Women in the Industry

The tattoo industry, like much of society, has a long history of being male dominated, often it’s been called an old boys club. Today the field has grown so much, with lots of respectful men and women creating an ever diversifying landscape to uphold a new kind of tattoo scene. Though women have always been a part of the industry there was some blanket discrimination in the early days. Discrimination that many tattooers and shop owners are fighting to get rid of today. Discrimination is still present but has come a long way and in my experience most reputable tattooers are actively working to improve the industry.

Female tattooers

The first woman tattooer of the western world is said to be Maud Wagner; she and her husband Gus were a big part of the early American Traditional scene in America. Maud was originally a circus performer when her husband Gus started teaching her to tattoo. She went on to become an American Traditional powerhouse with her husband and was also recorded to be the first heavily tattooed woman in America. 

Another powerhouse of a female tattooer is Whang-od Oggay. She tattoos with materials around her in the traditional way of her people in a remote village of the philippines. Whang is a historical and amazing tattooer, to read more about her check out the blog post focussing just on her and her nieces/apprentices: Whang- od Oggay: A living Legend. 

Today there are a plethora of women owned tattoo shops and women tattooers all over the world and right here in our locale making huge strides, towards equality and with their art. (I don’t want to name any local names right now for fear of missing someone, there are so many great female artists and female owned shops in GP and Alberta.)

CNN Philippines interviewed an all female tattoo shop, Crimson River Studio, in Quezon City Philippines and they had some really eloquent and inspiring words that I want to share, “Indeed, the end goal is to build a supportive collective of creatives and a safe space where everyone is welcome. Because tattoos are becoming more prevalent among a wider variety of demographics, cultivating an open environment is all the more vital. And who better to be part of this shift than women?”

Though there has been major progress in the industry, an Inkspire article shared a report from Columbia University in 2022 states that still only 1 in 6 tattooers are female. We are definitely headed in the right direction, Gonzalas from Crimson River Studio says, “Different artists with different styles enrich the community and cater [better] to the needs of the growing client base”. There is definitely a growing space available in the tattoo industry for women.

Getting tattooed as a woman

Getting tattooed as a woman has also changed a lot as the industry has evolved. Though there are still bad people and bad tattooers out there the overall policies, experiences, and tattooers that are working out of reputable shops don’t engage in discriminatory practices. 

An Inkspire article reports that in the early 20th century the prejudice against women getting tattooed went as far as to require a present spouse’s permission to tattoo them! Thankfully we’ve come a long way and according to a study in the National Library of Medicine, “ Men were more likely than women to report a tattoo, but the highest rates of tattooing were found among women in their 20s (29.4%). Men and women ages 20-39 were most likely to have been tattooed.”

From a sociological perspective more and more women getting tattooed goes along with equality in other sectors of society. Good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good. As pay and hiring equality is improving in the workplace more and more women are able to afford tattoos. As well with tattoo stigmas getting lesser there is a wider variety of professions available to those with tattoos. The workplace being less of a deterrent allows more freedom of expression for women looking to get tattooed. 

Having women tattooers opens up for women to get tattooed as well in many ways. Advocating from the inside of the industry and holding a presence there for us is one important way that they impact the equality of the industry. As well for women who are not comfortable getting tattooed by men, having women tattooers accessible allows for everyone to be comfortable getting tattooed and opens up the industry to all kinds of people. 

In addition to all that tattoos don’t carry the weight of masculinity that they have in Western culture in the past. They’re not just for bikers, sailors, and veterans anymore. 

In conclusion

Across the world the tattoo industry is becoming more receptive to women in the industry and women getting tattooed. Like with society in general there is still a way to go but representation in the industry today has come a long way already. Gonzalas from Crimson River Studio finishes off by saying, “As a woman, it feels a little weird (but also kind of great) that people think you’re ‘changing the world,’ when you’re really just doing your thing. So I guess it feels pretty darn rewarding to be able to do me, and to be able to do what I enjoy doing.”

I didn’t want to take too much, or too many specifics from the sources I used, if you are interested in reading more about this I highly recommend checking out the CNN Philippines piece.

As an aside I also want to thank Megan @earsofa artist and owner of Baddog Tattoo for the suggestion to write this article and re-inspiring my blog writing. I have been in a bit of a writer’s block lately and researching this post has reminded me about my love for the industry and its ever changing, evolving, growing, and creative nature that we all love it for.

Sources:

• https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/style/Design/2021/3/24/women-tattoo-artists-crimson.html
• https://www.daysmartbodyart.com/news/female-tattoo-artists/
• https://inkspire.org/post/how-female-tattoo-artists-are-re-shaping-the-industry/-M2USwCAdZcafJrjtlgA
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22153289/#:~:text=Men%20were%20more%20likely%20than,women%20with%20live%2Dout%20partners.

Gatekeeper

Hi there! I'm Taylor, you may know me as Sterling Skull reception, or gatekeeper, or most recently Tater (thanks Chris). I love writing, creating and I love tattoos; so what better way to use my passions than to bring you a personal experience of our studio via a blog! Welcome, please stay a while!