Are tattooed women a threat to Men’s Rights? Last week, the editors of A Voice for Men decided to promote “compassion for men and boys,” as the site’s old motto had it, by publishing a long and exceedingly creepy jeremiad against young women who taint their “radiant” young skin with icky tattoos, thereby ruining things for the men of the world.
In a post titled “Tattoos, good judgement and women,” Doug Mortimer, a self-described Man Going His Own Way of long standing, reminisces at length about the good old days, when the dancers at his favorite “topless bar” were as free of tattoos as they were of tops.
I used to occasionally pay a visit to one of the many local topless bars – pardon me, gentleman’s clubs – so I could wallow in a state of beer-buzzed, middle-aged, semi-arousal.
Sorry to put that image in your head so early in the day. (Or, whenever you happen to be reading this.)
By the late 1990s, tattoos were all the rage. It was almost impossible to see a dancer without a tramp stamp or some other symbol or picture, meaningful or meaningless (to me if not to her). I simply could not fathom why a young woman, with her skin at its peak of radiance and health, would do anything to detract from it.
Readers with sensitive stomachs may want to skip the next bit here.
Flat-chested or full figure; statuesque or petite; blond, brunette, or redhead, healthy skin tone is a key component of neoteny and nubility.
I’m not sure I really needed to hear a dude who was already middle-aged two decades ago wax poetic about the “neoteny and nubility” of women young enough to be his granddaughters.
In 1998, Mortimer tells us, he grew so frustrated by the tattoos adorning the “female flesh” he was paying to ogle that he quit going to “gentlemen’s clubs” altogether.
Despite Mortimer’s bold and principled stand, the young women of America continued to get tattoos. Today, Mortimer reports with horror, one survey found that “25% of all men under 25 have at least one tattoo; for women in that age group, the number is 47%.”
He warns young men to think twice about getting into relationships with these terrible tattooed women.
After all, you’re going to be looking at them every day, possibly till death do you part. Do you really want to cuddle up long-term with a dickless Queequeg?
Mortimer goes on to suggest that the popularity of tattoos amongst young women suggests that maybe they really don’t deserve freedom after all.
Ultimately, you have to seriously question the judgment of a young woman who would make a permanent commitment to something as trivial as body art. Of course, good judgment is only rarely associated with young women, which is why young women are kept on a short leash in traditional societies. When young women are given freedom, they often fuck it up.
Mortimer doesn’t address this directly, but presumably he believes that young men handle their freedom far more wisely, despite considerable video evidence to the contrary.
Mortimer is quick to assure his readers that he is well aware that young women without tattoos can also be terrible freedom-abusers who should probably be kept on a “short leash” as well.
That doesn’t mean a tattoo-free woman can’t be fucked up, but one who is tattooed…well, no matter what the design, it might as well be a big red warning flag.
Well, no. But, given the disgust that Mortimer and many other denizens of the manosphere feel towards tattooed women, tattoos could perhaps be better described as magical talismans offering protection from a certain kind of creepy woman-hating shitbag.
In any case, it’s pretty hard to imagine Mortimer’s post convincing any self-respecting woman, young or old, to cancel an appointment at the local tattoo parlor; I suspect that, if anything, it could have an opposite effect.
@zennurse:
Ugh. Why isn’t Blanc in prison? And what’s up with the countries that still allow him a visa?
I do admit I laughed at ‘brain ingraining’ exercises and other manifestations of his idiocy. The fools who give him their money deserve just the kind of learnin’ he offers.
One of my friends has some amazing tattoos. She too though gets the “You’re such a pretty girl, why did you get them?” comments. I was there once when she answered:
“Because they remind me of when my dad was alive and I was happy”
That was so beautiful and so sad at the same time.
It is amazing how much “men’s rights” involve men’s right for all women to exactly match their sexual preferences.
“Are tattooed women a threat to Men’s Rights?” – after following your blog for a while now, I think the correct question should be “What ISN’T a threat to Men’s Rights?”. I mean gee, not having a tatoo is actually the first characteristics I read about here that those loons wouldn’t find opressive in (or on) my person.
You could always dye your hair. It’s not as permanent as a tattoo (and less painful). The pain aspect is what has always held me back from getting a tattoo. I have been playing around with temporary hair dye though and am about ready to make the commitment with a permanent dye.
I hate needless with a burning passion, but reading this guy’s screed makes me want to go out and get a tiny little ‘made in Canada’ label put on my arm or something so I can use it to ward fuckfaces like this asshole off.
Also, I’ve never heard the term queequeg before (Google says he was a character in Moby dick), but the way he puts the adjective ‘dickless’ in front of it kind of implies that it is the lack of a dick that is the problem here. Which I suppose it technically is, since scum like this never whine about men (and in their minds everyone with a dick is a man) getting tattoos. Though I doubt they’d want to sleep with a bedicked tattooed person either.
All he’s really saying is that women’s skins don’t belong to them. Sickening in I-wonder-but-don’t-actually-want-to-know what this asshole thinks about slavery kinda way.
Oh god, yes. My disgust is vying with my surprise that any of these deep thinkers have read Moby-Dick.
I’m surprised he didn’t go on a digression about jungle rhythms and jazz cigarettes.
sunnysombrera:
Having short hair, dyed hair a non-natural colour, piercings and/or being over the age of 25 will probably also do the trick. Also, not waxing/shaving works wonders.
I have two large tattoos and I still adore them both, but since I’ve discovered that they’re also an effective misogynist repellent, I’m even happier with my investment!
It is worth mentioning that in the comments there is some pushback that this is an individual’s right to expression and that the piece has no reason for being on AVFM.
