Many women have helped shape America into what it is today. While
tattoos were still considered to be distasteful and meant for the corrupt during
the turn to the 20th century, fearless women took a chance
and threw themselves into the public’s scrutiny. I would like to acknowledge two who
really helped make tattoos tolerable for the mainstream, Nora and Betty. Two brave
women from the Victorian era pushed the social norm by enduring full body
tattoos and showcasing themselves in freak shows with the traveling circus. And as a result of the lives they lived, women today aren’t labeled
as the underbelly folk for having tattoos.
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| Nora Hildebrandt |
During
this time in history, women began to toy with the idea of tattooing. Straying
from the expectations of Victorian society, women obtained modest
embellishments so that it could be easily concealed. The remarkable Nora
Hildebrandt enlisted in Barnum & Bailey Circus as the first fully tattooed
lady in America. She regaled her spectators with a narrative of how she was
taken by force, along with her father, by American Indians. Nora claimed she
was tied to a tree and tattooed day after day for a year before they were able
to earn their freedom. (Pednaud) Over the 1880’s she displayed her body art bringing a
little more excitement and sex appeal into the circus for both male and female
patrons. Her audience loved her, even when her story was discredited. Her 365
tattoos were given by her father Martin Hildebrandt, the first professional
tattooist in America, who used her to practice on. Weather his intention or
not, Martin secured a circus life for his daughter. However, her fame was short
lived when more and more women joined the stage, this just goes to show how much of an impacted she made on women.
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| Betty Broadbent |
Sometime
later in 1909, a girl full of moxie was born, Betty Broadbent. She fell in love
with tattoos at the age of 14, and only four years later she had been
tattooed from neck line to toe. She not only broke down barriers with her
tattoos, she took control. She started her career at a tattooed lady with the
Ringling Circus revealing her 565 tattoos. Betty made history being the first
fully tattooed woman to appear in the beauty contest at the 1937 World’s Fair. (Pednaud)
She did not win the televised contest, but she was definitely remembered. In
taking this chance, Betty laid the ground work for social change. She continued
her performances, even making appearances in New Zealand until the age of 58 when she retired from show business. Betty
received a place in the tattoo hall of fame in 1981 (Pednaud), for her public displays of
respect for tattooing art and culture.
Because
these two rebellious women faced discrimination and embraced social change head
on, heavily tattooed women of today are not ostracized. Household names like
Kat Von D, Masuimi Max, and even Angelina Jolie, who has over 10 tattoos, are
able to be prominent women in society. Visual body art on women, as of 2012,
has a 4% lead
over men for the first time ever according to a poll taken by Harris Interactive. Women who are tattooed no longer thought of as prostitutes, criminals, or
freaks. This proves that Nora and Betty have helped quiet the
discrimination and stigmas faced by tattooed women in general society and the women
of today are continuing the tradition.
Sources
J. Tithonus Pednaud
http://www.thehumanmarvels.com/nora-hildebrandt-the-first-tattooed-lady/
http://www.thehumanmarvels.com/betty-broadbent-tattooed-beauty/
