Advice

Butches with Ink

 

A close friend of ours asked me if I took requests. Do I take requests?? Honey puh-leez! I’m all about pleasing 😉 Her question to me was actually more for the femmes in the audience. She kindly asks, “What do femmes think of butches with tattoos?”

This by the way, is coming from a super suave, super sexy butch who could have femmes lined up around the corner with a single look. Maybe I can convince her at some point to be a guest writer or interview her on camera! But till then, you’ll have to take my word on it. She’s the real deal and she’s asking for a femme survey. So have at it ladies.

Butches and tattoos? Hot or not? Turn-on or turn off? Yay or nay?

I’m just going to jump in and start off with my humble opinion on the topic and say that personally, I love them. But not all tattoos are created equal. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that when I see a super girly tattoo on a butch, it sort of confuses me.

A butch who shall remain nameless, but who I dated and liked to think of herself as a hardcore butch, instantly lost some bad ass points when she revealed the girliest, femmy-ist, tattoo I have ever seen! I didn’t even know what to say!

So, I will say this: to me a butch with a bad ass, masculine tattoo is fucking hot. I love script tattoos, in exotic fonts along the forearm, inner biceps, hands, neck. Ohhh …. neck tattoos …. nothing says gangsta mentality quicker then a neck tattoo!!! *swoon* Oh and sleeves are killer sexy. What else is sexy in tattoos? Funny tattoos that are purely for entertainment purposes or have a hilarious backstory to them. A sense of humor is always sexy in a butch. And a humorous tattoo shows that they don’t take themselves too seriously.

But it’s hard to make a list of what is and isn’t hot in the world of butch tattoos. Because each person is unique and what might look hot on one, might look odd on someone else. So let’s hear from the girly girls on this one! Ummm …. actually, I want to hear from butches that have tattoos too and everyone in between.

Your assignment is: Butches and tattoos? Pontificate at your leisure.

And if you want to submit any pics of yourself or your hot butch with tattoos to cardcarryinglesbian@gmail.com and I’ll post them later in a follow up post!

This article has 43 comments

  1. Amanda Allen

    I personally loooove tattoos on butches. They are so hot! I agree with Sasha, neck tattoos, cool script… RAWR!!
    Although on the flip side… I once dated a butch with a tramp stamp of a purple fertility goddess and yeah… not so badass! Although I realize that she was trying to be ironic it just looked ridiculous paired with her mohawk and multiple face piercings.

  2. Elegy

    I’m picky (snobby? Nah, but my friend is, haha) about tattoos, yet at the same time indifferent. It’s your body, so if you love it and I think it looks horrible, well… That’s life! If the artwork is well done (anatomically, stylistically, amazing color and/or gradients) I will swoon, simply from an artist’s perspective. Seriously, I’ll have to restrain myself from fawning. This also includes if it’s just text! Linework is art.

    If you’re going to get ink, get your best. Save for best, wait for the best. Even if it’s not someone’s tastes, if the quality is top notch there’s not much else to say.

  3. Elegy

    And, as always, when I see someone sporting some heavy tattoos (sleeves), or in vulnerably places (neck, face), I of course wonder what it is they do for a living- if they’re cooperate. I’m always wondering how different people get away with it, haha. Some people just wear suits, others cover it with make up, others find a more performance based field and work their asses off to earn respect.

  4. RadDyke

    As someone with tattoos, I’m curious as to what constitutes a femmey tattoo. I have a giant sunflower on my lower leg. Is it hot? Yes. Is it super girly? Not really. Do I lose points in the badass department because I have a tat of a flower? Do I regain them because it looks like it’s done in oil pastels?

    That being said, I love tattoos on a butch. Or a femme. I just love tattoos. And like Elegy said, if your ink is well done, I don’t really care. If you’re a stone butch and have a girly tat, if it’s well done, I’ll swoon anyway.

