Stamping Out Stereotypes
Posted by Ben Stevens on
So this past Sunday Lisa went and got a tattoo on her lower back, which in our society is often referred to as a tramp stamp. The term became a commonly used phrase after a Saturday Night Live skit used the term. The meaning implied is that a woman with a lower back tattoo is promiscuous. This is a prime example of our misogynistic culture and how we define women in ways not fair, not accurate and honestly, very offensive. This article however is not primarily about attacking our negative approach to women in our society, which if you don't believe you may be hiding under a rock.
This is an article more about a woman who looks at a stereotype, such as a tramp stamp, and says "People can say what they want, I like it and I'm getting it". Lisa refuses to let labels dictate her actions, even though these popular tattoos from almost 20 years ago come with very negative connotations. And the truth is, that is really the way to battle many of these inaccurate beliefs we have in our society. Being all outspoken and loud about opposing a view often just gets the other side all riled up and ready for a fight. The more effective way, many times, is to ignore the dummies and their ridiculous opinions.
I think one of the greatest statements against this misogynistic view is exactly what Lisa did, ignore it and went ahead regardless of what people think. She breaks the mold as a woman in her early forties with five kids who has only ever been with one man sexually (me, in case you were wondering). The reason I'm writing this article instead of her is because I believe most of the inaccurate labels come from us men and our childish ways. That's not fair to children though, cause not even a child would make such foolish assumptions from a lower back tattoo.
The reality is that you don't have to go back that many years and tattoos were largely a taboo thing. Thankfully that has mostly changed and tattoos are culturally accepted. We still have a long way to go in accepting people as they are, but it's good to see we make steps forward, even if from time to time we tend to regress. So, if your first thought when you saw the picture of Lisa's tattoo was the phrase "tramp stamp," maybe it's time we reboot our mindset considering it is a brand new tattoo on a 41 year old mother who has only ever had sex with her husband. And remember the other side of the coin that as a society we tend to revere men who are promiscuous. How backwards is that?
I think one of the greatest statements against this misogynistic view is exactly what Lisa did, ignore it and went ahead regardless of what people think. She breaks the mold as a woman in her early forties with five kids who has only ever been with one man sexually (me, in case you were wondering). The reason I'm writing this article instead of her is because I believe most of the inaccurate labels come from us men and our childish ways. That's not fair to children though, cause not even a child would make such foolish assumptions from a lower back tattoo.
The reality is that you don't have to go back that many years and tattoos were largely a taboo thing. Thankfully that has mostly changed and tattoos are culturally accepted. We still have a long way to go in accepting people as they are, but it's good to see we make steps forward, even if from time to time we tend to regress. So, if your first thought when you saw the picture of Lisa's tattoo was the phrase "tramp stamp," maybe it's time we reboot our mindset considering it is a brand new tattoo on a 41 year old mother who has only ever had sex with her husband. And remember the other side of the coin that as a society we tend to revere men who are promiscuous. How backwards is that?
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- Tags: Lisa, stereotypes, tattoos