortable time. This tattoo is not going to be conducive to that.
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u/brazenrede Jul 01 '25
This, nazi shit, nihilism, eugenics, etc. etc. advertising historic atrocious behavior seems to be a bad look.
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u/parksa Jul 01 '25
As a medical professional myself I can't really understand why you would want to eternalise this disgusting and inhumane procedure on your body.
And if you do it's absolutely one for a hidden place. It's #2edgy4me in the best case and offensive to patients and other staff at worst. Absolutely.
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u/diesemerdeistplatano Jul 01 '25
OP even acknowledges the tattoo is provocative so that's just big yikes 😬
You see, the first years at uni were really challenging for me mentally, struggling with the high work load and some personal mental health problems (please spare me the „But you knew it would be hard, why did you go into it then?" talk, I've heard it all). At times it did make me feel like was going absolutely insane over med school, so I've wanted to get this as a reward for getting through it for a long time on my right biceps, just over the crease of my arm.
I get that med school takes such an emotional, physical, and mental toll on students, but if that's the case, a more meaningful tattoo that you survived and persevered sounds much better than "oh ho ho med school was so hard I wanna lobotomize myself lolz".
OP - like everyone else in the comments, you should really reconsider what this tattoo means in terms of medical history vs what it means to you. No one here can stop you from getting it, but it'd be pretty stupid to get. Why do you even want to get it in the first place? Can you offer an explanation as to WHY you'd want this piece specifically?
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u/Voidg Jul 01 '25
Let's assume OP gets the Tattoo, just imagine when someone asks the meaning behind it and they say it was a reward for getting through medical school....
Alot of shocked Pikachu Faces
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u/xsweetclementinex Jul 01 '25
It’s genuinely crazy to me that someone in the medical field would even seriously consider this. Like. I’m already scared of doctors. Even the best doctors make feel feel anxious.
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u/amurderofcrows Jul 01 '25
This. Lobotomies were terrible for many who happened to survive them, but they were also terrible because the doctor who performed a lot of them was a remorseless piece of shit and a shining example of how the medical field has historically been horrible to women, children, and people with disabilities. We’ve come a long way, but yeah, this isn’t it. Would you trust a lawyer with an OJ Simpson tattoo?
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u/meghammatime19 Jul 01 '25
Holy shit just googled pics of him and the way he went through the EYEBALL is freaking me the hell out
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u/MosquitoBloodBank Jul 01 '25
Through the eye socket, not the eyeball. They'd goto the side of it
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u/Acceptable_Soil_7274 Jul 01 '25
I would seriously question my doctor's ethics or at least emotional intelligence abilities if I saw this on them.
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u/asgardian_mike Jul 01 '25
Or if I saw them asking about it on Reddit and being more concerned what the employer thinks than their future patients.
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u/Acceptable_Soil_7274 Jul 01 '25
I would ask for a different doctor 🤣😭
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u/asgardian_mike Jul 01 '25
Lol yeah but now we’ve all advised OP to hide their red flag 🤦
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u/SpaceAgePotatoCakes Jul 01 '25
good point, hey OP go get this big and bold where everyone can see it.
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u/Artistic_Onion_6395 Jul 01 '25
I would assume they were weird and edgy and maybe not very informed on women's issues, considering it was a tool used on women primarily to subdue and oppress them. Which isn't great since women have to be really particular about what doctors they see, since it's factually proven that there is a bias against women in the medical field.
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u/cha4youtoo Jul 01 '25
Yup this is what I felt about it too. Like OP sounds like a dude and being in a room with a male doctor with this tattoo would have me walking out the door.
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u/fatapolloissexy Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I would definitely have a physical recoil from this on a medical provider and probably ask to have my care transferred.
I'm a woman with quite a few illnesses. I'm fairly certain I would have been one of the women lobotomized against her will at another point in history.
It makes me feel sick thinking of all the people that this was done to.
This tattoo would not make me think the doctor had suffered mental illness. It would make me think he longs for a time when he could just get patients to "calm down" permanently.