  5. Heather

    I think tats on a butch can be super sexy – and yeah, I think a lot of that is the whole “bad ass” factor. I also like it when it’s unexpected – someone is very femme with the surprise tats (think sexy pin-up girl with a sleeve)

  6. Sarah M.

    it would be terribly hypocritical to say i’m not attracted to a boi with tattoos. i have five of them and anticipating another!! however, as i discipline my own addiction to ink. i ask that a butch do the same. i have to be able to bring her home to my dad!! and she needs to have a decent, stable job. to me, if you’re inked up all over…i have to wonder if i’m buying our dinner??
    gawd! i know that sounds harsh!! it seems so juvenile to me (like highschool) to be all tatted up and expect your rebellious ways to get you in any decent job or living.
    typically, i’m more drawn to the cleaner bois. she can have a few tattoos and i agree with sasha. they have to be kinda tough. as i like my bois to be a hardass! but, mostly, i love that freak flag to be a huge shocker when we get to bed. she can be a clean cut pretty boi…but when we hit the sheets. i don’t know what hit me!! it’s all part of my gentlemyn asshole outlook on dating butches 😉

  7. Sasha

    Let me clarify, the “girly tattoo” was also, simultaneously, perhaps the worst quality tattoo, I have ever seen. Badly drawn, backward placement, and uneven ink distribution in the color. But yes, this is all super objective. So in my personal opinion, that particular tattoo didn’t seem to fit that particular person. But to each their own!

  8. Amanda Allen

    Agreed, Sasha… The fertility goddess was also awfully done and just didn’t seem to fit her.
    I love tattoos, the more the merrier and I would (and have) gladly taken full sleeves ‘home to daddy’. Maybe saying badass or girly to describe tattoos is the wrong way to go about it, feminine women rock badass tats just as well as butchies so why not vice versa? I’m sure they do it all the time.

  9. Rexie

    For me, it all comes down to artistry. Both in quality of ink and artwork, but also in placement…does the placement help the message (regardless of who the message is for)? Yes? Then GOOD! A toned butch body with a dragon, serpent or other mythical creature up the spine is hot! Even if it covers the entire back. Back of the shoulder tatts is another favorite spot, as is the wrist. A friend has a leather wrist strap that has the word “Butch” in silver block letters. I think recreating that would make a great tatt. I once saw one that was gamblers’ symbols arranged in a row like a slot machine. Awesome…I think it was: Ace, Cherry, 7, Bar…not sure what it really meant to the person wearing it, but didn’t care. That screamed butch to me. I also saw a peace dove done beautifully in white ink and gray shading and it said much to me about the butch who wore it proudly on her neck just behind and below the ear. So in a word, yes to tatts, but make sure they’re done and placed well. Research, research, research to find someone who is a free hand artist and who has a catalogue of past work. Go for it!

  10. Sarah M.

    the taking home to dad reference was because i want a boi who get respect without having soo much of herself to the outside world. it’s tough enough as it is to be a butch. why make it harder. femmes, for me for some reason i like to be tatted up. but then, i don’t stay in a relationship with a femme 😉
    and like i said, i don’t wanna be the one taking care of dinner, drinks, and her bills because she can’t seem to find a decent job all ink’d up.
    i prefer an equal living among the both of us. if i should tred that dating path again. that’s just me. i don’t want her to pay for everything with an awesome job and money in her bank. and i don’t wanna pay for everything.

    i love tattoos! i love piercings! i love it all. but through my growing up!! i’ve noticed that there isn’t much respect for it. and i don’t have a problem with that. i believe people should limit themselves to some degree. the old common question if you’re gunna regret something later. a bunch of tats and piercings wont be so hawt when they’re wrinkly. in my honest opinion!

  11. Novia

    I love tattoos on girls in general! But to answer Sasha’s friend, butches with tattoos are HOT! As previously mentioned, quality and the way it goes with who you are is paramount. I don’t really like very prominent/ out-there tattoos. I like them to be your dirty little secret to share with me…
    @Amanda, I think that when butches have tattoos that not badass or girly, it unbalances that unique feminine/masculine energy they have making them seem more feminine than they are which can be a turn off.

  12. Jennifer

    Clearly I’m in a distinct minority here but for me ink is a deal breaker. The second I see it any attraction I might have had disappears completely regardless of whether they’re butch or femme. That said, to each their own.

