Many women from these cultures are now reclaiming these rites, imbuing them with fresh meaning while honouring their heritage. Perhaps the most palpable example of this is found among the Indigenous communities whose tattoo traditions were erased by colonization. “The experience of being tattooed with a self-made, visible, decorative identifier can reinforce a sense of agency and control through the active manifestation of an otherwise passive experience.” “Tattooing behaviour can augment self-esteem,” write the authors of a 2019 study looking at young women and tattoos.

In some cases a tattoo is literally a political statement: In 2017, Time reported a trend in “Nevertheless, she persisted” ink to honour Senator Elizabeth Warren.įar from being marks of shame, these tattoos are intrinsically tied to a woman’s identity and self-worth. Similarly, women who used to self-harm can erase signs of the past. Recent years, however, have seen a surge in female tattoo popularity – and pride.īreast-cancer survivors turn mastectomy scars into beautiful works of art. Sadly, it could be argued that such views persisted well into this millennium: Let us not forget that in the 2000s, women with lower-back tattoos were ridiculed for their “tramp stamps.” Tattoos violated the assumption that “women should be pure, that their bodies should be concealed and controlled, and that ladies should not express their own desire,” Margot Mifflin, author of Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo told The Atlantic. While it was de rigueur for upper-crust ladies of Victorian society (such as Lady Churchill) to get small designs in discreet, easy-to-hide places, more obvious tattoos on lower-income women were considered a sign of indecency and loose morals. It was not until tattoos hit the Western world in the 1800s – introduced by returning sailors – that the sight of them on women became divisive. Tattoos found on female mummies from 3,000 years ago include cross patterns, a baboon, an eye and other hieroglyphic-like elements scholars have hypothesized the art identifies the women as healers or priestesses. We know women have been getting inked for at least 5,000 years: The oldest surviving example dates back to ancient Egypt. What I didn’t fully appreciate then was that I was following a surprisingly feminist history of tattooing. The tattoo would serve as a reminder that some days are bad and some days are good, but ultimately life starts afresh every morning. band Keane that I had been playing non-stop after my long-term relationship crumbled.

The words were lyrics from Nothing in My Way, a song by U.K. I myself got inked for the first time at age 31 – the phrase “It’s just another day,” etched onto my wrist forever. She would also not be the first nor the last woman to mark a key moment in her life with a tattoo. Still the tale is not as shocking as it sounds – and would actually have been one of the least scandalous actions performed by a woman who loved a get-rich-quick scheme, had a rumoured 200 lovers and wrote a tell-all book about Edwardian aristocratic life.

Number fonts for tattoos