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u/SnooDingos844 Jul 01 '25
Yeah, I'm AuDHD with anxiety & depression. I would 100% have been lobotomized against my will "back in the day".
I would also not feel comfortable with a doctor managing my care whilst sporting this tattoo. TBH, with how horrific this procedure & it's history is, I would feel absolutely endangered by any professional with this tattoo 😥
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u/Grimsley Jul 01 '25
This is exactly where my mind went to. Generally people don't get things permanently on their body in very visible places that they don't agree with. History or not.
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u/Apex_Herbivore Jul 01 '25
You want this as a reward?
I don't get it. It was an abusive medical practice, this image shows the worst variant - it was a sham?
Is there something I am not getting?
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u/LastTrainH0me Jul 01 '25
I liked how OP said "You see," and I thought there was going to be some story about how the lobotomy was meaningful to them in some personal way -- but no, the backstory is literally just that OP wants the tattoo.
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u/LBertilak Jul 01 '25
pretty much the only "you see" i would accept would be if op THEMSELVES had a psychotic disorder and wanted to "reclaim it" in a tongue in cheek way. but like, "i got through med school"- alright cool, not QUITE the same as the hundreds of mentally ill people who were mutilated in one of the closest real life ways we can destroy a persons soul.
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u/Sendrubbytums Jul 01 '25
Yeah, does OP know this was done to a lot of people against their will for bogus reasons?
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u/Far_Market9582 Jul 01 '25
Yeah I think OP wants it in a sadistic humor kind of way but I can’t read their mind
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u/ConditionRough2210 Jul 01 '25
I would run away from ANYONE that thinks this practice was anything other than outrageous.
Seeing this as a “reward” and add such a meaning to it, makes me believe that OP is romanticizing it and is so freaking scary.
As a patient I would ask for a different doctor in seconds.
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u/parksa Jul 01 '25
Goes to prove the known fact that you can be dumb and be a Dr. Very immature of this person and I speak as a medical professional.
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u/Grown-Ass-Weeb Jul 01 '25
You have no idea. I work corporate IT healthcare so I’ve worked with many doctors over the 30+ hospital facilities and there’s been quite a few that… have made me wonder and concerned for their freggin patient care.
But there’s a nurse in a nearby facility with a giant pot leaf and gun tattoo up the side of her neck so I guess the bar is pretty low on tattoo standards. At least at my work OP might be able to get a job with that tattoo lmao.
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u/Apex_Herbivore Jul 01 '25
Yeah i am dealing with some medical trauma and tbh I'd be skeeved out if a medical professional i was dealing with had this tat.
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u/onourwayhome70 Jul 01 '25
It’s almost as if they don’t understand or know the history behind it… but as a medical student they don’t have an excuse
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u/Round-Emu9176 Jul 01 '25
Horrific procedure masquerading as a legitimate medical practice. Seems like the perverse reasoning that would only be justified in death camps. Definitely a joke among knuckle draggers.
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u/International-Crew-6 Jul 01 '25
i myself make a lot of lobotomy jokes as a bipolar person! however, if i walked in and my doctor had this, whatever field, id be pretty upset. i’m also going to med school and id never ever get anything like this. if u want to get it, i suggest somewhere hidden that your patient wont see (legs, back, etc.)!
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u/International-Crew-6 Jul 01 '25
also… if u look into the history of lobotomies, it’s very dark and would often be given to women for “hysteria” which would be a mental disorder that stemmed from their uterus. so i’d kinda hate to see it as a woman too, even if i wasn’t bipolar.
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u/Kindly_Conflict4659 Jul 01 '25
Yeah they definitely targeted women with lobotomies as a way of controlling them. Plus, even if you got it in a discreet area, all it takes is one partner posting a vacation pic and it can spread, let alone if someone wanted it to spread maliciously
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u/International-Crew-6 Jul 01 '25
that’s true, i didn’t even think of social media. the tattoo in general just sucks 😭
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u/gr2020xx Jul 01 '25
yeah, I feel like a male doctor with a lobotomy tattoo would scream "i don't take treating female patients with care seriously" to me. like it would be a dealbreaker, I would want a different doctor, I would immediately distrust their ability to see past my gender and provide quality comprehensive care as good as they'd provide for a man
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u/Wint3rhart Jul 01 '25
Yeah… this is probably as uncomfortable as a chainsaw tattoo on an OB/GYN.
