body art and age

[anotheranon]

I'm working my way down the infinite book stack. I'm finally delving into Alternative femininities: body, age and identity, an academic look at tattooed women, post-teen goths, and other women with non-traditional styles who plan to maintain them past college age. It starts with a description of who (the appendix lists details of all interviewees) and why (how do older women navigate subculture?), followed by a chapter defining a common understanding of mainstream femininity.

Just as I start this I run into Painted Ladies: on tats and trashiness a decidedly less academic source but I'm pleased that it criticizes the notion that Nice Girls Don't.

Both stick in my mind as though I don't have tattoos, I do have body piercings that according to mainstream notions aren't only questionable to begin with, but that I've hung onto long past their sell-by date (and plan to keep doing so). I originally got them in my twenties during a time I was getting pressure from family and peers to look a certain way, as a way of marking my body as mine. I also hoped they'd serve as a kind of filter to avoid judgmental lovers - I figured that if someone was going to pearl-clutch at the sight of my steel then maybe they didn't need to be seeing me naked :P

In other words, I didn't do it for the pretty :P

I guess it's just bewildering to me that it's news to some people that not all women want to look the same, or please anyone but themselves with their body adornment.

Comments

[danabren.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have had huge battles over body adornment - he met and fell in love with me when I had more inks and rings than he did, why would he then be so opposed to me getting MORE? And the dust storm after the tat I got on our honeymoon??? Wheee!

We haven't really come up with a reasonable solution past "money is too tight to justify getting more tattoos", maybe someday we'll be fortunate enough to someday be able to afford this fight again LOL.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Ouch - doesn't make much sense to me either, but the fighting can't have been fun :(

I got my first piercing on my own - for a variety of reasons I needed to go alone. D. was there for each afterwards :) Happily the only guff I can anticipate these days are from new people.

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

I confess I have no ink or interesting piercings. Mostly because I used to work in a seniors building, and have seen what old people tattoos look like.

But I certainly have gotten over my white-suburban-girl "only bikers have ink"ness. Mostly. I do remember looking at pics of a friend in the delivery room with her new baby - and her green hair and facial piercings - and thinking "yep, I'm officially an old fuddy duddy..."

[dustdaughter.livejournal.com]

I don't have any tattoos or piercings. Not opposed to them but my skin scars very easily. I enjoy looking at other folks' tats and hearing the stories behind them.

I like that idea of using them as a filter for judgmental lovers. Maybe I should view my scars that way!