Students dissect social stigma associated with certain tattoos

"Labeling a tattoo because of location is absurd," said Tracey Witbeck, an art major at SCAD. She may have a point, but this hasn't stopped a generation of youngsters from giving the lower back tattoo a less-than-savory nickname: the "tramp stamp."

The phrase's implication is clear—females who sport a tattoo on their lower backs are nothing more than promiscuous floozies. The tattoo itself, then, is a means of marking oneself for male attention.

The phrase has gained widespread popularity over the past few years. A search for "tramp stamp" on urbandictionary.com pulls up 38 separate definitions.

"It wasn't until about eight years ago when that phrase came about," said Mike Garrison, who has been in the tattoo business for 20 years. "In ancient history the curve of the female form has been accentuated to show femininity and womanhood. Some cultures wouldn't let girls get tattoos until they became a woman, of child-bearing age, as a rite of passage."

Garrison also mentioned that in the mid to late '70s, women started riding motorcycles. That is when the lower back tattoo became visible. Women who rode in motorcycle gangs had "property of" tattoos with wings on either side on their lower back.

Today, most people use tattoos as a means of self-expression. Many tattoos are a memorial to a family member or friend, a time in the person's life or an inspiring reminder.

Chelsea Utley received her first tattoo after her father died. She decided to have a cross put it in the middle of her back because she needed to have it concealed for work. She wants to get a lower back tattoo of a butterfly with the meaning "new life."

"I think that it doesn't matter where you get it, it matters what it means to you personally," Utley said.

Some people especially like lower back tattoos.

"I think [lower back tattoos] are hot and am sorry they have the negative association of a tramp stamp," said SCAD student Kimmi Sampieri.

Not everybody thinks that way.

"I think [lower back tattoos] are gaudy. I think there is a much better location for them," said Anne Busby, an AASU student. "They should be for yourself, not for others."

She wants to get a tattoo on her shoulder blade so it is concealed.

Tegan Simmons has three tattoos, one on her wrist, arm and ankle. She uses the term "tramp stamp" and said, "Most of the time it's accurate. Everybody has the right to have tattoos. It is a stereotype. They are there for a reason."

Some people feel differently about putting a tattoo anywhere on their back. Witbeck has eight tattoos; as an art major she feels like it is body art.

"If you enjoy art, putting it on your body is a cool concept," said Witbeck. She wouldn't put a tattoo anywhere on her back because she thinks that the back is a beautiful part of the body.

Some women have other reasons for not getting a lower back tattoo.

"I don't want to draw attention to my lower back," said AASU student Alex Hearn. "I have nothing against them."

She also said that if a girl has a lower back tattoo then "she likes her physique and likes people to look at her body." Hearn finds the term funny and probably inaccurate.

Elijah Garrison, owner of Skin Arte' De Atelier, said, "[A lower back tattoo] can be elegant and aesthetically pleasing. A tattoo accentuates the body."

Some people who received the tattoo before the term was derived are caught in this contemporary social stigma. Renee Wrede got a lower back tattoo 10 years ago, of a moon, sun and stars with a French saying around it: "To the beholder love life, health, and happiness."

Wrede chose this location because she didn't know anyone that had one there.

"I wish I would've stuck my tattoo in another spot now that it is seen as [a tramp stamp]," Wrede said.

Even some men have lower back tattoos. Geoff Riehl has an Irish Celtic knot with serpent heads on his lower back. He chose that location because it fit with the shape and design.

Perhaps, as a society, we need to be less judgmental. AASU student Brock McGarity put it best: "Just because they have a ‘tramp stamp' doesn't make them a tramp."