An experimenter would monitor any interactions initiated by men on the beach. In half of the trials, the woman had a temporary butterfly tattoo on her lower back. To test this, he designed an experiment where a bikini-clad woman would lie face down on a towel at a beach. What Gėguin’s survey did not investigate, however, was how men respond to women with tattoos. In 2013, French psychiatrist Nicolas Géguin surveyed women with tattoos and piercings and found that these women tended to lose their virginity at younger ages (I’m not quite sure what this has to do with the sex life of adult women, but ok…). Some guy actually did a study about whether women with lower back tattoos were more sexually promiscuous. The stereotype about lower back tattoos being “slutty” became so potent as to spark scientific research. But erasing a tattoo you once liked because it somehow became a brand of some leering, ambiguous shame? Talk about the power of the patriarchy. “It just means a certain thing, and I don’t want to be part of that group,” she said to a tattoo-removal physician on her show “#CandidlyNicole.” Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton’s counterpart on the television show “The Simple Life,” even had hers removed in 2013. Long story short: widespread parental outrage and a hasty recall. In 2009, Barbie released a “Totally Stylin’ Tattoos” doll, equipped with a pack of “tattoo” stickers, one of which resembled the arched-bow shape of a tramp stamp. This rhetoric, combined with accelerating conservatism after the 2008 financial crisis, contributed to the tramp stamp’s hard and fast fall from glory. Another oft-cited early example of sexualizing lower-back tattoos is in the 2005 movie “Wedding Crashers.” Vince Vaughn’s character quips, “Tattoo on the lower back? Might as well be a bullseye.”Ī bullseye? Are you kidding? Keep your “darts” to yourself, Vince. The exact naissance of the term is unknown, but the earliest iteration of the term “tramp stamp” in mainstream media is traced to a 2004 SNL skit. And, I mean, what’s cuter with a pair of Juicy Couture sweatpants and a whale tail than a tiny butterfly decal? Among the list of celebrities who donned the style: Britney Spears, Aaliyah, Lindsey Lohan, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Alba, Christina Ricci…If I go on, we’ll be here all night.īut of course, popular culture wasn’t going to stay quiet and allow women to enjoy themselves. This trend epitomizes early 2000s style: blurred lines between high and low class fashion and over-the-top maximalism. The purpose of the lower back tattoo was no longer to hide it, but to show it off. This was the era of exposed lower backs - prime real estate for a cute flower or butterfly. Thus, the phenomenon of the lower back tattoo was born in Western culture.īiases against women with tattoos continued to lower throughout the 1900s. As ink on chicks gradually became more acceptable in the 1980s, tattoo placements that could easily be concealed were popular, according to tattoo historian Dr. Tattoos on women were taboo in Western culture for most of the 20th century, and, as we all know, social expectations for women take a long time to adjust. But why? And how did the association between lower back tattoos and sexual activity become so culturally ubiquitous? I had to know, so I did a little digging. Arguably, no other tattoo placement is as culturally divisive as a lower back tattoo on a woman. Since it started spattering the backs of young women in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the style’s popularity has waxed and waned. No matter what you call it, the lower back tattoo has earned its place in the halls of fashion history.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |