Nice. Something I've only ever heard out of the mouths of frat boys, and Joe Francis, glorified frat boys from someone who considers herself an enlightened, intelligent woman. Of course she isn't, but still, it's pathetic.

And I don't have a tatoo, but surely there are other physical marks identifying me as a whore right? I hope so! What if people can't tell what a slut I am?! I need to work on this...

*rolls eyes* Oh, for Diana's sake... I have about seven tattoos, done by a close friend, (I'm sixteen, got legal consent), and even though I've never had sex, I'm a filthy slut who is compromising the health of a rhetorical fetus. Jeez. It seems, again, to be another way to keep Teh Wimminz! In! Their! Place! They even state "It's okay if men get them, but not women." Because of Teh Fetus. You know, what if that fetus was a girl?

Wait, Jessica, you're a tramp?! I thought you were an ugly man-hating feminist who couldn't get a date. WHICH IS IT?

Pardon me while my head explodes.

I have two. One on my wrist and one on my bicep. And I enjoy casual sex. And I'm a woman. What's up Schlussel? You wanna go?

I find it highly amusing that my 'tramp stamp' is a Finnish protection charm that was traditionally hung outside of ones home to ward off evil spirts, i.e. the 'evil eye' LOL.

The comments over there made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

I have a tattoo on my lower back; OMGZ IMMA WHORE. If you know me, you know I'm as far from a whore as one can get without actually having teh vag sewn shut.

Things like this piss me off. Because of my choice of location for my inking, I'm suddenly a TRAMP?

My favorite thing is the article about the "danger" is this quote:

Finally, Dr. Douglas says, women should be told that while there is no proof complications will arise, there remains a potential risk.

Uh huh. But please, scare women anyway. Don't get a tattoo because probably nothing will happen.

And Jess, that's not why I think you're a tramp, for the record.

Oh, BTW, one's an ankh, one's Jack Skellington, one's a raven, one's a logo from a band I love, another's a swan in flight, and the other two are Zero, and Sally, both next to Jack. I think that Schussel might make up some excuse that 'good Christian women' don't get tattoos of Jeebus or something else Christian. I mean, really, I saw some crazy lady with a FULL BACK tattoo of Jeebus. *eyetwitch* She'd probably let it slide. But mine will say I'm a... what? Heathen? I mean, really.

btw- the epidural thing- i had one with my second daughter and it went fine EVEN WITH THE SKEEZY TATTOO INK ALL OVER MY BACK.

ahahaha. I wonder what it means when you have one close to your vag?

hey, i have a lotus on my lower back, too!

let's be slutty whores/man-hating lesbians together, jess.

I don't know why I'm such a masochist, but i actually decided to read through all the comments. After feeling sick to my stomach multiple times, I found this:

"...tramp-stamp? Geez, how utterly insulting and stupid can you be? I say that as an untattooed mom and grandma. ... making such blanket "she's a slut" statements about women, which includes CONSERVATIVE women, with decorative/meaningful tattoos is indicates more about the lack of class of the speaker than it does about the "slut.""

Oh occasional diamonds in the rough...

Good point, soupcann31! That made me laugh.

It's amazing how many ways people can come up with to express their discomfort at a woman controlling her body. If she can control what's on it she might want to control what's in it, too! Horrifying! Better call them tramps, lest they feel too good about their bodies and choices.

I prefer to get a tiny penis tattoo on my arm every time I have sex. It beats notches on the bedpost, but does make job interviews a little difficult.

I prefer to get a tiny penis tattoo on my arm every time I have sex. It beats notches on the bedpost, but does make job interviews a little difficult.

By her own definition she is a slut... I am sure she doesnt take long to agree to repeatedly put food in her body when she can just ONCE put an IV in and have all the nutrition she needs.

And again the f-ing double standard of men can be pimps/players and whatever other sex fiend but women can't.

My head hurts... ;P

"I'm glad my religion forbids me from getting one."

Hahaha... because goodness knows, she might go hog wild with ink and needles if she weren't forbade. Psh.

My tattoo is on my ribcage. Am I still a dirty slut, or does the location mean I can't claim that label?

. . . or, since my tattoo is in one of the most painful locations you can choose, does it mean that not only do I enjoy repeated penetration, I'm a masochist/like it rough?

The worst part about that article was that she tried to draw a direct line from back tattoos to OMG YOU'RE KILLING YOUR UNBORN CHILD! The articles she cited only discussed sketchy possible dangers in getting an epidural when you have a back tattoo...which would only cause pain to the mom, not the child. And you don't need to get an epidural to give birth. So SHUT THE FUCK UP you scary woman.

You're on, Leigh!

My wish to mock lower-back tattoos is powerful, yet mitigated by the other inanity of equating needle penetration with sluttery. "This is a cultural trend I don't care for, so it's indicative of a greater societal ill" not being a motive i wish to echo. Tacky, yet erotic. Aren't we all.

MissMay12, I'm sorry to bum you out, but that diamond in the rough commentor is a feministe reader who went over to comment a bit of her mind.
Not that it isn't still great, it's just that it's not a regular Debbie reader pissed off...

Am I a sexist pig for being a little turned on imagining Jessica V. brushing her teeth?

I wouldn't have thought conservatives would want women to be able to get out of the pain of childbirth anyway. Aren't we paying for origninal sin or something.

Huh. I wonder what she would say to the topless hula dancer I'm going to get on my hip? (It's a family tradition to have Lulu--Grandpa got one from Sailor Jerry during the war, Dad has one, mysisterthereincarnationofBettyPaige
has one, mybrothertheslacker has one, leaving just me and my sisterthePhDstudent to get one. Mine is scheduled for sometime in Nov.)So...slutty? or lesbian? OOO! I know, I'm a slutty lesbian! My husband is sure going to be surprised.

I have one offset on the side of my lower back...what kind of a tramp does that make me?

One of the commenters referred to Angelina Jolie as a "skank."

I just puked a little in my mouth.

Considering that my favorite and most prominent tattoo is the symbol of the virgin Artemis, does that make a virginal tramp?

I'm sleeved and have about 24 piercings. Now I understand why.

Debbie's wrong though: The tattoo that makes me a tramp isn't the one on my lower back - it's the one on my crotch that says "Fuck Eat Sleep Destroy" in script. She probably wouldn't be too fond of the "Born to Rock" with the skull and crossbones and lighting bolts inked on my (way) lower stomach, either.

I should post a picture of the vag tat, along with the feminist fist I have on my arm on Debbie Schlussel's blog. Maybe it will make her spontaneously combust.

I have the "tramp stamp" directly in the center of my lower back, it's a yin/yang which I love and will hopefully one day add wings too. I got the tattoo honestly knowing nothing about the lower back being a popular spot for women to get tattoes. I lot of women are now getting small tattoos on their lower abdomen (either left or right) is that going to be up for mocking as well? All jokes aside it's actually a good spot for a tattoo. I hardly see people mocking others for getting tattoos on the middle of the back, directly up from the lower middle back, or on their shoulder, arm*, etc. So why is THIS spot so worthy of ridicule? *(aside from the traditional 'barb wire' tattoo on the arm)

And, as someone else has already pointed out, this is just another way of shaming women about choosing to do whatever they want with their own bodies. OF COURSE men can get tattoos, that's macho and forgivable and reflects nothing back on the man about his choices in life, however if a women gets a tattoo, well then she's a dirty slut who'll just let anything into or on her body. They're scraping the bottom of the barrel, though I don't know if that's a good thing.

I have two tattoos, of safety pins "peircing" my skin, just inside my hipbones. That must make me, like, a quadruple tramp. Oh no, I'm so devastated.
Seriously, do people get paid to write this junk?

I've always wanted a lotus tattoo on my lower back...now I'm thinking I seriously need that tattoo, if only to infuriate psycho woman-haters!

I have wings tattooed on my ankle, and I have my ears pierced, and I have my belly button pierced. I must be in the whoredome hall of fame, despite that I've only been with one man and we're still together. It's been two years.

I think she should come tell me I'm a whore to my face. She probably wouldn't have the guts.

