History of women & tattoos

A Short Overview

                                                  Blues singer Janis Joplin

                                                     Janis Joplin's wristlit

Through the centuries, in western culture, tattoos were seen as having that of a ‘taboo’ nature, due to western religious practices, and were seen as a sign of an uncivilized and barbaric nature. The Hippie movement in the 1960’s changed this view somewhat but it was still only appropriate for men to adorn their bodies as women were objectified through male aesthetic by which a woman either played the role of the wife or whore and did not have control over their own bodies or identity. During the 1970’s Women Liberation and Gay Liberation celebrated their control over their own bodies and in turn used forms of body art to express their identity. One of the first women celebrities that expressed her through this art form was blues singer Janise Joplin, who had a wristlet and a small heart tattooed on her left breast by the tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle.