What Tattoos Mean for Body Acceptance

A show-and-tell from members of our community exploring how getting tattooed has helped their relationships to their bodies

Compiled by Elise Nye

TW: This post mentions sexual assault and harassment.

Introduction

I never used to know where to stick my stickers. What if I found a better place? So many celebratory “good grade” scratch ’n sniffs ended up at the back of my desk drawer because I was always waiting for the exact perfect moment to use them.

As an adult, I love my tattoos. My body is here and now. I don’t have to save it for some job I might possibly have one day (even though most of my bosses have had tattoos anyway). I don’t have to keep it plain so someone I don’t know yet might someday find me more attractive. I can live keeping the future in mind, but I don’t have to wait around for it to come and tell me if I’m good enough. I can adorn myself for today, and I treasure sharing pieces with the most important people in my life. I love my little art collection.

Asking people what their tattoos mean to them — not necessarily what each tattoo symbolizes, but what the process of getting tattooed means — was a delight. Even though I collected these answers over Instagram DM, I could feel each person light up with their explanation. Getting tattoos is such a unique experience of seeing yourself, and I’m so excited to share these reflections with you. — Elise Nye, Instagram

Pictured: Elise is smiling and showing off her twin frond tattoos across both of her outer wrists. They were done by artist Moonstone Tombstone.

Comfort and Control

I’ve been tattooing for around five years. I was originally going to school to study art therapy. As I was getting to the end of my schooling and beginning to apply for grad school, I realized I had just been doing what my parents expected me to do and I decided to take a gap year to figure out what I really wanted to do. I had always been super interested in body modification, and figured I’d try to see if I could find an apprenticeship with a tattoo artist. I messaged around and largely got “no” for an answer, but one artist wanted to meet up and he ended up mentoring me. I’ve always felt super inspired by surrealists like Dali, Zdzisław Beksiński, HR Giger, and many others. Their work has influenced the art I make outside of tattooing, since there’s not a huge demand for surrealist tattoos in my area. Most of my tattooing work is inspired by the natural world. I find myself most comfortable tattooing anything organic.

Getting tattooed has absolutely changed my relationship with my body. I’ve always struggled with body image issues, largely because of media and societal standards of what bodies should and shouldn’t look like. I was also involved in an abusive relationship for several years, so I’ve found that getting tattooed has become a way for me to reclaim my body by choosing what art is put onto my skin. I feel that tattooing has helped me navigate through coming to terms with being non-binary. I’ve experienced gender dysphoria for a long time (although I didn’t realize that was what was causing me discomfort at the time), and getting tattooed has been a way for me to exert some control over my body in a way that makes me feel more comfortable with how I present.

I have a lot of perfectionist tendencies, which, when I was first starting out tattooing, really prevented me from liking many of the early tattoos I did. I’ve come to terms with the fact that “the perfect tattoo” isn’t a thing, and that there are always going to be little quirks that happen in designs. All bodies are different and you can’t predict how the application of a tattoo will turn out, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I feel like my tattoos have been an easy way to help to refine my personal style in a world where clothing is mass-produced and easily available. Even if I find clothing that suits my aesthetic, it’s likely that other folks are wearing the exact same thing. I’ve always been interested in imagery that you don’t see everywhere all the time, and tattooing has been an effective way of wearing these motifs in a unique way. I couldn’t imagine what my style would be without tattoos, but it would likely be much less interesting. — Mia Broughton | Instagram

Pictured: A tattoo created by Mia. It features a line-art figure of a woman with a mushroom head and mastectomy scars on her chest.

Freedom and Ownership

I can definitively say that I experienced a real increase in a sense of ownership over my body after getting tattoos. Part of that was due to overcoming stress and the pressure cooker that our upbringing/family structure gave us (professionalism over everything). Realizing that I could achieve what I wanted to do and still present myself in the way of my choosing was very powerful, especially now being in a doctoral program with people presenting in a huge variety of ways.

