Tramp stamps, Pin-up and Tattoo Modelling:

Negotiating Femininity through Contemporary Australian Tattoo

Mair UnderwoodSchool of Social Science

The University of Queensland

Introduction

• Tattoo and other body decorations part of ethnographic literature since before the birth of anthropology. • Inscribed skin highlights issues central to anthropology: • the boundary between individual and society, between societies, and

between representations and experiences (Schildkrout 2004:322).

• little attention has been paid to Western practices. • Tattoo prevalence in Australia today: • women beginning to outnumber men• now highest among women aged 20-29 years (29.4%)(Heywood et al 2012).

This study

• Are tattoos ‘simply the latest forms of modification that have constrained, minimized and contorted women’s bodies in the interests of men’s approval in previous periods” (Jeffreys 2000:425)? • Do tattoos only punctuate meanings already attached to women’s bodies

(Braunberger 2000:1-2), or do tattoos change the meaning of that body?• multi-sited ethnography of women’s tattoo practices in SE Queensland:

• participant observation at two tattoo events and online• 6 in-depth interviews with tattooed women (5 tattoo models, and a female

tattooist). • non-academic publications e.g. 27 issues of Australian tattoo magazines. • approximately 20 years of experience in the Brisbane tattoo scene.

Western women and tattooing

• Beginning in 1882, “tattooed ladies” as part of circuses and carnival sideshows (Braunberger 2000:9). • Level of nudity required to display tattoos was an

added attraction• Thus upstaged tattooed men• at the point of entry into the world of tattoo Western

women were sexualised

• 1960s: ‘the last tattooed lady trod the boards in Australia’ (Cohen 1994:49).• women continually dissuaded from involvement in

tattooing• not until 1970s that Western women became tattooed

in significant numbers (Atkinson 2003:44).

Bev Robinson: last “tattooed lady” in Australia (Cohen 1994:171).

A gender divide in placement

• 1970s, 80s and early 90s: • Western women’s tattoos were generally private, men’s more public• Women: breasts, hips, shoulder blades and abdomen (Sanders

1988:413). • Men: arms by far the most common site (Sanders 1988:413). • Prior to mid 1990s most tattoos on women could be easily hidden and

were only selectively revealed.

Lower back tattoos: An increase in visibility• From mid 1990s increased in popularity • Often consisted of butterflies, flowers,

tribal patterns or a combination of these. • Low pants, short tops = visible when the

woman bent over, and sometimes even visible when standing. • about 2005 the term “tramp stamp” was

coined (precise origins unknown). • Through use of the term “tramp” a

symbolic connection between lower back tattoos and sexual promiscuity was made

Image circulated on the internet

The increasing visibility of women’s tattoos

• Since the “tramp stamp” the size and visibility of women’s tattoos has drastically increased. • 21st C:

• arms, upper chest, neck, hands and legs increasingly popular• popularity of hidden, private tattoos on the decrease amongst some women

• primarily hidden and emphasising secondary sex characteristics (e.g. breast, hips, abdomen) → occasionally visible (e.g. lower back) → readily apparent (arms and upper chests) and visible despite clothing (e.g. hands and necks). • Appropriation of masculine placements

Tattooed women increasingly visible as the “face” of tattoo• Images of women:• used to advertise tattoo conventions• frequently featured on the covers of tattoo

magazines. • only 2 out of the 28 (7%) issues of Custom Tattooz (since

2007) have featured men on the cover (and one of these was pictured with a woman).

• 71% of covers of Tattoos Down Under featured “cover-girls”

• no men appearing on covers of these magazines for the last 2 years.

Changes in the gendered subject matter of tattoos

• Previously a fairly distinct gender boundary:• Women: flowers, butterflies,

fairies, cute cartoon characters, celestial motifs and the like. • Men: stronger and more violent

images such as skulls, dragons, monsters, scantily clad or nude women, and predatory animals.

Contemporary subject matter: diminishing gender differences

• Due to rise in popularity of:• oriental designs• “old school”, traditional• Facilitator: When I first started

getting tattooed, it seemed that men’s and women’s tattoo were quite distinct. Has that changed? • Interviewee:Yeah, it's totally different

now. With the full sleeve, it could generally be on a boy or a girl. It wouldn't really make too much of a difference, I don't think (Interview 4).

