While women have been getting tattooed in Native American, Maori, and other cultures for thousands of years, tattooed women have only been a part of the Western world for the last hundred years.
The first tattooed Western women in America were those who performed in sideshow and vaudeville acts during the late 19th century. The tattooed women of this time were an extreme taboo to the rigid gender norms of Victorian society, however, this allowed tattooed women like Nora Hildebrandt and Irene Woodward to monetize off their mystique.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the tattooed ladies continued to perform in sideshows around the country but by the time World War II came to an end, the circus scene began to fade out and tattooed women went underground. Many of the women who performed in sideshows picked up tattooing as a profession, with some learning the trade from their significant others… read more >
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