Monday, April 6, 2015

Tattooing the Female Body

Tattoos on are becoming increasing more prevalent. Therefore a girl getting a tattoo is not put into a stereotype of a "biker chick" initially. Yet there is definitely a difference between the norms of tattooing depending on the gender.  Males can get most of their body tattoos, and a lot of people will not think twice about it. However, there is still more stigma attached to tattooing of a female boy than that of a male. If a female has a large chest piece or a full sleeve she may get a lot of looks or rude comments on her tattoo. A male may have the same difficulty getting a job with a tattoo that large. However, large tattoos on women gather more attention because most people see them as an impediment to femininity. I feel like large tattoos are considered to be masculine, and when people are heavily tattooed they do get stigmatized into groups such as "biker chicks" to this day.

Another thing that really struck me from this video, was the generation divide surrounding tattoos. My mother and my sister both got matching tattoos (which surprises me to this day, as my mom used to tell me she would be mad if I ever got one etc). My mom was therefore supportive of my sister's tattoo, but it took my sister a few years to convince her. In the film, many mothers were very bothered by the tattoos on their daughters. The video with the Colombian mother and daughter particularly distraught me. Their whole relationship was damaged by the daughter's choice to get tattooed. The mother could not even look at her body and feel the same, she said she had to just look at her daughter's face. While that distressed me, I do have to take into consideration the cultural factors at play. It is munch less common for people in Columbia to be tattooed and it is viewed as a satanic act. Yet, a mother and a daughter's whole relationship changing based on a choice to get a tattoo is heartbreaking ot me.

Some  of the tattoo artists had children of their own who were supportive of their tattoos. Yet these women still had faced criticism or shock. One expressed that people seemed surprised that she could take care of kids well when she had a tattoo. Too me that's ridiculous. I can understand some weariness if a child does not want a nanny to have dark topics tattooed all over or being bothered by the content of certain tattoos, but a tattoo, in general should not be so consequential.

Hopefully the gender stereotypes and beliefs about tattoos continues to decline. A tattoo should be just a tattoo, regardless of who it is put on.

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