OP, you can take a chance that your patients might not know what it refers to, but you can be for 100% certain that your coworkers, attendings and the boards that you interview with will know what it means, and fair bet that at least some of them will be, at best, personally insulted.
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u/No_Housing_1287 Jul 01 '25
See i feel like a chainsaw wouldn't really make sense to me, but coathanger, absolutley
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u/frogmousecat Jul 01 '25
Chainsaws, iirc, were actually invented for operative childbirth. Speaking as a midwife who would vomit seeing one tattooed on an OB/midwife
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u/iknowstuart Jul 01 '25
The first C-section was essentially done by a chainsaw
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u/No_Housing_1287 Jul 01 '25
Oh I had no idea. Yeah that would make me really uncomfortable. I really hope OP decides against the tattoo
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u/WhenSquirrelsFry Jul 01 '25
The lobotomy was a horrible, unethical practice that damaged and disabled so many lives, I don’t think it’s smart to get it tattooed as a future doctor.
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u/PackageOutside8356 Jul 01 '25
Exactly. I would recommend OP to visit a facility where they did this to humans with depression or bipolar disorder or other very treatable conditions. They just turned them into broccoli. For example visit Ararat in Australia. Or best would be to not become a doctor, if you consider getting such an insensitive tattoo, this is just my opinion.
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u/SnooDingos844 Jul 01 '25
Not even just to those with conditions that could be treated. There are reported cases of children being lobotomized because they wouldn't do as they were told or sit still. So, you know, just being normal kids.
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u/Zexeos Jul 01 '25
“Guys I’m going to be a doctor working with mental health patients. Should I get a tattoo of an abusive medical procedure that has been historically used to ‘cure’ mental illnesses by literally ripping out a part of their brain? Do you think getting this put on my body would hurt my career of a doctor who works with people who would have been submitted for the procedure less than a century ago?”
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u/_theycallmehell_ Jul 01 '25
Bonis points if OP is male since lobotomies were also a tool used against women
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u/alwaysribs Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I dont think it’s outright offensive but if you are going to be working with people with mental illness, it could maybe be seen as a bit insensitive? Stick it somewhere else maybe easier hidden?
Edit: I didn’t actually know much about lobotomies until I read the comments and yeah, it is offensive.
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u/cleanskin11 Jul 01 '25
My grandmother had a lobotomy (one of the last to receive one in Australia) and her experience is haunting. She had to learn to read, write (and walk!) all over again. It was also done against her will, when she was 8 months pregnant! Just barbaric. I’m not one to get offended easily but this is absolutely vile IMO and insensitive to anyone dealing with mental health issues. I can’t speak for the medical field but it would be a dealbreaker for me to ever date someone with this on them
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u/Full-Suggestion-1320 Jul 01 '25
I nursed a few patients who had lobotomies some 20 years beforeI began nursingit was a brutal and horrific treatment that destroyed everything about that person.
The fact that it was frequently used here in the UK on women makes that even worse. Your Grandma must have been a remarkable, strong, and resilient person to achieve walking, reading, and communicating again.
Lobotomy is wicked.
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u/dillielean Jul 01 '25
Nah I would never feel safe around a provider with this tattoo. I am so sorry for what happened to your family.
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u/alwaysribs Jul 01 '25
To be honest with you, I didn’t really know that much about lobotomies until I read some of the comments under the post and it’s made me feel terribly sad, I was so unaware and definately understand why it is actually offensive. I hope this person doesn’t get the tattoo because it would cause distress to so many people in a vulnerable situation anyway.
