Tramp stamp meaning

All products are independently selected by our editors. If tramp stamp meaning buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. In the last few decades, tramp stamp meaning, tattoos have become a mainstay in pop culture. As parlors around the world get ready to celebrate Friday the 13th with flashes galore, our Pop-ink package examines how these skin markings have evolved beyond their traditional roots — from fandoms to family.

No matter what you call it, the lower back tattoo has earned its place in the halls of fashion history. Arguably, no other tattoo placement is as culturally divisive as a lower back tattoo on a woman. But why? And how did the association between lower back tattoos and sexual activity become so culturally ubiquitous? I had to know, so I did a little digging. Here is what I discovered. Tattoos on women were taboo in Western culture for most of the 20th century, and, as we all know, social expectations for women take a long time to adjust.

Tramp stamp meaning

The most personal tattoo on my body is a shadow of Peter Pan and the second star to the right, surrounded by the text, To live will be an awfully big adventure. For this tattoo, I spent two hours bent over the artist's chair at a small shop in Baltimore, squeezing my best friend's hand during the worst of those white-hot bursts of pain from the needle. But I worried that if he stopped, I would lose my nerve and be left with a half-finished tattoo, only to force myself back in the chair weeks or months down the line. When my editor asked about my new ink, I explained that it was in memory of my brother, who shared my love of Peter Pan and had passed away the month before. She rubbed my shoulder and nodded. Thankfully, I didn't need to elaborate. It isn't my most recent tattoo — I got it five years ago, four years before the one on my left foot — but it's the one people seem to comment on the most. All four of my tattoos are etched in spots on my body that I must deliberately expose: a lift of my shirt, a slight lowering of my jeans. I never seriously considered that anyone close to me would reduce the work put into my back tattoo to a term like "tramp stamp. When I showed off the tattoo, I wasn't trying to be seductive. I thought my friends and family would understand this — and yet they still made jokes:.

Getty Images The star: Nicole Richie. Getty Images The star: Angelina Jolie.

We use the term tramp stamp to humorously label a lower back tattoo, but this phrase is also a way to drag down the reputation of women who receive it; illustrating even though tattoos have become more socially accepted, they still hold some negative stereotypes. Where "tramp stamp" came from is still a bit of a mystery. What is known is the popular references we've seen in comedy platforms. The expression boomed in popularity after a "Saturday Night Live" skit. From there, audiences saw, in reality, tv shows, such as Rock of Love , tramp stamps linked to a particular kind of woman; linked to being promiscuous. Research indicates the phrase was hatched between the mid-nineties and early s, quickly gaining an erotic undertone. Arguably, the tramp stamp was born in California.

Karen L. Hudson is a tattoo artist and contributing writer. She has been an amateur artist as a hobby since grade school, and served a 12 month tattoo apprenticeship in a tattoo studio. Lower-back tattoos tend to conjure up a lot of assumptions about the women who wear them. It all starts with the slang terms: "back bait," "California license plate," "handlebars," "spank button," and so many more. Of course, the infamous "tramp stamp" is the most common of these. It's an insulting misnomer that suggests women who choose to wear lumbar tattoos are promiscuous—and on a deeper level, speaks to the stubbornly enduring judgments that society makes about feminine sexuality. Even in today's "enlightened" society, some ill-informed people take the stereotype to even darker places and claim scientific support. An entry in the Urban Dictionary says this of women who wear lumbar tattoos:.

Tramp stamp meaning

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun tramp stamp. Etymons: tramp n. Sign in with library card. Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic. Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback.

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Please enter a valid email and try again. Clearly, our tastes in clothing have evolved. I decided to interview other women with these kinds of tattoos to see if their experiences mirrored mine. Pop-Porn: Pornography in American Culture. Arguably, the tramp stamp was born in California. Maybe the rebirth of the tramp stamp is a tribute to the Y2K era in all its messy and magical glory. Feminists have long broached the idea of tattooing as a political statement for women rebelling against conventional ideals of pure, unmarked bodies. Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. A tattoo on a man's upper arm is generally not considered more erotic than one on his elbow or leg. But that doesn't mean women are tattooing their lower backs to turn someone else on. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. The star: Angelina Jolie.

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The star: Angelina Jolie. Toggle limited content width. Filed under: Features. Thanks for signing up! This was the era of exposed lower backs — prime real estate for a cute flower or butterfly. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. By Teen Vogue Style Team. As ink on chicks gradually became more acceptable in the s, tattoo placements that could easily be concealed were popular, according to tattoo historian Dr. Long story short: widespread parental outrage and a hasty recall. For some of the women who chose to tattoo their lower backs in this time period, it was often frustrating to have their otherwise private tattoos peeking out from beneath their trendy jeans.