  13. Grey Mouse

    It’s been gone a while, so I’ll add a little something. I’ve had tattoos for a little over 30 years now, and if they are placed just right they can be very sexy even as you get a little greyer. I’m petite, over 50 and I still get that WOW factor. Tattoos are a lot more acceptable than they use too be.

  14. Grey Mouse

    Soooo sorry typo; I’ve been gone a while.

  15. Kayla W.

    I love tattoos in general, but they are super hot on a butch woman! My wife has a tattoo on her hipbone. I think it’s super sexy because she’s very butch in outward appearance and that tattoo is like a little peak at her feminine side 😉 I myself have 14 tattoos and I’m not done!!

  16. Raye

    Well, I personally don’t have any tattoos. It isn’t that I have a problem with them but I never could decide where I wanted it. I wanted the word “BUTCH” on my inner bicep but then I thought, well… what if I get tired of looking at it? I really wanted something hidden to clearly establish and claim the butch identity and pay reverence to the past. But I just haven’t done it. Still wondering if I should. A neck tattoo was my first choice but my co-workers and bosses advised me against it. And hey I like to make money so being a broke badass is just not appealing to me. I am badass enough. I don’t need a drawing on my body to prove that. If I did it, it would be a statement of what I support and stand for. And it would be for me, not anyone else.

  17. Sarah M.

    “being a broke badass is just not appealing to me.” THANK YOU, RAYE!!

  18. WWG

    I really dislike neck tattoos. Necks are sexy enough without ink, thanks. Leave them be.

    I like tattoos, but not all. Really cheesy, gotten off the wall of the tattoo parlor when drunk tats? No thanks. The other thing is tats go through trends – roses, tribal designs, kanji, poetry, etc, and even places on the body – tramp stamps, neck tats, ankles etc. What was badass yesterday might be cheesy and lame today.

    Being near Brooklyn, center of all hipsters, I see a LOT of huge chest pieces and all I can think is – what a waste of great tits. Ha! But actually I recently saw this woman who was the picture of a soccer mom with a huge chest piece and I wanted to just scrub her chest. No thanks.

    Right, that was all my negative thoughts on tattoos. I looove a good strong tat right on the shoulder (ex: Angelina Jolie’s tat of the dragon on her shoulder before she got rid of it). One of the most interesting tats I’ve ever seen is on Alice Temple’s back. She was/is a model/singer who got well known for dating a model in the 90s back when models weren’t out as lesbians. Would I want my butch to have a tattoo that large or intense? I don’t know. But frankly, I’ve found myself staring at it many a time because it’s just that hypnotic.

    I guess for me, if she’s gonna be tattooed, it needs to be personal, well done, interesting, fit her, her energy and style, and just be sexy. I want someone who can fit into just about any scenario, so while badass is great and desirable, it can also be limiting and separating and that wouldn’t work for me.

  19. Rexie

    Seems there are just as many opinions as there are commenters of this subject. Proves that tattoos still are what they’ve always been: A symbol of personal expression. Regardless if it is a message to the world, or a personal affirmation, I think it should be done with taste. Getting one in a cheap parlor on the strip while you’re drunk is probably not a good idea. A former flame never forgave me when I talked the tattoo artist into putting a bunny nose on their butt tattoo of the playboy bunny…playboy bunnies don’t have noses…lol. Having a bit of subtle ink is OK in my book. I’m just not into it when body modification becomes grotesque. Like tortured and diabolical symbols on every inch of skin, horns, multiple piercings that look like they hurt…just no, not for me.

  20. WWG

    Hmm the link to the photo of her tat didn’t work so here it is. Let’s hope it works this time: http://missrosen.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/c-ari-marcopoulos_1c615c.jpg

  21. Rexie

    WWG…that is some serious ink!!! The artwork is very well done and I can see it mesmerizing you the way a painting by a master artist would.

    On another note, this link popped up just now, and I thought I would share. These are examples of what not to get:

    http://photos.ellen.warnerbros.com/galleries/bad_paid_for_tattoos

  22. Elegy

    Also, badly done FREE tattoos.

