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Question came up in a conversation where one associate indicated that they thought tattoos on women were "slutty" and others took offense. The argument was that: when have you ever met a woman with a tattoo who was a virgin? Brought up a host of questions:

  1. Is there any research on sexual activity and tattooing (ie. Is it true that a man/woman with a tattoo is more likely to be sexually active?).
  2. Is there any research on non-western norms for tattoos and other body modifications as related to sexual maturity?
  3. Is there any research on peoples' perceptions of others who have tattoos, as related to sexual activity.
  4. There was a study that showed negative first opinions of women with tattoos, does this stereotype also apply to males?
Sam I Am
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    I find it interesting that they equated slut with not a virgin. So their logic is that no virgin girls with tattoos is proof that tattoos are slutty and thereby if you have sex even once you 're a slut.... – jjj Mar 11 '11 at 03:48
  • That was the main cause of consternation among the women. The guy said basically (paraphrasing) that a single women with a tattoo has clearly had sex at least once, likely outside of wedlock, and thus by precedent was more likely to do it again, indicating a higher degree of observable promiscuity than a woman without tattoos. Thus they were measurably "sluttier" by western standards of behavior. He also argued that men more often get tattoos when they join certain groups (military tattoos were the example) and thus the same assumption couldn't be made for men. –  Mar 11 '11 at 16:06
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    If I thought there was a positive relationship, I'd get a tattoo tomorrow! – Andrew Grimm Mar 12 '11 at 08:41
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    Can't say that question is unclear or unreasonable, but in some way I find it disparaging. It's much more about unfair perceptions than correlation and far from causation. It is difficult to prove that perception is unfair though, but categorising people into "risk groups" by appearance but not behaviour is unfair. We might find some correlation between right-handed and left-handed people and violence. But so what? – Egle Mar 16 '11 at 11:26
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    @ egle. I guess the difference would be that dominant handedness is an inherent trait. Tattoos are a voluntary, elective display. I can kind of see his point, as another elective display is those shorts with "tasty" and "sassy" written on the butt. When I see those, I automatically make assessments about the wearer's promiscuity. It might not always be true, but I bet it's accurate to a statically significant degree. –  Mar 16 '11 at 12:07
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    @Dogmafog yet again its about perception. Owerall what is promiscuity? For one is not wearing Hijab, for another - sex in public. So on what you would base acurate statistic? I would agree with asscociations with risky behaviors, because getting a tatto have some risks: a) infection/skin related problems b) permanent picture whitch might be less attractive then expected c) change peoples judgment towards wearer. Those are real risks. But why some jump from risk taking stright to drugs, sex and alcohol? In bussiness it has more positive value, hasn't it? – Egle Mar 16 '11 at 13:08
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    P.S I realise that it is not necessarily your oppinion, so no reason to get emotional. But I'm just woman, you know (no single tattoo though) :) – Egle Mar 16 '11 at 13:14
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    @egle. Not emotional at all, i totally understand and sympathize. I wish we lived in a society where perceptions like that didn't matter. I wish i could even say that I personally don't let perceptions impact my decisions, but that would be a lie. And clearly I'm applying western (read American) mores to the subject. My biggest one is neck tattoos, honestly. I haven't met a person with a neck tattoo that I would trust in a dark alley, and that's totally a bias. I know it’s just a superficial mark, but deep down I don’t trust those people. –  Mar 16 '11 at 13:53
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    I think a lot of the 'sluttiness' and 'negativity' labeling comes from the visibility and the location of the tattoo. We've all seen plenty of 'tramp stamps', but what about women who have tattoos which aren't visible unless they wish them to be? If he couldn't see the tattoo, would he assume they were a virgin because they weren't tattooed? The same applies to men - the type and location of the tattoo will have a great deal of influence on the first impression of that person. – Darwy Mar 30 '11 at 20:14
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    **correlation is not causation**, don't count on getting laid just because you'll get a tattoo :-P – vartec Jul 11 '11 at 07:59
  • Not everyone gets a tattoo by choice -- being drunk, in prison, or incapacitated (e.g., date rape drug, practical joke in the University dorm, etc.) during the application of a tattoo are three examples that come to mind. – Randolf Richardson Jul 11 '11 at 08:26
  • @RandolfRichardson: I know that nazi Germany concentration camp victims were tattooed, but where else do prisoners get tattooed? – Andrew Grimm Mar 10 '12 at 04:56

1 Answers1

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A quick google search turned up this 2005 PubMed abstract.

This research examined the association of having a tattoo and engaging in premarital sexual intercourse. Data gathered from a convenience sample of 450 college students indicated that tattooed respondents were substantively and significantly more likely to be sexually active than nontattooed college students. Tattooed men became sexually active at a significantly earlier age than nontattooed men but no such difference was found between tattooed and nontattooed college women

This is only a single study, but I found indications that other work corroborates the result. Here, for example, is another abstract linking body modifications such as tattoos and piercings to premarital sexual activity.

In general, it seems that many researchers believe that tattoos and piercings are associated with risky behaviors, especially in adolescents.

Oddthinking
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anthony137
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    Any references for the association between risky behavior and adolescents. What is the cause/effect? – Ralph Winters Mar 11 '11 at 01:37
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    @Ralph Winters [link](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=sexual+risk+behaviors+tattoos&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_ylo=&as_vis=1) This is the search I performed. Of the ten links on the first page, six are clearly oriented towards adolescents, with another focused on "young women". I doubt there is a clear causal relationship between tattoos and other risky behaviors, but the OP was only asking for a relationship, which is both apparent and plausible. – anthony137 Mar 11 '11 at 01:54
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    Might be a good idea to mention the nonexistent relation to any causality in the answer. This site is quite available via google, and might not be viewed by just skeptics who understand that issue. We don't, of course, need to preface everything with such disclaimers, but this is a source for a major misunderstanding. Unfortunately, correlation and causality are widely confused by many people. – Ilari Kajaste Mar 11 '11 at 09:11
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    @ralphwinters: I would hazard a guess that the causal element is low self esteem. – horatio Mar 11 '11 at 20:09
  • Actually it does look like the OP was asking for causality (Q#1), but I'm not sure that Google Page 1 is the best place to ascertain relationships, meaning that it is still entirely subjective. – Ralph Winters Mar 11 '11 at 22:09
  • @horatio: It's stupid and archaic to think that sexual activity, tattoos and low self esteem go hand in hand. Our culture has changed such that having tattoos is neither unusual nor the mark of being in a low-class profession. In fact, those in low-class professions now complain that tattooing is so trendy it makes it utterly meaningless. Just as importantly, past the age of 25 nearly everyone is sexually active, regardless of any other factors. – Ernie Nov 22 '11 at 16:38
  • @ernie: you can say that, but low self esteem is certainly linked to risky behaviors, and researchers point to tattoos and piercings as associated with risky behaviors as well. There is certainly a difference between a trendy tattoo recipient and one who is carpeted. – horatio Nov 22 '11 at 17:09