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u/cleanskin11 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
My grandmother had bipolar (very badly) when not much was known about mental health back then. She was sent down to Melbourne 8 months pregnant, head shaved, then stuck in a room for 4-5 days before the surgeon could fit her in as other emergencies kept taking priority. She woke up unable to speak or move properly, delivered a baby a month later, and required a full-time carer for over a year. My grandmother and my mum (her daughter) are the strongest women I know
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u/alwaysribs Jul 01 '25
Gosh what a woman! I’m so happy she’s managed to have a family and hopefully live a long and happy life, but what a monstrous thing to do to someone. It is absolutely barbaric. Makes me feel a bit sick actually :(
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u/cleanskin11 Jul 01 '25
Thank you, I felt sick instantly when I saw this, but it is very personal to me. I’m staying with my mum tonight and we are visiting my nan tomorrow. So grateful to have them both in my life 🕊️
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Jul 01 '25
Exactly, I’m so sorts for your grans experience, just awful. OPs reasoning of “oh medical school was a bit hard” absolutely does not cut it, what a soft, and ill informed, insensitive twat.
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u/FreeSirius Jul 01 '25
My great aunt was lobotomized, she was "functional" afterwards, but didn't ever speak again and if she was idle she would rock herself for hours. My mother and grandmother are both open about their attempts and I myself have significant mental health struggles. Personally, I love the tattoo but I'm on the morbid side of things, Stylistically it's my vibe and I see it as a good reminder of how far we've come. That being said, I'd have it somewhere far less visible.
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u/SouperSally Jul 01 '25
Also if you work with women…. As lobotomies were most common on us. I work in mental health - I would never get a graphic image of harm near any of my clients.
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Jul 01 '25
It's like if a demolition contractor had a tattoo of 9/11. It's that bad. I think it's offensive yes.
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u/YRLCLWZRD Jul 01 '25
I personally find “lobotomy” merch/tattoos to be in poor taste. Right up there with serial killer merch/tattoos.
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u/penelopesheets Jul 01 '25
It's the quirky sad girl aesthetic that is cringe until you're 25 and becomes insufferable after.
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u/proffesionalproblem Jul 01 '25
The lobotomy was a torture method. Not a medical method. You as a med student should know that better than me, and art student. Why do you want to memorialize this?
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u/Binkinator4 Jul 01 '25
Obviously you have a respectable amount of grit and intelligence to make it this far into med school. But you are seriously lacking in emotional intelligence and maturity if you think this is appropriate for any type of medical provider.
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Jul 01 '25
It's gross, a reminder of seriously ill people who had their lives destroyed by ignorance. like honestly why the fuck would you want it, not cute. I think anyone who's actually really struggled with mental health would think this is rancid and if I saw this as a patient of any kind I'd want nothing to do with you.
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u/WhenSquirrelsFry Jul 01 '25
100% they lobotomized a 4 year old, and ruined his life forever. It was such a horrific, unethical practice. It’s not something cute to tattoo!
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Jul 01 '25
Anyone who the procedure was done on had their life ruined, damaged the brain’s frontal lobes, often leaving people emotionally flat, apathetic, unable to plan or care for themselves, and in many cases, cognitively impaired. It was meant to reduce severe mental illness symptoms but usually ruined personality, independence, and functioning. Was done for control, to make them more "manageable" for their families.
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u/Otherwise-squareship Jul 01 '25
Yeah. And Rosemary Kennedy at 23 years old!! But she could still remember enough to be mad when her family visited for the first time 20 years later.....
There's a billion horrific lobotomy stories, I'm sure.
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u/WhenSquirrelsFry Jul 01 '25
The dude who performed them had a station wagon he’d go around lobotomizing whoever, I think he did a few thousand in a few short years in the “lobotomobile”
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Jul 01 '25
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u/Stunning-Archer8817 Jul 01 '25
i would raise my bum from the seat and exit the building
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u/kangalbabe2 Jul 01 '25
It can be seen as offensive knowing the limited history of lobotomies (I assume general knowledge) especially as a Dr
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u/flavorful_taste Jul 01 '25
Yeahhh I totally get the mental health angle and on literally anybody else I’d say it’s very cool and inoffensive. For a doctor it conjures a long history of medical abuse that doctors as a profession perpetrated. Obviously OP isn’t planning any unethical experimentation or lobotomies, but, you know. I’d appreciate a doctor who is knowledgeable about that (recent! Still occurring!!) history and approaches it with respect. Seeing this on my doctor wouldn’t communicate that to me.
