June
4Is There Life Without a “Tramp Stamp?”
I’m not managing my travel schedule skillfully this year. I missed the annual New York City Tattoo Convention the other day and thus blew my opportunity to witness all those beautiful torsos. Tattooists used to focus their dubious craft on bikers or hardcore rockers, but somewhere along the line they’ve gone mainstream. A scary survey by Pew Research found that 40% of folks aged 26 to 40 have paid to have a tribal scrawl imprinted somewhere on their anatomy and the markings don’t just say “Mom.”
Nor is the positioning traditional. A growing number of women like their first tattoo to be placed on their lower back -- very lower back -- so that they can boast a “tramp stamp.”
Well, I’m still unmarked, but I’m getting insecure about it.

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Hey Prim- it''s "stupid" not "stoopid".
And Bill- it''s "you''re being" not "your being".
Also, this is something I''d expect to read in an op-ed piece buried in the South Dakota Examiner. Why in God''s name is this on the Variety blog?
Posted by: Chad | 6/9/2008 1:51:45 PM
I wonder how they will feel about them when they turn into a blurry blue blob? Might not feel the need to show them anymore.
Posted by: jack | 6/8/2008 7:06:25 AM
Peter your being far too polite. Most call it "mark of the whore".
hey whatever flips yer skirt!
Posted by: Bill N | 6/7/2008 11:40:49 AM
How old is this guy? I'm really liking it so far...
Posted by: Letter from a 20 year-old | 6/5/2008 10:17:30 AM
How old is this guy? I'm really liking it so far...
Posted by: Letter from a 20 year-old | 6/5/2008 10:17:30 AM
What? I was suppose to be paying attention! I was just looking at the picture. I had heard them called MOTH tattoos, way before the "tramp stamp" moniker become common slang. Mark Of The Ho
Posted by: J0K3R | 6/5/2008 8:46:10 AM
I'm with B. Younger, this is hardly news to anyone with a life. The 26 to 40 year-old demographic is reading this blog, btw, and I think you just lost their attention.
Posted by: Over 50 | 6/5/2008 8:07:05 AM
Thank you for discussing this. It's good to have a name for that tattoo I keep seeing on the small of a lot of women's backs. Now I can say to friends and such, I HATE THOSE DAMNED TRAMP STAMPS! People get tattoos, why? It's a stoopid trend, in my opinion. Why? I just don't like it, or them (the trend and the actual tattoos).
Please Mr. Bart, DON'T GET ONE! Don't be common like everybody else.
Posted by: Prim | 6/5/2008 5:11:42 AM
Hey, Rip Van Winkle... this is news? To you, maybe.
Posted by: B. Younger | 6/5/2008 1:10:44 AM
It's not too late, Peter... maybe an Austin-Powers-esque "male" symbol? :)
Really like the blog by the way, especially the opening comment on Che.
Posted by: Nick Christie | 6/4/2008 9:09:24 PM