People who have tattoos and other body modifications are often viewed as oddities. Back then, a tattoo was viewed as a mark that rebels or bad people would have. Now, it’s normal to see someone with tattoos of any size, especially with the notion that it’s art on the skin. However, I also couldn’t help but notice the double standard that comes with it. When men have tattoos, it’s acceptable and they are viewed as macho or cool. Meanwhile, women are instantly viewed as dirty sluts.
In my old job, I heard one photographer tell an intern that she shouldn’t get a tattoo. He believed that only prostitutes got tattoos and it’ll ruin her skin. He was probably unaware that in some cultures, tattoos symbolized healing and man’s relationship with nature. In Kalinga villages, where Whang-Od resides, women were traditionally adorned with tattoos to attract potential suitors.
Nonetheless, I glared at him from my seat while gripping my inked wrists.
At the time, I let his crass comment pass, thinking that he’s older and maybe has an old-fashioned way of looking at things. I then found out that anyone, young or old, can say horrible things about women who have tattoos.
Dennese Delaney, tattoo artist, shared that she encounters comments like that, as well as stares, on a daily basis. “I’ve kind of developed a whole defense mechanism against it. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand though where some people will get out of their way just to tell me I’m ugly,” she said.
Family members are also the biggest critics when it comes to tattoos. (Believe me, I know.) Art student Mariza Medina, who also does commissioned designs, said her parents are “the number one people who are against my tattoos. They see them as dirty and inappropriate, especially on women.”
Patricia Santana* also shared that her cousins didn’t mince words to say that tattoos make a woman unattractive. “[A cousin told me,] ‘Tattoos can lessen your beauty. No matter how pretty a girl is, if she has a tattoo, she’s ugly,'” she said. “They don’t know that I already have a tattoo on my butt cheek. [Laughs]”
But why the strong apprehension toward women with tattoos? Is it because “tramp stamps” and “slag tags” are associated with women? A 2013 study in the Daily Mail suggested just that as it’s found that men are more likely to approach women with tattoos, thinking that they’re “more sexually promiscuous.” Likewise, the University of Idaho Women’s Center also cited a study that women with tattoos are more likely to be sexually harassed.
News flash: tattoos don’t equal consent. And women who have them shouldn’t be blamed for men who can’t control their gross urges.
What about the comments about their looking ugly and dirty? Huffington Post UK noted that these labels “are sexually motivated and completely arbitrary.”
Not only are women being slut-shamed for getting tattoos, they are also being dictated on what they should do with their bodies. Why? Because men think tattoos are invitations to sexually harass women? Because women shouldn’t ruin their oh-so perfect skin with permanent ink?
“I’d like to think that most of the people that think negatively about us are just uneducated with the culture. It is true that people are afraid of what they don’t understand,” Dennese said. “There’s such a social stigma with tattoos because it’s sometimes known to be associated with the negative but people have to stop stereotyping.”
What people also don’t realize is that women get tattoos because it’s a form of self-expression and they have agency over their own bodies. We don’t do it for people, especially men, to disrespect us in any way. “As someone who designs tattoos, every client I encountered has a strong message from the design they asked for; usually from their life experiences, in memory of someone important, or something that signifies their personality,” Mariza said.
This just shows how slut-shaming goes beyond the clothes that women wear and victim-blaming. It’s what people do when they are intimidated or cannot accept a woman’s ability to decide for themselves. There are many ways that women can be empowered, and getting a tattoo or two is surely one of them.
*Name has been changed to preserve anonymity
Photo courtesy of Ruby Rose’s Instagram account
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