Um.. the comments of the self-loathing nitwit Schlussel notwithstanding... I can't believe you've never heard the term "tramp stamp" before, Jessica! It's been common slang for as long as I can remember. Through undergrad at least.

The reason it's called that has nothing to do with "needles going into her body" or other nonsense that conservative columnists of limited IQ can come up with...

the real reason is because, well as far as I could tell in undergrad and hearing that term said by both genders... people think, uh... well, they think the point of the lower back tatoo is to, forgive me, but how do I put this... give the guy some visual eye candy while in certain positions...

Hey, I know, but don't look at me! I didn't come up with the phrase! :O

I LOVE your lotus! I have the symbol for year of the tiger on my lower back hip. I guess that I am just a total tramp.

when my dad found out about mine (butterfly, lower back), he told me 'only whores and loose women get tattoos.'
next time i was home, 'hey! look what my daughter did. how cool is that?'
i think he always wanted a 'rebel' in the family.

Cool tattoo thread. I only have a black ankh on my right shoulderblade but I'm definitely planning on getting more. I really want to get a lotus like Nana Osaki's from the Nana manga/anima/movie/nation.
I used to have my nipples pierced, which I miss a lot. That was such an awesome piercing. I wonder what kind of whore that makes me.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop using that awful phrase about "throwing up in [your] mouth a little" when conveying disgust. It's just gross and played out, kind of like threatening to throw bleach into your own eyes when seeing something you don't agree with.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest:

What really pisses me off are women who just love to bash other women using sexism, all for the hope of a patriarchal head-pat. Ugh.

This seems to be rather endemic to all of women, not just conservative women (though they do tend to spout it a lot more, IMHO). If there were ever a way to get this across especially to younger women who like to tear each other apart at that level ("slut"), I'd be happier.

Also: tattooed as well. Just my upper left arm.

"the real reason is because, well as far as I could tell in undergrad and hearing that term said by both genders... people think, uh... well, they think the point of the lower back tatoo is to, forgive me, but how do I put this... give the guy some visual eye candy while in certain positions..."

You're right about that, ForbiddenComma. I've never heard the term tramp stamp before but I have heard people refer to lower back tattoos on women as, ahem, "come-catchers" on several occasions.

You're right about that, ForbiddenComma. I've never heard the term tramp stamp before but I have heard people refer to lower back tattoos on women as, ahem, "come-catchers" on several occasions.

rotf "Come catchers"? lol! That is so awful, but I'm highly amused hahahaha

I think what surprises me most is that there's still this stigma attached to tattooed women in general, no matter where they're tattooed. It seems more commonplace to be tattooed in present times, but I've doing some research since I'm considering a half sleeve, and I was appalled at the comments people were making about women with visible tattoos! Most of them were along the same lines- "Women with tattoos look trashy/slutty/etc." It seems to be a common theme across the board with female body mods. Heaven forbid a woman voluntarily takes it upon herself to not fit conventional beauty standards...

Also, "come-catcher"?!! I have never heard that one, and glad I haven't! Ew.

My mother-in-law, who is a church-going evangelical Christian, has a tat on her lower back. Guess she didn't get the memo.

I wonder what DS thinks about those of us who get tatoos because our radiation oncologists require them to calibrate our treatment? Are women with those tat's sluts for chosing to embrace modern medicine rather than letting 'god's will be done'. For the record i haven't had radiation...yet. but i have lots of surgery scars from cancer that have taken my ovaries and breasts. if i get a tat, does that still make me a slut...when the parts of me that are evidently the most "VALUABLE" are gone? I mean, that "is" my function as a woman - provide boobies and ovaries to children and the menfolk...
right?

p.s. for the snark impaired, my value is not my lost boobies or ovaries. i am valuable becuase i am ME.

Wow. Congrats, Debbie Schlussel, that's officially the dumbest thing anyone's ever said, EVER.

Debbie Schlussel is just a low-rent version of Ann Coulter. She's a joke.

Some of the little old ladies that haunt our gym a few mornings a week got upset about my tattoos. Ok, outright mean and rude. A couple of the nice ones asked me about them and were honestly interested. One of the older ladies that used to waitress at a pub we frequent, broke it down like this. The older and more religiously conservative the more they have an issue with tattoos, especially on women. The whole loose women thing.
So Debbie has herself some good company, the prudish wrinkled old lady brigade.

