Mowing the Grass

At first glance, I revert my eyes because I don’t want to be looking at another woman’s pubic hair or region. Then I look back and chuckle a little. Is it meant to be a statement about shaving pubic hair or just something funny? Does the woman who’s wearing it have a stance or opinion about shaving? I’d like to think she does.

She got this because her boyfriend of 4 years just broke up with her. While not the exact main reason, it was in part because, in the end, she refused to shave and wax her legs, armpits, and pubic region. When he first told her that he liked smooth, hairless women, she didn’t think much of it and removed her body’s hair. After her first Brazilian wax, she was shocked. It has hurt so bad to lye on that table and have a stranger scrutinize the place between her legs, violently ripping the soft and natural hair off her sensitive skin. She couldn’t believe that so many women went through that process routinely and willfully, actually paying for it to be done. And for what? For whom?

In her case at least, it was for her boyfriend. This guy who she thought she really liked and who supposedly liked her equally. But did he like her equally, if he wanted her to go though such an unnatural, unpleasant and painful process? Before she new it, 4 years had passed and she had become a regular at the local nails and waxing place. It was only after their breakup, which of course was a result of her realizing she would and could never be the person her ex wanted her to be. It was with this tattoo, that she was able to create humor out of pain—both physical and emotional—and remember never to go down that road again.

I am writing from a western woman’s position. I am a young woman with parents whom have tried to shelter me from the idea of changing oneself for others and participating in unnatural acts of using makeup, shaving, or dying hair. For the most part, I don’t mind trying things once or twice, so I can form my own opinion on things. But currently, I am in a gray area, a middle ground, where I haven’t figured out what types of modifications are ok and what kinds aren’t, or if one can even make clear opinions or generalizations about actions like that.

Ultimate Piercing or Ultimate Insight

At first, the eyes of this woman scare me. She looks terrified. Then I see her mouth. What? Really? Calm down, I think, this is just a photoshop image. But that’s a HUGE problem. This image says and does a lot. What I HATE is the caption or title at the bottom that says “Ultimate Female Piercing.” To me, “ultimate,” has a positive connotation. Like ultimate dirt biking or the ultimate adventure. Who made this? Who the hell thinks that the ultimate piercing a “female,” not woman, can get is to pierce her mouth closed? This picture does nothing to zip my mouth shut. If anything it makes me want to scream or yell. It makes me want to talk and talk and talk about the symbolism of the image and the world is trying to do to women. I want to talk about how someone, or maybe many people, would be pleased to have women’s mouths pierced closed. I want to talk about how this is represents our culture’s desire to keep women silent. This country wants women without opinions or thoughts or insight. To me this is not the Ultimate Female Piercing it is the Ultimate Truth about how the world wants women and how I refuse to be.

I am woman with a voice. I am a woman with a voice who loves and needs to be heard. I have a lot to say and I have been encouraged to say it, especially when people don’t want to listen.

*I am the toughest girl i know*

This is an interesting one. It intrigues me. I’m not completely sure how I feel about it. Why is it placed right under the breast? Did the woman overcome breast cancer or is she just trying to juxtapose the word “tough” with the assumed delicateness of the breast? Why is it in cursive, a writing style with classical, feminine associations? At the end of the day, I think I like this tattoo. I like how the skin is still read and irritated around the red stars. I wonder though, why she has to tattoo this statement on her body. Does she need to be reminded of the fact that she’s the toughest girl she knows? And why does she refer to herself as a girl. Unless she is still a teen, she is a woman. I’d like to think she is a feminist, but the pieces add up to me thinking otherwise. Does it matter?

In terms of her narrative, I’m going to go with the story that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in that right breast at the ripe age of 22 and in the world of cancers, she felt young, even still just a girl. Much to everyone’s disbelief, after having her breast removed, undergoing all the chemotherapy sessions, she was able to fight off all the cancer. She then did something she would have never done otherwise and got a breast implant, only in the one, of course, and got the tattoo at the end of it all. Now, anyone who ever sees her bare chest will have to ask what the tattoo means as she will always have a reminder of what she went through and a marking proclaiming her personal strength.

I am seeing this as a person interested in provocative, meaningful, personal, and artistic tattoos. I like the idea of getting a tattoo that makes a positive statement about ones self, whether it be through words or symbolism. I am interested in getting a tattoo about my inner strength but wonder if it will be something I regret. So far, I will keep thinking and just appreciate the ones of others.