Things&Ink

New blog post from our intern Rosalie Woodward:

Why is that when women have certain body parts tattooed it unfolds all sorts of negative and stigmatised reactions? But when men get these places tattooed it’s acceptable – even admirable.

“I recently  told a friend that I am booked in to get a tattoo on my arm, this will be my first in such a visible spot! The rest are on my legs, foot and shoulder – all hidden away in the wintery months. She hastily asked where I was getting said tattoo, responding that my inner forearm will be decorated and covered with a Chinese lantern design she physically sighed with relief. ‘Oh Good’ she exclaimed, ‘You’d look really butch if it was on your upper arm, women with tattoos there look awful!’ Meaning that I would look less feminine and my body would no longer be seen as socially acceptable. Many women including my friend hold the view that women who decide to be tattooed should choose designs that are small, discreet and pretty- everything that society deems a woman to be!

“My friend, although rude, was merely representing the common thoughts of society in which women and men are expected to act and look in certain ways. She, like many, sees a distinct difference between the limbs of men and women and how these should be adorned.

“I personally also believe that her opinions are based on the body type and size of the woman bearing the tattoos; I am not the owner of svelte, toned arms and possibly if I was a smaller woman a tattoo on my arm would not be an issue. Alternative models and popular Suicide Girls, with their toned, lean bodies and large spattering of tattoos could never possibly be called butch because of their body art. It is their conformity with the prescribed womanly body shape which saves them from being labelled as masculine.

“The world is sizest and other women are so critical of each other, that it is easy to see where my friend’s opinions have come from. Indeed I am sure that we are all guilty at some point or another of looking down on other tattooed women, maybe you disliked the subject they chose, the artistic measure of their tattoos or indeed the limb on which it has been inked.

“Although I tend to disagree with my friend, she is not alone in her thoughts. All tattooed women, simply by bearing ink are constantly fighting to overturn the media and socially created view of tattooed women and the negative traits that they are constantly branded with. Have you been faced with negative reactions from other women? Or have men been the ones to cast a judging eye?

“But the new found love for my colourful body as it becomes more and more covered in wonderful imagery will prevail. Ultimately if you are happy in your inked skin then that is all that matters.”