Women's Ink: May 19, 2009

More women today are getting their arms tattooed. This can be just a simple tattoo on their arm or full sleeves. The time when women tattooing such visable areas would be totally frowned upon is fading away. Not everyone accepts that women with ink want the same freedoms that men have had for at least 100 years. Not everyone likes the fact that women are quickly becoming as tattooed as their male counterparts. For those of us with ink though this is a major breakthrough in being accepted by people and not immediately judged badly because we choose to be inked.

Like all people - male or female - that have ink, not all ink appeals to all people. I have seen sleeves on both men and women that I thought were really cool and others that I wondered where they came up with the ideas behind them and they weren't tattoos that I would choose. But you know what? That's what is so essential to the tattoo community, the freedom to ink as you choose and the heck with anyone that doesn't care for your ink. Tattoos are extremely personal and extensions of ourselves and what we think or like and therefore, are as individual as the people choosing to be inked.

It is okay to not like someone's ink. It is okay to think that someone's ink is the worst decision that they ever made in their lives. Simply because, in the grand scheme of things, whether you like a person's ink doesn't really matter. As long as they like/love it, that is all that really matters.

Here are some examples of women with simple arm tattoos and women with sleeves. Personally, I admire the women with sleeves because they are showing that they are not afraid to be who they are and are not afraid of the way society will judge them. I wish I had that much courage to do what I want in all aspects of my life. Makes my simple wrist tattoo seem puny to me.