The persistent sexualisation of tattooed women• tattooed women are viewed as promiscuous (Swami and Furnham 2007). • Gueguen 2013:

• more men approached the tattooed women and the mean latency of their approach was quicker.

• Men also thought they would have more chance of obtaining a date, and having sex on the first date, with tattooed women.

• I get a lot of guys come up and start a conversation with me now [that I am tattooed]. Even when I go out and I don't have any visible tattoos there's a massive difference between guys that approach you when they can see tattoos, to guys that approach you when they can't see tattoos (interview 5).• I think a lot of men look at me like “Oh, she'll be easy to pick up or let's go talk to

her”, because a lot of people hit on me in that sort of sleazy way (Interview 4).

Can’t meet mum

• senior member of the clergy: • They’re loose [laughs] not the sort of people that my mum would

have invited home for afternoon tea dear [laughs]. • I've dated a guy who said I could never take you home to my mum.

You know, this is never going to go anywhere because you have a lot of tattoos (Interview 6).• at the symbolic link is made between tattoos and sexual availability

regardless of their conscious personal motivations.

Tattoo modelling

• Last 5 years in Australia• change in how

tattooed women were being perceived. As a heavily tattooed woman in her 30s said, tattooed women went from “tough, one of the lads, to sexy feminine” (name).

Observation at modelling events

• “Tattooed Beauties”• Quite a standardised look:• very revealing clothes, often more than is necessary to reveal the tattoos (e.g. with fly open).• Slender (and some very thin), large breasted (many obviously fake breasts). • Many of them have hair extensions, fake tans and false eyelashes.• Focus not on tattoos:

• There is no time to see their tattoos in any detail, they keep moving.• a separate prize for “best ink on a beauty”.

• “Miss Tattoo” • Less revealing clothes (e.g. larger swimsuits).• range of bodies on display: some are thin, some are very curvy and some even have cellulite. • Pose in front of judges so tattoos can be examined.

Pin-up• “Pin-up” originally referred to a

photo or picture of a person intended for display on a wall• is said to have originated with

the trend of military • increasing number of women are

also getting tattoos of pin-ups. • now used to refer to a certain

style of dress and body work.

Why so popular with tattooed women?

• classy (Interview 2).• gorgeous without being trashy

(female competitor in “best pin-up category).• not like sexy is the least amount of

clothes you can possibly wear, or the skinniest that you can be. (Interview ?) • balances out the masculinity of the

tattoos.

Balancing masculinity and femininity• It's [pin-up is] very elegant and I think having tattoos, having

something about you that's elegant and feminine was one of the big drawcards for me … it just makes me feel like a lady (Interview 2).• When I don't have my hair done and makeup done and nails done, I

reckon they [the tattoos] make me feel kind of manly, like a bit butch (Interview 1).

Empowerment

• As a woman I feel, I suppose, empowered that I've got them (Interview 5).• Interviewee:I think it's the empowerment as well, of being able to say

I'm a girl, I can get a tattoo if I want … it's my choice and my body (Interview 2).• But increased power is not just an individual perception. Tattooed

women have been found to be viewed as more powerful and less passive than non-tattooed women (Hawkes, Senn and Thorn 2004:602).

A shifting power balance?1995 2013

Conclusion• practice of tattoo has become in some ways de-gendered• However one important difference between tattooed men’s bodies and tattooed

women’s bodies has remained: the extent to which they are sexualised• Braunberger (2000:1-2) states, “When a woman’s body is a sex object, a tattooed woman’s body

is a lascivious sex object”.

• sex as a source of strength and independence• subvert the ever-present “male gaze” by forcing men (and women) to look at their

bodies in a manner that exerts their control (DeMello 2000:173). • The gaze denotes at the same time power (it enables us to exert control over the

situation, to occupy the position of master) and impotence (as bearers of a gaze, we are reduced to the role of passive witnesses to the adversary’s action). (Žižek 1991:72)

• complex interaction of power relationships in which dominant norms, values and meanings both limit and provide sites for resistance.

• women actively negotiate gender boundaries and the power relations attached to them.

• Tattoos invest women’s bodies with qualities such as power and activity,