The Wiggles are known for their distinctive costumes of colorful “skivvies” (long sleeved t-shirts) and black slacks. Bright colors, nice and simple for their preschool audience. But these colorful shirts serve another purpose – to cover tattoos. Two of the five Wiggles have tattoos on their arms.
The Wiggles, like any other group, post “Behind the Scenes” pictures on Facebook. They’re fun to look at. I like seeing their travels around the world. However, this means there are a lot of skivvy-less pictures.
Here are a couple of pictures of Anthony Field, the Blue Wiggle -
And of Sam Moran, one of the two Yellow Wiggles -
There are so many ignorant comments on the pictures and around the Internet. People whining about the tattoos, saying “it’s a waste of hard earned money,” “they should keep them covered up,” or saying that they shouldn’t have them because they are children’s entertainers.
Hey people, guess what?
Your kids will be exposed to tattoos. It doesn’t matter if you hate them or not, your kid will see people around town with visible tattoos.
They do not show their tattoos on stage. If you’re SOOO worried about your kids seeing the tattoos, the tattoos don’t show when The Wiggles are performing! In one song on the Go Bananas DVD (“I’m a Scary Tiger”), The Wiggles are wearing short sleeves, but the sleeves are to the elbow, long enough to cover Anthony’s tattoos. Sam, the tiger, is wearing short sleeves as well (this was before he got his forearm tattoo), but is wearing tiger print wristbands to cover up his wrist tattoo. They blend in with his costume.
Having a tattoo does not make someone a bad person. Their tattoos were done by talented artists, in sterile environments. They were not done by a scratcher or in a prison. They do not have racist or gang symbol tattoos. They have meaning behind them.
The Wiggles’ tattoos are SUPER tame. Anthony has a family tattoo and a religious tattoo. Sam has a tattoo of his daughter’s name, a travel tattoo, and a tattoo dedicated to his love of singing. Their tattoos are not offensive.
Kids won’t make a big deal of it. One mother on Facebook posted her daughter’s reaction to a behind the scenes picture of Anthony. It was along the lines of “Oh cool! Anthony Wiggle has a tattoo just like Mommy!” And if you happen to meet one of them on the street or backstage during a show, your kid isn’t going to care about some silly ink. They’re going to be excited because they’re meeting one of their heroes.
Look at these kids. They’re not like OH HEY A TATTOO. They are looking at his face, because ANTHONY WIGGLE IS TALKING TO THEM. I love this picture.
The reactions I’ve seen around the internet remind me of the reactions I’ve seen about a certain Sesame Street clip -
Talented musicians, performing the alphabet song in a fun way. Bright and colorful. But look, one of the girls has tattoos. Many people commented on the video, saying it should not have been aired on Sesame Street, because tattoos are offensive. Because body modifications have never been shown on Sesame Street before.
Oh wait.
This was in 1996. Visible facial piercings. Shield your kids’ eyes.
My point is, stop being so intolerant and open your minds. Don’t be quick to make judgments. Having piercings or tattoos does not make someone a bad person. Anthony and Sam are not Wiggles every day. They are two adults, just living their lives. Any other adult can choose to get a tattoo – they should be able to as well.
The Wiggles do not smoke or do drugs. They rarely drink. They are not sleeping their way through Hollywood like other celebrities. Let them get their ink.
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