Tattoos are an art form that predate Christianity.

Okey Doke. "Tramp stamp" has been around for a long time now. Concocting stories about why we think people call it that is seriously not news (Schlussel — So there).

"Some of the little old ladies that haunt our gym a few mornings a week got upset about my tattoos. Ok, outright mean and rude."

What a bunch of jerks. I also wonder what they think of women their age who have certain arm tattoos...

"A couple of the nice ones asked me about them and were honestly interested."

Cool.

An aside...what is it with the preponderance of wack job anti-feminist pundits with the tonguetwisting surnames...Schlafly, Schlessinger, Schlussel???

The tat on my lower back is a symbol from a 1980s fantasy children's movie. Cause that's really gonna get me laid. :b Also, it took me years to decide on it. I'd call that a fairly long time.

A lot of girls get tats there because it's a spot of the body that won't change or stretch out much and it can be easily hidden if desired. If a girl got one to show her sluttiness, wouldn't it be on her tit or something? (

"But, as I've written, a woman who doesn't take long to agree to repeatedly put a needle in her body, generally doesn't take long before she acquiesces to putting other things into her body."

Aaaaaah...the sweet smell of logic in the early eve.

I'm gonna go bleach my brain now.

I know a girl who has a Bible verse tattooed on her lower back, in the "tramp stamp" position. She is anything but promiscuous. This Schlussel woman is just fucking stupid.

MD--Oooh, which children's movie? The Neverending Story? Dark Crystal? Labyrinth?

Sparrow--It makes you an asymmetrical tramp.

"A lot of girls get tats there because it's a spot of the body that won't change or stretch out much and it can be easily hidden if desired. If a girl got one to show her sluttiness, wouldn't it be on her tit or something?"

hahaha, i must take the cake then, with a tattoo that covers my entire chest...then again its people underground being eaten by worms [ever seen the movie squirms? its the poster] so i think that repels more men than attracts [and the type it repels i dont want anyway]..cant be a tramp if they dont want to fuck you right? haha

Ahhh, (perceptions of) the tramp stamp has actually been focused on recently by researchers. Apparently people don't like it women women violate body taboos:

Swami, V., & Furnham, A. (in press). Unattractive, promiscuous, and heavy drinkers: Perceptions of women with tattoos. Body Image: An International Journal of Research.

I posted this on Feministe- if I ever got a tramp stamp, it'd say "Hardcore Feminist" or something like that. Just to mess with the minds of oglers.

So I'm twice the slut because I have two tattoos, but less of one because neither is on my lower back...so does that balance out and just make me sorta slutty?

At least I get to see the pretty red rose on my ankle when my whory legs are up in the air...

Dubious theory: "give the guy some visual eye candy while in certain positions..."

Ordinarily, this problem can be taken care off by leaving the lights on.

Schussel has her priorities in good order: first, it is important not to be "easy". Second, it is EVEN MORE important not to "look easy". Third, it is yet more important to find the only correct way for everything.

On the other hand: lotus? Why not a fish, or a pelican nursing her chick, or a dove, or a lamb, or Archangel Metatron, or Metatron's cube etc. Thee are so many nice Christian symbols to choose from.

"Unattractive, promiscuous, and heavy drinkers".

Awesome, UCLA - can't wait to read that paper. Not only are we all total tramps, but we're ugly drunkards to boot! I feel pretty good about that, actually... ;)

ever seen the movie squirms?
Wasn't that on an episode of MST3K? The one with the creepy, pervy guy named Roger screaming "You gonna be the worm face!"

What does this make me? I've been a type 1 diabetic for 6 years now, and given myself lots of shots...

moxie-
hah, i have no clue what that is. squirms is an early 80's or possibly 70's horror movie.

I can't believe she missed the obvious conclusion: men with tattoos are teh gay. Duh. They let other people (traditionally men, but of course, sometimes women) repeatedly penetrate their body.

I hate needles, myself, but if I weren't such a hater of pain, I'd get "growing older is killing a child" across the left hip. It'd be neato. I wonder what she'd think of that one.

