Moral harassment, sexism, homophobia: the tattoo world is not spared. Charges are aimed particularly at the tattoo artist of the stars, the famous Tin-tin.
This is a survey released on April 6, 2021 on the media Cheek and relayed by the Instagram account Rock your tattoo artist which is currently shaking up the tattoo world. She is interested in Cyril Auville dit Tin-tin, star tattoo artist in the profession, who has inked celebrities like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Lio, Yannick Noah, JoeyStarr or Florent Pagny. Tin Tin is also the creator of the Mondial du Tatouage, the most important tattoo convention in France, as well as of an association of tattooists which claims to be a union (the National Union of Tattoo Artists). An organization that had did not want to create a code of ethics good practices for tattoo parlors, after numerous revelations of sexual assault … The investigation presents Tin-tin as a verbally violent man, abusing his power and his fame, with his colleagues as with his clients .
Insults, threats, calls for rape
A female tattoo artist recounts a job interview as follows: “He said to me: ‘It’s not bad, but it’s not what you expect from a female. At the moment, I didn’t understand, I was totally stunned. I thought. : ‘He could not say it, it is not possible’ “before specifying that the main thing is to make money but that” If you work for me, there will surely be others ways to pay the bills. ” Determined to work with the artist, she asks Tin-Tin if he is hiring apprentices “To take them, we take them, the apprentices! If you want, we go behind and we will deepen the question”. The young woman leaves but it does not end there: “The rest, it was a horror. My account was saturated with messages of hatred, insults, threats, calls for rape… It was hypergrave. I also had to change my number”.
Testimonials from clients of her salon
On the Instagram of the account Balance ton Tatoueur, testimonials are pouring in: “It was high time that it came out. His obscene words while you are getting tattooed. He comes to see you every 5 minutes telling you that you have to be completely naked when you get a tattoo on your stomach so that your tattoo artist sees the overall result on your body. In my second session (and the last one there) he was tattooing the foot of a chick who was totally naked. The discomfort every time. And having to listen to her talk about the “PD” and “dykes” ? horrible person. All my girlfriends have similar stories too. It was about time “, tells a young woman used to tattoo parlors.
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Contacted by Cheek, the main interested party defends himself: “I’m not particularly proud of it, but today my wife is Jewish, my stepson is Arab, my employees are PDs or dykes, and I think I’m the opposite of what I used to be. was all young and very stupid, I was particularly so. […] I am here to be nice to people. I am a father, I have dogs. I lived, I was young, stupid and violent, and I am no longer; I’m pretty happy with it and I really have nothing to prove to anyone. “
To denounce sexist abuses and violence in the tattoo world, the Instagram account Balance your tattoo artist relays the testimonies of victims and / or witnesses. Created in December 2020 by a Parisian tattoo artist, it has amplified these stories. After these revelations, how do you choose a truly benevolent salon? Beyond the technical quality of the work, a professional will not force you to strip off more than necessary, will not make derogatory remarks about your physique, will not make you feel insecure. Indispensable conditions to entrust your skin to anyone.
Mathilde Wattecamps
Missions: Mathilde is an expert in subjects related to women’s rights and health. Addicted to Instagram and Twitter, never stingy with a good …