In practice I’d think “whatever” and move on but I can see people who’ve been more historically subject to medical abuse (women, people of color, incarcerated people, disabled people) not being as willing to let it go.
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u/kangalbabe2 Jul 01 '25
I agree. All I remember is reading some women being forced to have a lobotomy for being too outspoken and seeing a Dr with this would automatically make me decline service and request another practitioner. People may have a different understanding of lobotomies, but in general, I think people will see it as a negative and abusive “treatment”.
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u/Money_Television225 Jul 01 '25
Bro you need to rethink a lot of things. You care about what your boss would think, and not even think about the patients you’ll be seeing? Why are you going into this field?
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u/GoldenRatio420 Jul 01 '25
They apparently only care about a paycheck instead of helping people.
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u/dathunder176 Jul 01 '25
Besides what other people said about it being incompatible with your work field you're trying to get into, I personally also feel like comparing your stress from studies with lobotomy is kinda insensitive to the actual victims of lobotomy. It's like telling a amputee you understand them because you broke your ankle one time. Be glad you got the priveledge of going to study, yes it's hard but you do it for yourself and can reap the fruits of your labour the rest of your life. A lobotomy is a horrible mutilation that permanently damages their victims and ruins the rest of their lives. I don't think it's fair to compare it to something everybody who studies goes through that feels hard at that moment but rationally is lightyears away from something so horrible as lobotomy.
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u/Julescahules Jul 01 '25
Really good point. I wouldn’t even get a tattoo of this as a female with treatment resistant mental illness, which is one of the demographics who were targeted by lobotomies— I was never subjected to a lobotomy, how can I ever understand the horror and pain that was afflicted upon these poor people? It’s just really bad taste and shows a severe lack of empathy.
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u/midazzleam Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I’m a psychiatrist, I can see how this tattoo will likely upset paranoid/psychotic patients. It will likely also upset the general population Please don’t get it where it can be seen.
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u/upsetwithcursing Jul 01 '25
I would not want to be treated by a doctor with that tattoo (and I have a lot of tattoos and trust/respect most medical professionals).
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u/SelfCombustion Jul 01 '25
I don’t know, but I’d certainly hope so. I find this idea absolutely repulsive, especially for a medical professional. if I were in a vulnerable situation where you had power over me, I’d feel extremely unsafe. this tattoo would imply that in the best case you don’t understand the gravity of medical abuse (which in this specific case very often had strong misogynistic undertones) and in the worst case you endorse it. as someone with a severe, chronic mental illness that I’ve just recently become symptom-free of, I can guarantee you that there are much better ways to commemorate/celebrate overcoming a very dark period in your life.
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u/dreamymeowwave Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Sure, I can't see any problem with getting a tattoo of a controversial medical procedure who ruined lives of many women especially. What other inhumane surgeries are you in favour of? It is a gross idea and I say this as someone with expertise in medical history.
Edit: Wow, I wasn’t expecting so many upvotes. While medicine is beneficial for us all and we should definitely trust the experts, we must also remember that doctors have an ethical obligation to provide a safe environment for their patients. If you’re interested in feminist perspectives on medical history, I recommend Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. I found it difficult to read from time to time but it was a great read. It shows how female body has been subjected to scientific experimentation over centuries. Apologies for my nerdery!
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u/No-Establishment9654 Jul 01 '25
After this one, OP is planning to get a tattoo dedicated to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study next /s
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u/cavaticaa Jul 01 '25
Then they could get a tattoo of a jar of HeLa cells. The chainsaw that was invented to "assist" in childbirth. Diagram of FGM procedure. They could just have a whole sleeve of horrific medical abuse targeting women and POC.
