inked TEXT BY LIZZY GREEN
It’s 2017 and time for women with tattoos to be viewed the same as everyone else. Women in today’s society face so many expectations of impossible beauty standards, pressuring them to look a certain way. Tattoos are giving women control over their own bodies, allowing them to modify their personal views of beauty, letting them celebrate their own bodies. But why is it that women with tattoos can be viewed differently to others? Tattoos allow people to express their own individuality and show their personality through their beautiful inkings. There’s never just one solid reason as to why somone decides to get a tattoo. Sometimes there’s stories behind them, or they’re in memory of someone, or maybe it’s just because they enjoy the beautiful artwork. Tattoos are now much more common with the number of people choosing to permanently ink their bodies on the rise. The amount of women expressing themselves with tattoos is also on the up. Tattoo artist Liv Frost has noticed the rise, noting that the majority of the people she tattoos are women. More and more women are choosing to get tattoos, however there is still a negative stigma surrounding those who do. Attitudes have changed, people are more forward thinking then they used to be, with them seeing tattoos as less of a taboo. Nonetheless a large amount of the population still hasn’t come round
to accepting them. “I don’t think some people get it or appreciate it, nor do I think that they are very open minded for thinking or looking at people in that way. People are so easy to judge you and have an opinion” comments Liv. Women with tattoos can be sexualised because of their inkings, with people perceiving them as kinky and promiscuous, which leads to sleazy comments from men. Women being sexualized for their tattoos isn’t something that’s new. Back in the 19th century people would pay to view women displaying their heavily tattooed bodies at the circus, with part of the appeal being that they would see a woman’s body with modifications that they wouldn’t normally see. Starting her career in 1882, Nora Hildebrandt is known as America’s first tattooed lady. She was covered from her neck to toes, with a reported 365 tattoos, done by her father who was the owner of America’s first tattoo shop. Seeing a man walk down the street, supporting a colourful sleeve tattoo isn’t something that would be uncommon to see. If it was a woman who was displaying the same inkings that would be much more uncommon. It seems though it’s more socially acceptable for men to be heavily inked. Many women describe their dream boyfriend as having tattoos, but men don’t tend to look for this same
quality in a girlfriend. Drop Dead Clothing is the fashion brand created by Oli Sykes. Despite being an alternative brand, the female models that they choose to use in their campaigns and website are tattoo free. All but one of the male models they use have tattoos, including many having nearly all their body tattooed, including facial tattoos. Drop Dead Clothing commented that the “models are chosen purely by who Oli and our creative team think are best suited to each campaign, and that observation is just coincidental”. But why is it that tattooed free females are thought to be best suited? Harry Styles, David Beckham, Zayn Malik - all known for having a large collection of tattoos. The media constantly praises male celebrities like these for their tattoos. You can read article after article which include comments such as “How is it that when a guy is covered in tattoos, we’re more attracted to them? It’s a mystery we don’t really need the answer to, so long as it keeps happening.” Female celebrities don’t seem to receive the same positive reaction men do. Back in 2013, Cheryl revealed her new tattoo – a rose that covered her entire bum and back, resulted in nasty comments from the media about “spoiling” her bum. The Mirror wrote “with a bottom most men dream about why on earth has she inked this rose garden?”. However, this wasn’t her first tattoo. She previously had other smaller tattoos done, but it seems anything larger ruins her ideal, feminine image (even if it is a beautiful flower). If Cheryl wants to have roses tattooed on her bum, then let her fucking do it. Society likes to view women as pure and it seems that visible tattoos ruins this image
- resulting in them not being seen as ‘conventionally attractive’. People regard a dainty heart on an ankle as feminine, but if a woman supports something larger, such as a skull then she’s viewed as looking unfeminine. Negative reactions are common for women with tattoos. Liv says “I’ve been called disgusting, been tutted at, the lot. I think the worst was a group of middle aged women loudly saying they’d be devastated if their children grew up to look like me”. Why do people feel like they have to comment on other people’s bodies? It’s an individual’s choice to get a tattoo, it shouldn’t be an issue for anybody else, it’s not on their skin. Historically tattoo shops have been male dominated spaces, but nowadays there are more women working in the tattoo industry. Tattoo artist, Gabriela Lastra explains how its hard being a female artist in the current tattoo industry. “You have two types of female artists. You have the ones who work just like the guys, who put the hard work in... and then you have the girls who take their tops off and have this internet persona and that’s what’s getting them the work in” she comments. The sexualized image of tattooed women still proves an issue for her, with her even receiving sexual comments whilst at work from customers. Which brings us back to the question. Why is it that women with tattoos can be viewed differently to others? Women should be free to do whatever they want, whatever makes them happy, regardless of other people’s opinions. Tattoos empower women and people need to accept that women with tattoos are just normal people with extra added art to their bodies.
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STIGMA ISSUE ONE