letters-to-lgbt-kids:

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

There are a lot of stereotypes about people with tattoos. 

Many people equate tattoos with aggressiveness, even violence. Especially people who have multiple visible tattoos are often put into that box: the scary criminal or the angry low-life. 

On the opposite side, there are the kinds of tattoos that are not seen as “scary” but rather as “cringe-worthy”. Cute designs or those that are/were really popular for a while (such as stars or the infinity symbol) are seen as a sign that you’re uneducated, tacky or, for some reason, “slutty”. 

At first glance, those stereotypes have nothing to do with gender or sexuality and surely do cis straight people face them as well. And yet, I feel like sexism plays a role in them: 

Aggresiveness is often seen as “masculine” (which is a horrible interpretation of masculinity but it’s sadly a common one) and therefore those kinds of tattoos that are perceived as aggressive are also seen as male. Cute and/or trendy designs are, on the other hand, seen as feminine. 

Of course it makes no sense to slap a gender on art. But this unspoken “tattoo binary” (the angry tattooed man, the tacky tattooed woman) affects us lgbt+ people, too. 

For example, a lesbian woman with many tattoos may be seen as the stereotypical “men-hating angry feminazi lesbian”. A trans boy who has flowers or stars on his skin may hear “Oh, you’re such a typical straight girl”. 

If you have or want tattoos, I can’t protect you from people assuming the wrong things about you. But I want to tell you that it is your body and the art you decide to wear on it does not in any way decrease your value as a person or invalidates your identity. 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Mom 

I was so nervous about my first tattoo cause it was big (ankle to knee) and not cutesy (a realistic octopus, dragon and tree) and I barely even told anyone about it and now it’s winter and there’s a whole bunch of people who won’t see it until next summer and I needed to hear this, thanks 😀