{"id":59063,"date":"2014-05-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/to-cover-or-flaunt-uri-graduate-student-explores-whether-women-hide-or-show-their-tattoos-as-they-walk-down-the-aisle\/"},"modified":"2014-05-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T00:00:00","slug":"to-cover-or-flaunt-uri-graduate-student-explores-whether-women-hide-or-show-their-tattoos-as-they-walk-down-the-aisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/05\/to-cover-or-flaunt-uri-graduate-student-explores-whether-women-hide-or-show-their-tattoos-as-they-walk-down-the-aisle\/","title":{"rendered":"To cover or flaunt? 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student explores whether women hide or show their tattoos as they walk down the aisle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 19, 2014 \u2013 Shopping for a wedding dress can be a stressful journey, but imagine trying to buy one when \u201cLet\u2019s party!\u201d is tattooed down your back \u2013 in Sanskrit, no less.<\/p>\n


\nSo many decisions to make: Should you buy a dress that hides the product of a reckless night during the rebellious teenage years or get a gown that exposes every inch of ink?<\/p>\n


\nSarah Yang, a graduate student in textiles, fashion merchandising and design at the 溏心vlog免费B站, explored those questions for her master\u2019s thesis and found that most \u201ctattooed brides\u201d wear their skin art proudly.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cMany women get tattoos to express themselves in a very bold way,\u201d said Yang. \u201cWhy should they hide that individuality on such an important day in their lives?\u201d<\/p>\n


\nTheses are expected to be original work, and there is little doubt Yang\u2019s 102-page paper falls into that category. She came up with the idea because she is fascinated by wedding dresses and tattoos. <\/p>\n


\nHer right arm is sleeved in a wrist-to shoulder tattoo that pays tribute to Call of Duty, her favorite video game. Wolverine, Gambit, Beast, Cyclops, Storm and Rogue \u2013 all characters from the X-Men comic series \u2013 grace her upper left arm. A Mrs. Pac-Man tattoo peeks out behind her ear; her car, a blue and pink Subaru STI, is parked on her right foot; and a \u201cMade in Taiwan\u201d tattoo is stamped on the back of her neck.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI love my tattoos,\u201d said Yang, who came to Rhode Island when she was 1. \u201cThey show my passions and my history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old West Greenwich resident interviewed a dozen Rhode Island and Massachusetts women who met specific requirements: at least one tattoo; married or engaged in the last 18 months; and American citizens. <\/p>\n


\nIn short, her research found that 10 women were happy to flaunt their tattoos, while two were skittish about baring all. Her conclusion is that tattoos, for the most part, do not keep a bride from wearing the dress of her dreams.<\/p>\n


\nMore Americans are getting tattoos, especially women. Historically, tattoos were markings that designated affiliation, for men and women, to a clan or tribe. Eventually, circus performers, sailors and soldiers \u2013 mostly men, of course \u2013 started to visit tattoo parlors.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cTattoos were once thought to be masculine,\u201d Yang said. \u201cWomen who had tattoos were considered sexual objects. Men would pay to see women with tattoos at traveling shows.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tDuring the 1960s, tattoos went from being \u201cfreakish\u201d to embraced during the so-called Tattoo Renaissance, when the rich got tattoos to \u201cimpress\u201d and the working class to \u201cexpress,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n

Today, few squirm over the sight of an arm or leg swathed in colorful flowers, dragons, birds or butterflies. Yang said many women are getting tattoos as a way to express their sexuality and feminism. With improvements in technique and design, tattoos are also considered works of art.<\/p>\n


\n Still, a bride with tattoos can come under pressure to conform at such a sacred time in a public setting. Maybe her parents want her to cover up; maybe her tattoos have morphed into an ugly blob of ink. To complicate things, most wedding dresses today are strapless.<\/p>\n


\nIn her study, Yang talked to one woman who plans to buy a dress with sheer cap sleeves to draw less attention to tattoos on her shoulder. One woman regretted her tattoo and covered up; another bride felt pressured to hide her tattoos because of family objections.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cMy family is very traditional,\u201d she told Yang. \u201cI think they would go crazy if I did show them.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tBut many women chose dresses that accentuated their tattoos. \u201cI definitely wanted to show off my leg tattoo so I shortened the dress,\u201d one woman said. Another woman added V-shaped straps to accommodate a tree of life tattoo on her back. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe straps framed my tattoo really nice,\u201d the woman said. \u201cI also had a birdcage veil because I knew I didn\u2019t want to have a long veil that would go over my tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAnother woman wore shoes and ankle jewelry that complemented star tattoos on her foot, despite misgivings by a parent. \u201cSome people didn\u2019t want me to show my tattoos, like my mom,\u201d the woman said. \u201cShe just hates tattoos.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tTo expand the project, Yang said more tattooed brides should be interviewed throughout the country. Still, her findings are intriguing and could be a jumping off point for further study.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cData from the South may be different,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir expectations and wedding ideals may be more conservative than Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We\u2019re more open minded in New England.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAs for Yang, she intends to boldly display Mrs. Pac-Man and her other tattoos when the wedding bells ring. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t feel like myself if I covered them up. They\u2019re a part of me, especially my car. I love my Subaru.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPictured above Sarah Yang, 26, of West Greenwich, who received her master\u2019s degree in textiles, fashion merchandising and design this month at the 溏心vlog免费B站. Her thesis explored whether women show or hide their tattoos as they walk down the aisle. She is looking for a job in fashion merchandising. Photo by Michael Salerno Photography<\/p>\n


\n V-shaped straps on a wedding dress accentuate a tree of life tattoo on a bride\u2019s back. Photo by John Seakwood Photography<\/p>\n


\n A bride proudly shows off a wrist tattoo on her wedding day. Photo by Annyshkas Photography<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 19, 2014 \u2013 Shopping for a wedding dress can be a stressful journey, but imagine trying to buy one when \u201cLet\u2019s party!\u201d is tattooed down your back \u2013 in Sanskrit, no less. So many decisions to make: Should you buy a dress that hides the product of a reckless night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}