While I wait for revisions for my updates to The Tattooed Lady, I'm still writing regularly for two wonderful European tattoo magazines, Z Tattoo out of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Things and Ink, out of the UK.
You may find it curious that I don't have a regular column/writing gig with a US tattoo magazine, as a woman who primarily researches American history... but I don't. To be fair, I've not been asked to. However, I'm not sure I'd be interested. The magazines that I write for are far more woman-positive than most American tattoo magazines are. The articles that I write are well-researched and stress the beauty and strength of tattooed women (and men) not the sensational, freakish, or hyper-sexualized nature that is often covered in US-based magazines.
This is something that I feel strongly about.
I realize that tattooing is a controversial issue for some, but there is too much negative objectification of women (specifically) and name calling/denigration out there. Women who have tattoos are simply that- women who happen to have tattoos. This choice (made for many many reasons) does not mean that tattooed women have set themselves apart for ridicule, hatred, assumtions of sexual availability, etc. Women (and men) come in many shapes, sizes, flavors, personalities.... I could go on. Tattoos do not mark someone as immediately being part of an imagined class of people, they're simply skin decorations.
Attitudes about tattooed women have been changing as more modern women have visible tattoos, but old stigmas still persist. Let's work on changing that.
With that in mind, my latest article in Things and Ink is about body shape and tattooed women, you can buy your copy of the Celebration Issue online.
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