We live in a time when tattooing isn’t given a place that’s restricted to one particular gender, or even lifestyle. It seems as though just about anyone from any walk of life might have a tattoo. In the US, in the generation that grew up with the Cold War, tattoos were very much restricted to men, with very few exceptions. They were a sign that one had been either in the military or in prison, and just about the only exceptions to this were people who were on their way in to one of these institutions. Now it’s very possible to talk about tattoos for girls just about anywhere without causing people to flinch. There will be some raised eyebrows, however, and that will probably always be true.
Tattoos have a long history in the human story, and there’s nothing contemporary about wanting to decorate the skin. Early methods of tattooing involved rubbing ash into the skin, and developing ways of discoloring the body in ways that would eventually turn into the modern practice of injecting ink below the surface of the skin. In some religious traditions it’s prohibited, and it some it’s required for a priest class. In Burma, it’s still tied to an older idea that tattoos are like amulets, and can be subject to persecution, although not to the same degree it once was. In many traditional cultures there were tattoos, then, and also taboos against who could have them. Gender usually entered into the arguments in a big way.
So it might be considered revolutionary, then, that there are less restrictions here on tattoos, and girls with tattoos are not unusual. It also might simply be considered to be another fluctuation in a cultural practice that goes through mutations all the times. Whatever it is, the practice now seems to limit what girls can do with their skin. Most of the designs that are considered appropriate for girls are delicate, floral, or related in some ways to the objects typically associated with girlhood in this country. These designs can be fairies and unicorns, stars and moons, or many variations on these themes. There are also traditional spots for girls, such as the lower back, the hip, the wrist, and above the ankle. These can be some of the more painful areas, interestingly enough.
There are people who do think outside of these boxes, however. And it really is an open field still, waiting to be defined according to the terms set by those who choose to have their skin decorated. It is making a permanent mark, and is always going to be associated, then, with bold statements.