  23. Elegy

    P.S.
    If it’s badly done, that shit ain’t free.

  24. Curiosa

    I love tattoos on women bad or good. i think you need to learn about the tattoos history in order to appreciate it. It sounds like your friend wont have a trouble regardless…….

  25. WWG

    @Rexie – Agreed, it’s very much like a painting, which is why I like it so much.

    PS. That Andy tattoo is just AWWWWWWESOME!!!!!

  26. Rexie

    @WWG – the one that made me snort was Waldo!

  27. WWG

    @Rexie – loved that one too, but the Andy one is my fave still.

  28. Jazmenha

    Tatoos are sexy. Butch women are HOT with and without tatoos.

  29. KT

    Tossing in my opinion, I’m not a huge fans of tattoos and never found them sexy until I met my girl. She drew out her own design and it’s a piece of art that she keeps adding onto. (Last year was the cross, this year the stained glass) Her artist put a photo on his FB within an hour of us leaving the shop. Here’s a link if you want to check it out:

    https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430678_10150669828992254_675767253_11600493_274752587_n.jpg

  30. Heather

    I love tattoos! Butch, Femme,…doesn’t matter to me. I love individuality. I love the beauty of expressing yourself. There’s a reason it’s there. So tell me the story, and feel free to expose a little more skin while you show it to me… hehee.
    Now, I just have to find something I want on my body permanently! So hard to choose!!

  31. Novia

    @KT, that tatt is an amazing work of art! wow!

  32. Saphy

    There are certain tattoo’s that I just do not like…Lower back tattoo’s & tribal armband’s come to mind.

    My Girlfriend is sleeved, she also has tattoo’s on her neck, She is in a professional position at work and does not wear long sleeve shirts like most people would assume, I think its sexy as hell, her tattoo’s are good quality and the color in them is stunning, each piece she has means something to her personally. She has worked her way up from an entry level position to being in charge of about 165 different locations. I love her tattoo’s and think she looks amazing with them, they are one of the main things that interested me about her when we met.

    That being said, my ex is covered in tattoo’s, She has about 4 different girls names on her, in several different languages (none of which have any meaning to her.) she has Several zodiac signs as well, (also relating to ex-girlfriends), The interesting thing about my ex is SHE lies about the meaning of the tattoo’s because she is ashamed of them, the quality and the fact that she has her last 4 girlfriends names tattooed on her (she cheats constantly so she gets dumped constantly.) She says things like “that one means “watched over”, because my Grandma died” when the tattoo really just says “Heather” or “Danielle” or “random-girlfriend-of-the-years-name” (She never lasts more then a few years with each girl), besides the girls names she has tattoo’s on her wrist that were supposed to be stars, in rainbow colors, but she got them while on drugs, its not easy to tattoo the straight lines of a star when you can not see straight. She is also color blind, and I am not even sure if she realizes that most to all of the stars are just weird shades of blueish-green (maybe the ink bled?) She wore wrist bands over the stars…if you can call them stars. You would think that after like 16 crappy tattoo’s you would stop, but she hasn’t and I am sure her new girlfriends name will be added to the list, because we are all “the one” and if she “cant make it work” with each of us then she is “done with relationships forever” (If only she would do the lesbian world that favor.)

    Some tattoo’s are stunning and sexy, and others, are crappy blueish-green blobs that someone got while on to much LSD, the thing about tattoo’s is the nicer they are USUALLY the more they cost. “You get what you pay for” and if you are to busy spending your money on drugs instead of beautiful pieces of skin art, then the tattoo’s stop being sexy, and just start being pathetic and silly and for me that is true if you are butch or femme, or anything in between.

  33. Rexie

    @Saphy: You totally rock. I know your comment was probably not meant to be humorous, and maybe I’m just in a strange mood right now, but it totally cracked me up. Your sarcasm is precious: “Some tattoo’s are stunning and sexy, and others, are crappy blueish-green blobs that someone got while on to much LSD..”

