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Home > Blogs > Women's Life > Archives > 2011 > March > 11
Friday, March 11, 2011
Are tattoos unfeminine?
When I was in high school, I swore up and down that I wanted a little red dragon tattoo, and that I would get one as soon as I turned 18. Of course, my mom opposed the idea, because that’s a mom’s job: to protect her daughter from doing something potentially regrettable that can’t be undone (at least, inexpensively and painlessly).
Her standard warning was, “You may think it looks cool now, but what are you going to think of it when you’re 80 and it’s faded and wrinkly?” She’d also warn me about looking professional, to which I retorted with the intent to get a tattoo in an area that could be easily concealed when necessary. “Why get one at all if you’re just going to cover it up most of the time?” Ok, Mom. Touché.
In the end, her words of warning did come into play. I still got a tattoo, but not a dragon. It’s an infinity symbol (∞) and it’s about an inch long on my upper back, between my spine and my left shoulder blade. I chose it because I believe the universe is infinite, with no boundaries, beginning or end. It’s not a design I think I’ll regret. I’m not even sure I’ll care about it when I’m 80; even today, I sometimes forget I have it or which side it’s on. It’s modest, it’s out of the way, and yet it still means something to me.
But back to my main question: Are tattoos unfeminine? What do you think when you see a woman with a tattoo, or multiple tattoos? Do you have any yourself, and if so, do you regret getting it/them?
A close friend has some art on her lower back: a French horn with a musical staff wafting through it, depicting notes from one of her favorite compositions. Although it’s quite a bit larger than mine, I consider it very tastefully done. She is an excellent horn player and is well on her way to becoming a professional musician. It totally suits her.
Of course, for as many tasteful and unique tattoos I’ve seen on women, there have been others that made me cringe. Call me old-fashioned, but it’s my belief that anything you get permanently etched onto your body should be a well thought-out decision. I’m proud to say my choice of the infinity symbol was deliberate, not impulsive, and I have an idea for a second tattoo that I’ve been mulling over for years. (Sorry, Mom.)
If you go to the water park area of Kings Island in the summer, it’s like a museum of the good, the bad and the ugly of body art. I personally find it fascinating. A man in front of me in line for a locker had a piece covering his entire back showing a very disturbing-looking tree with dollar bills for leaves and “the root of all evil” written at the tree’s roots. I had to give him props for originality, even though body art of that size meets my criteria for “excessive.”
A young woman assembling my lunch at a local fast-food restaurant had “sleeves” - that is, tattoos all the way down her arms ending at her wrists. I didn’t get a really close look at the full designs, but I did spot a pink high-heeled shoe and a tube of lipstick on one arm. In the end, it’s her body and her choice what she puts on it, but I couldn’t help wondering what her thought process was when she decided on those designs.
Or what she’ll think of them when she’s 80.
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