You say witch like it’s a bad thing…
Tattoo by Jess at Black Hatchet Tattoos, September 2020 (COVID-19 Phase 2)
Here we are again! I swear this tattoo project is to just keep me occupied while I wait for the world to end...it's the apocalypse folxs so go do the things you all wanted to do before it's too late!
Jess kindly agreed to do multiple tattoos as once (she's cool like that). We added the pagan symbols for man and woman on the backs of my ankle. First, FML that hurt so bad...like so so bad (was super quick though because Jess is Magick) and was also so worth it. I think the gender spectrum should be celebrated, especially as someone who doesn't quite fit in. So this was my way of reminding myself that I live in the in-between and that I am so happy to know myself enough to know that my gender has never belonged in a teeny, tiny little box. In fact nothing about me belongs in any teeny, tiny anything, unless it's a bikini or a cop top.
My stomach and I have had a long standing battle. First it was too fat, then it was too thin, then it was stretch marks, I could have literally torn it apart, and for what? My stomach keeps me fed, it holds my body together, it houses all my vital organs. My stomach has been a large source of physical pain, constant chronic illnesses, food allergies, autoimmune issues. And here's the thing, as an adult I actually don't give a FUCK what people thing of my stomach. I spent so long caring how it look, not wearing a bikini or a crop top or low-ride shorts and for what, to be uncomfortable for the sake of a beauty standard that isn't real or realistic and one I would never fit into.
Six years ago I started working in Eating Disorder Treatment and that work pushed me to push myself. To actually learn to do the things that we expected clients to do. So I started wearing bikini's and shorts in the summer, I started wearing crop tops and stopped wearing cardigans in 90 degree heat. If someone doesn't like it, don't look, don't comment, just mind your own business. That attitude became freeing, not just in my clothing choice but in embracing my body and all that comes with. I think this is what draws me to Jess as an artist, she has this laid back "I don't give a fuck attitude" that is incredibly refreshing to find in female bodies people and she does it without being mean and catty, it's natural and it's magical. What was more magical was that Jess DOES NOT like belly buttons, like AT ALL. And yet she kindly agreed to do this tattoo for me. There is something to be said when someone is willing to be a little uncomfortable for your own comfort, especially when you're someone that rarely feels comfortable.
So here we are, tattooing the dreaded stomach, highlighting it's worth and celebrating its magic by giving it the thing I associate with it the most. The cycles of the Moon. The moon is always related to the divine feminine, the cycle of the ocean, menstruating, the passing of time, it's such an incredibly powerful force of nature and I could think of no better place to hold it's power than the part of my body that has always held the most power over me. My time getting this tattoo was not only incredibly healing and empowering but felt like this new beginning of body celebration, so all hail the stomachs of the world, the too thin and too fat, the scared and the squishy, the boney and muscular, may that all be celebrated regardless of what the world says.