  34. young butch

    well i think they’re cool I’m butch and have a half sleeve on the right arm and a quarter sleeve on the left recently got my entire back tatted so hell yea i think they’re hot don’t have anything girly just skulls spiders lions and stuff 😉

  35. Lee

    I think tattoos are hot but of course there’s a but they have to be done professionally therefore they look amazing no matter where they are positioned on the body.

    A poorly designed & made tattoo looks like crap, even worse when it looks like a prison tattoo on someone’s face or hands or neck. Ew. Yuck. Phooey. Here’s my but, the girl I’m currently seeing has a tattoo from her days of being a bike courier…its a spark plug. So she says, to me it looks like a dildo but knowing there is a story to it makes it intriguing I never want to hear that someone chose their tattoo from a picture on the wall from a tattoo shop.

  36. Kat

    Butches with tattoos… hell, yes. I’m with others, though, for me it depends on the type of tattoo. I’m not really into silly tattoos… I know it’s because I take myself way too seriously, but I just don’t want to look at a cartoon animal on my lover’s bicep for the rest of our lives, LOL. I get why people get funny tattoos and think they look great, it’s just not a turn-on. Now tribal ink, symbols or characters from mythology, a carefully chosen phrase in Latin… all major turn-ons. So I’m sure it just depends on the femme, like with anything else. I have to say though, there’s something about a woman whose back and arms are covered in tattoos that’s just dead sexy. So maybe there is something to tats being a turn-on in general…

  37. Saphy

    @Rexie Thanks I think, I am not sure if you are being sarcastic yourself or not.

    and on a different note: I keep seeing the words “Bad ass” used, maybe it’s just me, but Tattoo’s do not equal instant bad-assed-ness.

    My ex is a lying coward and is covered in tattoo’s She is in no way “bad ass”

    My Grandma was born in 1919, lived to 92 years old, lived through a depression, a world war, a cheating husband, 5 kids, 4 miscarriages, a her parents being alcoholics which cause her having to raise her brother when she was just 2 years older then him, her parents drinking themselves to death, and once told me and my mom: “You two can just kiss my ass” THAT is bad ass.

    I am not going to sit here and be like My current girlfriend is a bad ass also, cause she isn’t what people really consider “bad ass” she’s kind of a hippie and a softie, and she is covered in tattoo’s. Plus I am biased because I love her and I think that 98% of what she does is awesome. She loves and takes care of me in ways that I never thought another person besides my own family and/or self would ever be able to do.

    I may turn around and eat my words, cause people change, and I may end up asking myself “WTF did I ever see in her? She sucks.” I really don’t think I will though, even if we did break up.

  38. Novia

    @Saphy, your Grandma was SERIOUSLY Bad Ass! What!! Gives me something to aspire to. 🙂

  39. Saphy

    @novia yes she was, I miss her everyday.

    my mom and I* and pretend that I fixed all the other things that are wrong in all of my other comments on CCL as well. 😛

  40. Rexie

    @Saphy -I was being sincere. You must have inherited some of your grandma’s badass genes. 😉

  41. alice

    tattoos on a butch are such a panty dropper for me it’s not even funny :p i’m more a femmy tomboy,some days i’m more girly, some days more tomboy depends on my mood. but in general I love all tattoos! I have lots of tattoos myself, i just love everything about them, if they are done well that is! I loooove butches, they are what attracts me more than anything! but butches with tattoos, mmm makes me go weak in the knees every time!

  42. OZFemme

    Yea, I’m with the majority here – butches with tattoos = super hotness! Love the phrase ‘panty dropper’ as well, very fitting 🙂 I’m an arms and shoulders girl so LOVE tatts that decorate those areas – script on the inner bicep? Hells yes! As mentioned though, they look equally as hot on femme chicks. I have a few myself and would like to add more but, like Raye, cannot settle on where to get them.

    I love piercings as well, the cold, metallic feel of them in your mouth – yum. To me tatts and piercings go hand in hand but yes, they can both be overdone. Too much of either is not hot. The body looks to busy and piercings tend to get caught on ur partner’s piercings 🙂

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