I also got my first tattoo after, unfortunately, experiencing assault. I hadn't told anybody yet at the time — I wasn't ready — but I found peace in the meaning I assigned to the tattoo. That tattoo was in a hidden location. It also made me feel a sense of ownership; a feeling of regaining some power over my privacy that had been so violated.

My later tattoos also are symbolic in meaning to me, and are simple reminders of things that I struggle to remember about the world and myself; mostly to chill out a little. I’m getting my largest piece this summer, already anticipating how upset my family will be, but I feel like I'm at a point where the world and I are ready to be a little more flexible. — Emma DePierro

Pictured: Emma shows off her sun and moon tattoo on the inside of her right ring finger in front of a succulent adorned windowsill.

Protection and Empowerment

I started to get tattoos at the age of 15. I am very creative and always liked to draw, so I was mostly getting tattoos of my own drawings. I had a few small ones by the age of 19, when I entered the first, and last, beauty contest of my life. It was a contest in my university, and I didn’t really want to do it. I felt very uncomfortable, but I was kind of chosen by my department to participate. My university had about 50,000 students back then, so it was a pretty huge deal. There was a swimsuit competition and all that crap just like on Miss Universe. So, long story short, the old ugly men on the jury panel all told me that, “I was a lovely girl, but I would look so much better without tattoos.” Back then all my tattoos were in places I could cover with clothes, and I didn’t really get many comments about them before. I was doing it purely for myself.

Part of me was upset and ashamed by these men’s comments, but I also realized that somehow my tattoos made me less desirable to these conservative older men. Tattoos meant that instead of unwanted compliments and sexual advances, now I was getting a conversation. They did not approve of my choices — in a way, they hated me — but they were also forced to treat me like a human, not like a piece of meat, and somehow that felt much safer. I didn't think about it in such simple terms back then, but for sure that was part of why I got so into tattoos. I got many more after that.

There is only one tattoo that I’ve regretted. It was a Chinese dragon. I should have never gotten that in the first place, but I successfully covered it with something else last year. Most of my tattoos are animals and plants. For me, tattoos are like armour; I feel safe, covered. I never wanted to look tough. I know a lot of people do (and there is nothing wrong with that), but it all started with wanting to “spoil” my beauty for anyone who can't see beyond my skin. I don't know, I love being inked. — Rabbit Person | Instagram

Pictured: Rabbit person stands facing the camera in a floral dress holding a beige mug. Her tattoos, including a rabbit on her forearm and a flower on her chest are visible.

Acceptance and Appreciation

I got my first tattoo when I turned 21, in 2015. It was a stencil of a cloud that took less than a few minutes to etch into my skin. Prior to this, I always loved the idea of tattoos but was terrified of the pain. My love of the art overpowered my fear and I’m so glad it did. After this tattoo, I unleashed a tattoo monster and now have ten tattoos in different places all over my body with an even longer list of ideas for the future. It’s true what they say, that once you start you sometimes can’t stop.

For me, I love having some of the things I cherish the most displayed on my body. I love that I can freeze a moment or feeling onto my body. I love that I can support super talented artists and in a sense become an art collector on my skin. Most importantly, I love what it has done to my relationship with my body. I have gotten tattoos on spots of my body that I didn’t love before but I do now.

In order to get a tattoo, you have to detach yourself from your body in a way. If you get stuck on the idea of committing to having something on your skin forever, you’ll either always talk yourself out of it or spend years beating yourself up over a mistake. The easiest way to look at it is that your body is just a vessel, your skin will change as you get older, and none of it defines you. This outlook has allowed me to put less pressure on my body. Now the spots I hated, I look at with fondness. Even the places on my body that I do love, I feel the tattoos further emphasize their beauty. — Julia Valencikova

Pictured: Green phone case in hand, Julia is taking a mirror selfie with her arms across her chest. You can see her floral tattoos as well as one of a statuesque person.

Editor: Iris Aguilar | Designer/Illustrator: Emma Geddes | Communication/Support/Outreach: Elise Nye

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