Dubious theory: "give the guy some visual eye candy while in certain positions..."

Ordinarily, this problem can be taken care off by leaving the lights on.

Speaking as a usually-heterosexual guy, I'll agree with this; the very definition of solving a non-problem.

thesoymilkconspiracy: i totally have the feminist fist on my arm too. we could start a tattooed feminist gang and leave flaming bags of poo on debbie schlussel's porch, then ring her doorbell and run. i envy your sleeves tho, if only tats werent so damn expensive!

thus far i have 6, a small blue heart with a k inside for a friend who passed away on the inside of my left wrist, a keith haring drawing on my left forearm, the feminist fist on my left arm/shoulder, a cassette tape labeled "mon coeur" on my chest, and on my upper back between my shoulders i have a mermaid sitting on the moon holding a vintage microphone and above her in script "if you were a mermaid, i was the sea." from wasteland by francesca lia block.

someday ill have full sleeves, and also i will have "book worm" tatted on my knuckles. and my mom will be dissapointed forever.

Wow. I have a celtic symbol of femininity and fertility between my shoulder blades. Is that close enough?

I also got acupuncture as medical treatment. Lots of needles there. I might as well have just screwed the acupuncturist.

ugh!!! i read this earlier this week on a friend's livejournal and had to rant about how much it pissed me off. as an owner of multiple tattoos (like many feministing readers) how insulting is this character generalization on tattoo-owners? the big thing that bugs me is if debbie schlussel thinks tattoos are some kind of 20th century american creation. like tattoos haven't been around for tens of thousands of years in cultures across the world, having a wide variety of meanings. as if they have always had the same meaning that women are tramps and men, well they can have them if they want. ::brain seriously beginning to hurt::

As a muslim i cannot get a tattoo, but i certainly dont make judgements on those who do. i actually like tattoos-one of my mates has 20 and they look really nice on her. but thats besides the point. this just seems like another excuse to bash women and like jess said-gets some kudos from the patriarchy. i'd say this to debbie schlussel myself but she'd probably tell me to piss off back to saudi (despite the fact i'm british!)

Jessica, that's some amazing rendering there on that lotus, it's an absolutely gorgeous tattoo!

"As a muslim i cannot get a tattoo, but i certainly dont make judgements on those who do. i actually like tattoos-one of my mates has 20 and they look really nice on her. but thats besides the point."

Your post just reminded me of henna. Does a temporary henna design on skin count as a tattoo or not? I've heard of some observant Muslims getting those, and if I want a tattoo someday I'll do the same. :)

I'm probably a little late to the party here, but I love the parts about how trendy tattoos are. I got mine for my 23rd birthday and expect to get my second next year for my 40th.

Gorgeous lotus, by the way!

I've got six tattoos (soon to be nine) and I've had two dozen piercings.

Tattoos predate Christianity. Hardly a fad, as some conservative types seem to think.

I'd always heard "tribal" lower back tattoos became popularized through their association with strippers and porn stars. Hence the "tramp stamp" name. Either way, it's a dumb term, though.

I've got a tattoo on my upper left arm like another commenter.

There seems to be an underlying, common misogynist "urban legend" meme out there saying that women get lower back tattoos only in order to have a "target" for men who withdraw during doggystyle to ejaculate on it. That meme's got a strong "teenage boy" feel to it, especially the "that's the only possible reason!" aspect. One of the feminist blogs covering this story actually quoted a comment to that effect.

And the "diamond in the rough" commenter was actually Darleen, an occasional combatant at Feministe. I guess when sexism affects her, then it's a big deal, and the rest of the time I guess we're all just overreacting feminazis. :-P

And I was doing a search for articles with titles similar to the ones UCLAbodyimage posted, and found this.

From the link: Tattooing experienced a revival during the 1920s and the suffragist movement; it became in vogue among the upper classes to have a tattoo. But not all women enjoyed such freedom, and society did not necessarily endorse this trend. For example, in the late 1920s, the conviction of a rapist was overturned because a small butterfly tattoo was found on the victim (Mifflin, 1997). Both the judge and jury agreed that the tattoo had sexual implications, and, as a result, it was held that the woman was in part responsible for misleading the man who raped her.

