What do tramp stamps mean

The skit indicates people will regret their lower-back tattoos later in life, and thus, should remove them with a spread. We hope you have found this useful. If you have any additional definitions of Tramp Stamp that should be on this list, or know of any slang terms that we haven't already published, click here to let us know! Slang squad! Suh, fam? On this year […]. With all the recent news about cannabis legalization, we want you all equipped with the hip hemp lingo.

Similarly, in the last ten years, tramp stamps — the now-infamous lower back tattoos that mark supposedly-promiscuous ladies, now 23 percent strong in America — have been relegated mostly to suburban Hooters girls or contestants on VH1's Rock of Love. But is the stereotype really accurate? In other words: what comes first, the tramp or the tramp stamp? Or the egg?! Or the — sorry, whatever. After surveying tattooed and pierced women in France, he found that they did have sex earlier than women who had no piercings or tattoos, but had a hunch that this might partly be because they were hit on more after they got inked or pierced, and were therefore more likely to get it in, statistically speaking.

But that doesn't mean women are tattooing their lower backs to turn someone else on. The typical reasons for getting a tattoo cover a wide range of personal experience. Like me, Cynthia Shulak tattooed her lower back with tributes to recently deceased family. In her case, the tattoo was a memorial to both of her grandfathers.

Shulak was familiar with the "tramp stamp" slur, but says she "happily ignored" its existence — until an ex-boyfriend started incorporating her tattoo into their sexual fantasies. Like, are they thinking what he thought? Feminists have long broached the idea of tattooing as a political statement for women rebelling against conventional ideals of pure, unmarked bodies Fifteen years ago, writer Sharon Haywood chose to get a lower back tattoo as part of a healing process to recover from an assault.

My tattoos are part of my identity, part of my body, and my body is mine and mine alone. When a man calls my lower-back tattoo a tramp stamp, I don't view it any differently than someone commenting on my breasts. It's unsolicited, unwelcome, and clearly sexist. If I'm completely honest, part of the reason I got a lower back tattoo is rooted in personal inhibitions. I set limits for myself based on other people's idea of what it means to be taken seriously, to be seen as normal.

I didn't want to lose a chance to work in a more conservative office setting. I didn't want a tattoo that would hinder my ability to wear sleeveless shirts or dresses without total strangers asking about my ink.

And I didn't want to run the risk of stretching out a tattoo if I got pregnant. I admire those who feel comfortable enough to put their tattoos in more exposed and visible places on their bodies, but I like the privacy that a tattoo on my lower back affords me. There are things I'd like to stand out for: my writing, my accomplishments, my personality.

The idea of anyone gawking at my tattoo — something so personal on my body — makes me deeply uncomfortable, and so I made my choice, the one that left me open to crass jokes about "tramp stamps.

It occurs to me now that I don't always have to worry about being appropriate, classy, demure. As I learn to project less embarrassment and more confidence over a cultural stereotype I never opted into, it won't stop the world from passing judgment, but it might make someone think twice before calling me a tramp. Allison McCarthy is a writer who currently lives in Maryland.

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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. I have a tattoo on my lower back. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. That might be because it's on my lower back: a so-called "tramp stamp. I thought my friends and family would understand this — and yet they still made jokes: "Pretty sexy, eh?

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