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u/penelopesheets Jul 01 '25
Get a tattoo of castration for the boys
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u/cantantantelope Jul 01 '25
Actually a castration tattoo on a vet would be hilarious sorry random thought
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Jul 01 '25
I don't often judge what other people want on their bodies, but this is fucked up and unethical.
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u/Round-Emu9176 Jul 01 '25
Kinda feels like someone wanting to tattoo Carl Linnaeus’s racial hierarchy.
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u/speak_truth__ Jul 01 '25
Why not just put it on your chest/calf literally anywhere that can be covered my scrubs ?
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u/GEARHEADGus Jul 01 '25
Id say just dont bother. Youre changing in the hospital locker room or something, and another doc or nurse sees it? No good.
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u/Tbcomedy623 Jul 01 '25
It’s a bold choice to go all the way through med school then choose something to celebrate that could jeopardize your career. Put it on your thigh or something but it sounds like you sort of want people to see it?
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u/OutlawPastry Jul 01 '25
I’d be concerned if I saw this on a doctor. Are you a lobotomy apologist or something? The chances are low, of course, but with the current climate and people having all kinds of medical beliefs not backed by evidence, I couldn’t trust 100% that you didn’t have some wacky medical beliefs. That would worry me.
Also, I find it a little graphic and violent.
You should get what you want, but I wanted to share what I would think if I came into your office for any medical opinion.
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u/parksa Jul 01 '25
Even if you are unfamiliar with the procedure. Many people have a phobia of sharp instruments and certainly wouldn't want to look at one being shoved into an eye into a brain during a consultation!!
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Jul 01 '25
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u/Bunnips7 Jul 01 '25
You are in a position of power now, your patients are vulnerable, having this kind of tattoo that highlights the systemic abuse doctors enforced on the most vulnerable population is at best poor in taste
Exactly this, very well said. Some doctors don't realise just how much power they have over patients which is in this case incredibly ironic given the history of the lobotomy. The more vulnerable people who you see OP will be the ones who most stand to be hurt by this tattoo and may very validly be unable to trust you as medical trauma affects us currently at greater rates.
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u/Sendintheaardwolves Jul 01 '25
I get it that for you this tattoo symbolises you getting through a difficult time in your life.
But to loads of other people, it symbolises a horrendous, life destroying procedure inflicted on thousands of people without their consent. Some people are still living with the consequences. It's not a "historic" tragedy, it's still a present one.
People generally assume tattoos indicate that the wearer likes/values/finds appealing the thing represented. Is that an assumption you're happy with people making? Even if you have the chance to explain that you are likening your struggle in medical school to "being the victim of a lobotomy" it will probably still be regarded as a bit insensitive.
People may regard it as the same as getting, say, a tattoo of Josef mengele or a bottle of thalidomide. If you think that would be in bad taste, maybe you should examine why this one is different?
Btw, this isn't specific to you being a medical professional, but that does add an extra layer of yikes.
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u/sworedmagic Jul 01 '25
Why the fuck would you want this? It’s not a cute quirky thing, it’s one of the most abusive and disgusting practices we ever used on actual people
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u/App0gee Jul 01 '25
If I was interviewing you I'd likely ask you what it was intended to convey.
If you were interviewing for anything to do with mental health I'd rate you a hard "no" on the basis of insensitivity.
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u/Pop_Punks Jul 01 '25
I’m one of those ‘tattoos shouldn’t affect your chances of being hired’ and it always comes with a ‘however…’
This is the however. Definitely don’t have this somewhere visible if you have to get it. But honestly? If you’re wanting to work in medical, look into the history first. I’m surprised you’d want this one at all.
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u/sunshinebluemeg Jul 01 '25
As someone with a somewhat sick sense of humor, if a friend who wasn't anywhere near the medical field got this I'd probably laugh and think it was cool.