So, I went to her site to read about how I'm a slut... and she hates EVERYBODY!!!! It's really pretty sad.

I'm actually a little flattered, now-- if she approved of my lifestyle I'd have to make some serious changes.

Moxie Hart: I have the Nana lotus (done in purple, as my metal allergy prevents me from having pink/red inks) on my upper back, between my shoulder blades. I regard it as the most awesome thing I've ever gotten.

Also, did anyone notice the whingeing in Schussel's comments about the paaaaain of getting tattoos? I barely had any pain at all when I got my lotus- I felt like I was being tickled!

Aww! Speaking of MST, Moxie, my first tattoo was Tom Servo on the inside of my lower leg. I adore that show but it's such a goofy tattoo to have for a lady. Not that I don't absolutely love it - and people really get a kick out of it! - but it's not on my lower back or wherever girls are expected to get tattoos, i.e. the sexiest places. Although I have the Canadian flag on my hip, that's pretty girly/sexy/trampy according to the viewer!

I definitely DIDN'T feel like I was being tickled - the hip tattoo was rough at times - but it wasn't unbearable pain for sure.

Of course I vote for reneging the "tramp stamp" stigma of lower back tattoos, or tattoos on women in gen. I just wanted to join the tattoo-revealing party! One day I hope to get a big piece on my back. The only person in my family who's given me shit is one of my grandmothers - and I'm pretty sure she totally forgot that I have it - so I'm pretty lucky. Yay, tats!

I've been reluctant to get a tattoo because I'm a commitmentphobe and I'm not sure I'd be happy with the same design on my body for the rest of my life. So, following Schlussel logic, inked-up women should be considered more suited to monogamous, life-long relationships than uninked women. She should be singing the praises of Jill's fidelity flower instead of condemning her tramp stamp.

So why is it that sexually "easy" women are less "forgivable"? Puke!

I agree with all the mockery above.

However, I'd like to say that ad hoc reasoning on the basis of presumed symbolism of certain activities is not only suspicious and often ludicrous when committed by silly conservatives trying to make a politically-loaded point. Progressives and feminists make the same mistake, too.

That's not to say that there are no actual psychosocial symbologies active—I'm certain there are. But what's good for the goose is good for the gander, so to speak. If you're going to laugh someone out of the room for such labored psychosocial theorizing, then you ought to try to be careful not to be too glib, yourself.

Moxie Hart: I have the Nana lotus (done in purple, as my metal allergy prevents me from having pink/red inks) on my upper back, between my shoulder blades. I regard it as the most awesome thing I've ever gotten.
Also, did anyone notice the whingeing in Schussel's comments about the paaaaain of getting tattoos? I barely had any pain at all when I got my lotus- I felt like I was being tickled!
Awesome! I love Nana and Nana O.'s tattoo is so awsomely rendered. I'd get it on my arm if my arm were more toned. To the gym!
My tattoo is small and only one color, but it really didn't bother me. I rather liked the sensation, but I'm a bit of a weirdo. I love getting needles and blood drawn.
Aww! Speaking of MST, Moxie, my first tattoo was Tom Servo on the inside of my lower leg. I adore that show but it's such a goofy tattoo to have for a lady. Not that I don't absolutely love it - and people really get a kick out of it! - but it's not on my lower back or wherever girls are expected to get tattoos, i.e. the sexiest places.
Omg, I love "Tommy Gun" Servo. I judge tattoos by creativity, so I think it's pretty cool.

I have those too, bailey_comus. :)
I'm sure I'd get a pass for my radiation tats, as I didn't want them. I *had* to get them and plus I'm ill so maybe she'd have sympathy.
But only for a little while, since I willingly got a "real" tat on my foot, and I'd do it again, muhaha!

I definitely shared my perspective on her thoroughly limited perspective on that post.

Oh, and I have to say that feministing is my latest addiction. It's bringing out the inner woman with a loud, yet intelligent, mouth, and I love it. Thank you!

