We Are Finally Embracing the Lower Back Tattoo Again
Pull up your whale-tails and throw on your low-rise jeans, because lower back tattoos are back.
It’s easy to see why some are calling it the summer of the girl: the Barbie movie has already broken records as women of all ages embrace their femininity, and the ever-persistent Y2K trends of the 2020s have evolved this summer to mean low-rise anything, an ode to the carefree and sexy styles of the early-aughts. With that, old trends that used to reduce women down to certain *unpleasant* characteristics are getting a makeover of full-fledged and dynamic definitions. Included in this renaissance is, of course, the lower back tattoo.
While Barbie’s 2009 Totally Tattoos Barbie (complete with butterfly tattoos for placement anywhere and a tattoo gun) may have caused outrage for sexualizing the dolls, now it wouldn’t seem so surprising to see this doll pop up in Barbie Land to celebrate womanhood with other dolls like Midge. To understand how what used to mean a branded body worthy of shame and misogyny has become a symbol of reclaiming female sexuality, take a look at the history of the lower back tattoo.
It was a slow process for tattoos to generally enter public consciousness in Western culture in the 19th century. At the time, women hardly had the privilege to show any skin, let alone skin with a hint of ink on it. Into the 20th century, more women forayed into the world of tattoos but were met with animosity and judgment, labeled as unladylike or promiscuous.
Tattoo subcultures soon emerged in tangent with an increase in women entering the workforce, and so the lower back tattoo rose to prominence in the late 20th century. Women who wanted ink hoped to find a place that could easily be covered up, whether for their job or to avoid stigma, and the lower back became an ideal location.
Come the 1990s and early 2000s, were a total moment in pop culture and fashion history. As waistlines got lower, thong straps got higher, and belly buttons got pierced, perfectly framed in the center was the now increasingly popular lower back tattoo. While misogynistic and slut-shaming responses to the tattoo dubbed it a marker of sexual promiscuity, it makes sense that women were still going for the ink as inspiration came from none other than the icons of the era like Britney Spears (fairy), Nicole Richie (cross), Jessica Alba (bow), and more.
Like most male-centered double standards that continue to persist, though, women had to reconcile looking attractive through their risqué fashion choices and facing lewd remarks about their own sexual history. Which was all, obviously, dictated in the eyes of men. Thus began the cultural formation of the lower back tattoo’s unsavory meaning.
A Saturday Night Live skit from May 2004 suggested Turlington’s Lower Back Tattoo Remover to Amy Poehler, as she raises her arm and a tattoo with the word “juicy” appears underneath her lifted shirt. With just some vigorous application, “that silly mistake will be long gone,” because it would be such an injustice to let what makes an attractive young woman look “really cool” grow ugly and wrinkled with age, obviously.
In the 2005 comedy, Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn’s character remarks, “Tattoo on the lower back, might as well be a bullseye.” Those that rejected the symbol considered it an invitation; and, men were, naturally, happy to take advantage while simultaneously admonishing. You can’t ignore Vaughn’s interested eyes against his piercing words. It wasn’t long until the notorious tattoo placement received its sordid name, the “Tramp Stamp.”
The lower back tattoo represented the intrigue and disgust attached to the female body in the 2000s. Paparazzi patted themselves on the back for capturing celebrities in revealing and unflattering ways (i.e. just going about their normal day), gawking as tattoos peeked out of skinny jeans or stomachs did what they sometimes do and rolled over. It was a time of voyeuristic fascination shrouded in a falsely righteous goal to show the “real” lives of stars.
As with most cyclical trends, the immediate response in the next decade was retrospective distaste, often on the part of the women who had lower back tattoos themselves. Nicole Richie got her cross tattoo removed in 2013, telling the nurse at the removal office, “It just means a certain thing, and I don’t want to be part of that group.”
Jessica Alba laughed along as James Corden and Ben Schwartz teased her for her bow tattoo on The Late Late Show in 2015. Shamed for getting these lower back tattoos, women just laughed them off as youthful recklessness.
Now, girls of all ages look back at Y2K style with equal cognitive dissonance. Fashion trends from velvety Juicy Couture tracksuits to butterfly clips have reemerged, but girls are now hoping to solve these conflicting interpretations of the era by shifting old perceptions, including reclaiming the lower back tattoo.
Along with its clothing counterparts, the tattoo has found renewed popularity, and it's clear everyone wants a part of the irresistible style of the ink. Just take a look at all the people hopping on the trend, from A-list celebs like Miley Cyrus to influencers on social media, and even distinguished fashion brands like Collina Strada’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection with belts resembling the tattoo “for when you feel really hot.” The tattoos are even evolving into more modern iterations, too, following the fine line and flash tattoo trends today.
With this summer’s reclamation of all things girly, from hot pink to frilly, feminine dresses, it’s clear that it’s not just the lower back tattoo that’s getting a makeover. Trends that used to come with a sense of shame from all ends of the spectrum of womanhood now reflect the coolness that comes with autonomy and expression. While the Y2K renaissance may not last as trends fluctuate, the permanence of the lower back tattoo will now forever symbolize the reclamation of misogynistic devices. The only question still is, will you be getting one yourself?
