Honey

I was showing off my tattoos last night to some fellow CFers at the hotel bar. I’m especially proud of the women who stand on my forearms and entered into a discussion about other tattoos I could have that would represent still other influential women in history.

Steve kept proclaiming: “There are so many kick ass women in history!” I tried to explain my attraction to feminine imagery with a theological bent, but he continued to rattle off (a few) names of the 19th and 20th centuries. I realized that the powerful women of history do not (for the most part) have a recognizable image. I’m not sure if I could identify a photo of Rosa Parks or Susan B. Anthony, for example. Perhaps if I had been surrounded and infused by stained glass windows full of iconography of the women’s suffrage movement, I would be more likely to have a tattoo of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

When people ask who it is inked into my right arm, I like to answer: “The mother of god, of course.” I immediately identify Joan of Arc on my left arm, in order to maintain balance between the two images. Invariably, someone will ask me why I chose to have Mary and Joan tattooed on my body. I’m flustered by this question. It is so difficult to explain such a personal expression.

Most of my tattoos have a spiritual significance. In another lifetime, I was a deeply thoughtful theologian, but in this one, I stumble over my ideas about religion and philosophy and have a very difficult time trying to explain myself.

To my ex-Catholic mind (and heart), Mary is a representation of the eternal mother. I am not alone, I’m sure, as a person with a complicated mother-daughter experience, and Mary remains a simple image of constant motherly compassion. In common iconography, she is typically holding her child or opening her arms, seemingly to welcome me into her comforting embrace. Mary is the most accurate image I have of god and the universe (personified).

In contrast, Joan of Arc was a warrior and a leader. She was a fiercely loyal and courageous woman who functioned in a man’s world (just like me). Joan represents the inherent ability of women to succeed outside of socially expected norms, to demand great respect, and to live with absolute integrity.

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