Not only is one of my tattoos a lotus on my lower back, it's a lotus w/ a baby crowning out of it. Wonder what that says about me?

I started to read the comments but got annoyed, so I stopped, but not before I read the little gem comparing an epidural during childbirth to wearing a seatbelt during a car accident.

This thread totally makes me want a "living while female" tattoo across my back...

Ah, if only I wasn't so phobic of pain. =(

"This thread totally makes me want a "living while female" tattoo across my back...

"Ah, if only I wasn't so phobic of pain. =("

Could you get a temporary tattoo of that?

Hi Mina. to answer your question-henna is not considered the same as tattoos because its not permanent. henna is seen as somthing special-my sisters got married a few weeks ago and had her hands and feet done. it was sooo pretty :) now my friend told me about these supposed temporary tattoos that last 3 years and then fade. i dont know if they would be allowed or not.

"Hi Mina. to answer your question-henna is not considered the same as tattoos because its not permanent."

OK, got it.

"henna is seen as somthing special-my sisters got married a few weeks ago and had her hands and feet done. it was sooo pretty :)"

Cool, and best wishes to your sister. :)

"now my friend told me about these supposed temporary tattoos that last 3 years and then fade. i dont know if they would be allowed or not."

That's still temporary, right?

As for me, I dunno what design I'd get if I do want some sort of temp ink someday. I do know what designs I *don't* want, though...

Does all this talk of tattooing remind anyone else of Hanzismatter.com (it's the flip side of Engrish.com, but ends up featuring more language mistakes on skin than on shirts)?

Does all this talk of tattooing remind anyone else of Hanzismatter.com (it's the flip side of Engrish.com, but ends up featuring more language mistakes on skin than on shirts)?

Haha...thank you for reminding me of that site, Mina. I'd forgotten it existed. My all-time favorite is still the tattoo some woman had that said "Crazy Diarrhea" in Chinese. I can't remember what it was actually supposed to say.

My aunt would get along well with Debbie Schlussel. When she found out that my sisters and I are all getting tattos she started screeching about how trashy they would make us look, and how all women who get tattoos are easy, blah blah. Hmm, maybe my aunt secretly IS Debbie Schlussel. That would make sense in a lot of ways, sadly. :/

Mina,

Having it be temporary would kind of defy the purpose of the message, IMO.

Huh. So is her main problem the location of the tattoo, or the willingness to have the needle on your body?

I have 4 tattoos (hips, middle of my back, and ankle) and I plan on getting 3 more. One of my tattoos says "straight edge". Oops. I guess I'm automatically a slut for getting tattooed though, so it negates my straight edge lifestyle. Damn it!

The first time I heard "tramp stamp" was from a guy I know who is covered in tattoos. I couldn't get him to explain how he meant it, he just said any lower back tattoo counted as a tramp stamp. There's another double standard for your book, maybe? Guys can get tattooed and its perfectly acceptable, but women are trampy for it?

And I thought I wouldn't enjoy being back stateside...thanks for making my week!! I'd forgotten how many morons are running around with access to microphones.

And all hail the Tramp Stamp Club; from what I gather we're all intelligent, self-possessed confident women.

Hmmm...yeah I'm ok with that-and love the lotus.

Waterpixi: don't dare stare at the Illustrated Man.
...even an itty-bitty temporary unicorn tattoo on your wrist from the gumball machine?
:(

While definitely not a fan of the term "tramp stamp", I'm not a huge fan of lower back tats. It has absolutely nothing to do with associations of 'easyness' or the like; rather, I've just seen far too many on young females who seem to be anything but confident and sexually secure. I'm thinking back to my experience of teaching at a junior college & the females I saw trying so hard to attract male attention. Thongs hanging out, ass cracks showing, uber-cleavage-bras...& of course, the ubiquitous lower back tat. This is probably an unpopular opinion (expecting to be crucified!) but I just wish they had as much interest in their studies as they did in trying to gain male attention. Although this obviously doesn't apply to all who sport lower back tats, there definitely seems to be a certain breed of insecure girl out there who's so preoccupied at appearing "sexy" (in a cliched male-fantasy way) that they lose sight of themselves & I guess I just found it really disappointing.