Even Elam agrees:
“I actually agree with you. I don’t have to like or agree with everything here. That is an important poistion for me to hold.
But I honestly see no value in this piece at all to our mission here.” – Elam
So, clickbait? Freeze Peach? Who knows why they do what they do?
Of course there’s the usual fat-shaming (don’t do it if you’re fat) and the OP also references freak show tattoed ladies along with the nubile strippers so there’s that.
I know a woman who has one of her late father’s paintings tattooed across one shoulder. It is beautiful and is done in memory of the father she loved and misses every day.
Doug will never have a memorial like that.
I know another woman who let her daughter give her a freehand tattoo of a butterfly on a blank spot on her sleeve. It will always be there as a reminder of when her daughter was a child.
Doug will never wear parental nostalgia on his body like that. He’ll also never endure the pain of a little kid holding a tattoo needle for the first time just to be able to look at his child’s drawing years after they’ve grown up.
Another woman I know has one tat. It is over her heart. All of the people in her bike club have it. One of the women they rode with died years ago and all her biker buddies went together to get the same tattoos over their hearts to remember her.
Doug’s friends (should he have any) will never be that dedicated to his memory.
Doug is envious and angry that women exist s something other than objects for him to approve or disapprove of. Those ladies dancing at the titty bar are not just paid to look pretty. They have skills. They’re tough. He could not do what they do for one night, much less every night to pay the bills. I think it upsets him to see those women with tattoos because it means they know they’re bodies belong to them. They’re individual professionals who deserve respect. They provide novelty, excitement and fantasy. They are not goods. They are people preforming a service. That must chap Doug’s ass something awful.
Here, Doug. This is for you:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Boudreauxs_Butt_Paste.jpg
And, Doug? Stop trying to make excuses for your fixation on underage girls. Stop trying to convince yourself that it is women’s fault for looking like women. You’re sexualizing child like skin because you have a power fantasy where you can control and abuse girls. You do that because grown ass women scare the shit out of you and you hate them for it. You’re a coward and a pedo and going your own way was the best thing you ever did for women.
You like to sexualize girls and you’re afraid of women with tattoos. Hmmm….
http://wfiles.brothersoft.com/t/the_girl_with_the_dragon_tattoo_black_63677-1280×800.jpg
@ej (the original one):
Does hair dye also have the same effect of warding off MRAs? That sounds like a perfect solution.
All my tattoos are meaningless. I get things that I like which are aesthetically pleasing tattooed onto my skin.
Now that I know they repelled foul men though they have a real purpose.
Jeff K on June 1, 2015 at 9:18 am
If only a tattoo could protect you from assholes.
If I am reading this article correctly, apparently it can. Who knew the small tattoo I have on my left middle finger would be a protective talisman? Worth every cent!
Kind of says a lot, doesn’t it, about how they regard women? Being a woman is not something they describe affirmatively (women have attributes x, y, z), but something they define as lacking (women don’t have penises).
Jerks.
Lea:
QFT.
Tell me again how MRAs are in no way connected to the PUAs when PUAs are the ones who argue that women with tattoos are damaged. Seriously, the fuck does this have to do with men’s rights? Who cares if this asshole doesn’t like tattooed women, we don’t live to please him. How is that pointless rant in any way helpful to men and boys? This article is just an expression of his narrow-minded, prejudiced worldview and incredibly sexist since it targets only women and basically advocates taking away women’s freedom. But please, do tell me again how AVfM is in no way sexist or misogynistic.
If tattooed women are Queequeg, then they’re Moby Dick.
Or rather, Mobby Dick, since they can’t ever seem to have individual sexual preferences that aren’t approved and ratified by other alpha males.
Now I’m wondering what a good way to flip this back at dudes who ask why girls “ruin their skin” would be. Currently thinking “I’m not trying to attract basic-ass dudes like you,” or something else. But my game has always been to play the “I’m actually better than you, your opinion doesn’t matter, and you should be ashamed for thinking I care” angle. Having trouble with this one though. Advice?
@Scented Fucking Hard Chairs:
Technically it is…but a picture of adult men would also illustrate neoteny. The human species as a whole is neotenous; some of the traits we carry into adulthood are ones that other apes lose as they grow up.
These guys never met a theory about human evolution that they didn’t like to willfully misunderstand.
Just caught this gem from our mutual
friend’sacquaintance’s posting:“…I must admit that I don’t like tattoos… I could reject any other genre of artwork, such as murals or landscapes, without being accused of narrow-mindedness or bigotry. Why not tattoo art?”
Rejecting an art form because of the medium? Yes, that sounds pretty narrow-minded and bigoted to me.
Lemme blow Doug’s mind.
http://airicamichelle.tumblr.com/
http://jp2.r0tt.com/l_68ae18c0-5843-11e1-8ca4-fdbf0ac00002.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdg5p2Qa3X1rl3r3ao1_500.jpg
@Karleena
To be honest, the girl that Alan mentioned saying that her tattoos remind her of her dad and when she was happy, well, something like that would be excellent at shutting down such questions once and for all. It’s not respectful to those who actually do have tats because of dead family, but it’s a good way to show up assholes and make them hold their tongue in future…
Nah, a tattoo won’t keep abusive, womanizing assholes away. None of the this gs these guys claim are deal breakers actually are, they’ll just use them as an excuse to mistreat any woman unfortunate enough to associate with them. That’s how it works.
Also, funny how young women are too immature to make a decision about getting a tattoo, but they are TOTALLY mature enough to decide that they want to sleep with assholes old enough to be their father. No really! Nothing predatory is going on here at all! Women mature faster than men do! At least, they do if they prefectly conform to whatever standard this asshole is currently espousing at that moment.