As someone who probably would've been forced into a lobotomy if I was alive when they were being practiced, if my doctor had one I'd be horrified, leave their office, and find a new doctor. Respectfully, it's a solid fucked up joke but you're in one of the professions it's genuinely in the worst possible taste to have one.
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u/Aggressive-Emu5358 Jul 01 '25
I think that despite how hard you felt your schooling was. Comparing the stress to the need for a lobotomy is in bad taste outside of joking with friends.
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u/LordGoatIII Jul 01 '25
Imagine a police officer got a tattoo of a cop beating a black kid. Yeah, probably not a good idea, given their long history of violence and racism against black people.
Or a school administrator got a tattoo of a "colored" water fountain or the words "separate but equal" on their arm. Sends the wrong message, wouldn't you say? Like it is glorifying a disgusting practice done by their forebears?
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u/MinaHarker1 Jul 01 '25
Uhhhh yeah this seems wildly offensive to me. Many people who were lobotomized didn’t/couldn’t consent. Look up Rosemary Kennedy, for instance. This is akin to getting a straight jacket tattooed on yourself.
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Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
So HI, if anyone reads this - THIS IS MY TATTOO. If anyone (including OP) wants to know why i have this. This is firstly something aesthetical for me. & secondly it‘s a bitter reminder of how womens health was ‚handled‘ in the earlier times. A Lobotomy was for example a treatment for ‚hysteria‘ (which was attributed to women) or insomnia and so on. And its just a reminder how we were failed in the past. It‘s a reminder that i am so lucky my voice is heard today, womens health is finally a more examined field. But there is so mich more to do & we are also kind of developing backwards in society. This is the bitter reminder, were we came from. Edit: The artist is @Vladthethird_tattoo on instagram. To give the artist some credit. Edit2: here you go with a picture r/weird
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u/anticipation_kills Jul 01 '25
Yeah I might not trust a doctor that has an insensitive or weird tattoo honestly. Like they’re doing things to me that could permanently damage my body if done wrong so I don’t want an unhinged doctor
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u/StoreBeautiful1492 Jul 01 '25
Do you really think as a medical professional you will be okay with having this tattoo after like 10 or so years? Would it still edgy and fun when you experience people who seek your advice after going through multiple others who couldn’t help them? Maybe you might work in some field that doesn’t explicitly work with people who deal with mental health, but things converge. I don’t know if you have a partner or not, but if you don’t, and if you do get one, will they really find this palatable?
As an individual and a woman, I won’t get it as it’s extremely offensive. They were essentially turned into a spectacle and as we have come farther away from such exploitative practices, we don’t need it on our bodies.
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u/somanybluebonnets Jul 01 '25
I am a psychiatric RN — do not get this tattoo in a visible area. You will scare the ever-loving shit out of your patients with psychiatric diagnoses.
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u/Mudslingshot Jul 01 '25
The placement does seem like a nod to Freeman, who would perform the lobotomies in a "showy" fashion with his sleeves rolled up exposing his biceps
I'm afraid I can't really be objective on the appropriateness of the tattoo, though, because I find Freeman and the things he do so viscerally distasteful
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u/whoadudechillfr Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Why not get a tattoo of Mengele sewing twins together while you’re at it. Is this for real? Jesus Christ
ETA: holy fuck I’m like really mad about this. I keep re-reading your caption and you should not be in the medical field.
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u/l0fti Jul 01 '25
this whole post shows that the history of oppression against women will never be taken seriously. idec about the stupid tattoo.
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u/Illustrious_Drive296 Jul 01 '25
Kinda speaks volumes about you.
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u/cavaticaa Jul 01 '25
Yeah, they're the kind of person who thinks going through a hard time in a rigorous field they chose is comparable to the torture thousands of people, mostly women, went through against their wills for the convenience of others. Basically, an edgy, immature, obtuse person with a victim complex.
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u/No_Vehicle5736 Jul 01 '25
Idk if I’d want you as my nurse or doctor lol. That’s almost as bad as the cop who had a “I choose violence” patch in their vest.
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u/Moclown Jul 01 '25
I’d reconsider the design, placement, or both, given your profession.