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Why
do women tattoo their bodies?
Is
it fashion for women or something else?
By Vince Hemingson
Being human, it seems antithetical to our nature to leave well enough alone. Part of the human condition it would seem, is a proclivity to tinker. Even with perfection! We just can't seem to stop ourselves from wanting to gild the lily. Oh to be sure, with the advent of modern science and technology and silicone, industrial giants like Dow-Corning and Dupont have tried to entice us since the sixties that "Better Living Through Chemistry" can be extended to the human body.
History of tattoos
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Their is ample anthropological and archeological evidence to show that women have been altering the appearance of their bodies in order to
enhance their attractiveness since the dawn of time. I am speaking primarily of
tattooing, but also of
body-painting and
piercing. This phenomenon is more widespread than isolated and cuts across many different cultures around the world. Mummies of ancient
Egyptian courtesans show that their bodies were tattooed. Berber women in North Africa still tattoo their bodies with beauty marks to this day. Tattooing has been practiced by the women of the hill tribes of The Philippines, the Maoris of New Zealand, many of the Polynesians of the South Pacific, and many of the native peoples of North America. It is an extraordinarily common practice. |
 In modern Western society since the mid-18th century there has even been a significant percentage of the women of the population who have been tattooed and contrary to popular myth, not all of them have been prostitutes or women of easy virtue. When Captain Cook and his crew returned from their voyages to Polynesian, the salons of London and
Paris and the other capitals of Europe were
abuzz with tales of tattooed savages. Many of Cook's men, and even his
officers, had gotten tattooed. This craze even extended to member of the upper classes and it was not uncommon for members of the social elite in England to gather after dinner in the great country houses and
partially disrobe in order to show off their tattoos. Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph, or Jenny as she was called by close friends, is known to have been tattooed.
 Like most things in life there is probably no one answer but a number of theories have been put forward. Tattooing in many cultures is a ritual closely tied to the rite of passage from adolescence to
adulthood. In both men and women tattooing demonstrated to the rest of the community that the individual tattooed was now an
adult,
ready to take on an adult role and assume adult
responsibilities. The tattooing was a rite that was painful and
bloody, a clear demarcation line between childhood and
adulthood. (Related:
Ivy Supersonic with 23 tattoos)
So a woman who tattoos her body is saying not only that she is mature, but also that she is an
attractive
creature. Women who have tattoos will tell you many stories of their effect. A strikingly attractive business professional in her mid 20's, says men are nearly uniform in their reactions upon learning she has a tattoo. "They all look at me to see if it's visible," she says laughing," and then they almost always ask me, 'Where is it?'. As if! Or they'll look at you coyly and ask, 'Can I see
it?' And I usually tell them, 'Only if you're lucky!' She says she got her tattoos because they had an important symbolic value to her but she doesn't discount the fact that they make her
feel naughty as well.
Recommended link:
Henna tattoos |
