You can listen to the introduction episode here and on Spotify. Or you can listen to it on YouTube with subtitles/closed captions here (I don't have any footage to go with the intro but have shared some photos from previous NJAG events).
NOT JUST A GIRL: Tattoo Podcast
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Season 1, Episode 0: Introduction
Hello everyone and welcome to Not Just A Girl where every week I give you a glimpse into the lives and art practice of tattooers I admire through an intersectional feminist lens. We will discuss how they came to tattooing, their passions and experiences what informs their practice and how they enact resistance against the patriarchy with their art and just by being themselves.
Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are the traditional custodians of this land that was stolen and never ceded. I am honoured to be on the ancestral land of the Awabakal people where this podcast is recorded and produced. I pay my respects to the Elders, past and present and extend my recognition to their descendants.
My name is Eddy, I’m an artist, tattooer, angry feminist and the owner of FLT Tattoo Studio in Newcastle NSW. I’ve been tattooing for just over ten years now and it’s through my experiences as a tattooer that I found my voice as a feminist as well as a platform to contribute to my community by supporting other artists and doing what I love.
On Not Just A Girl you will hear from people who are passionate about tattooing and want to influence the community to create a safer and more inclusive space for artists and clients alike. My intention is to highlight the experience of women, trans, non-binary and queer folx in the tattoo community and to give them a platform to share their ideas and feelings about topics that have informed their practice.
Not Just A Girl actually had its beginnings as a tattoo flash day in 2017. It was after an incredibly disappointing tattoo show in Sydney that was little more than a display of white male privilege and misogyny where women were reduced to sexual objects, that I started a group chat with a bunch of women who I knew were just as disillusioned as I was. We discussed how we could resist the status quo and make space for ourselves, we came up with the idea of a flash day for female identifying artists to come together, make amazing tattoos and raise money for women in need.
Melanie Milne, Sasha Mezoghlian and I, with help from some of the most amazing tattooers in Australia came up with Not Just A Girl. In our first year we managed to raise $45k and in our second, almost 95k for charities addressing gendered violence.
But beyond the money we raised and how good it felt to give back, we had found something really special. We had built a community of likeminded people who were there because they were passionate about tattooing and passionate about enacting change in society to bring about equality. We learnt that as a community we had power, and that we could do amazing things when we worked together for a greater cause.
The flash day has since been on hold as we’ve all focused on our busy careers, but everyone involved has continued to work towards building a better future for tattooing.
Right now, the world is in chaos in the midst of a global pandemic and many tattooers have made the choice to stop working or have had restrictions imposed on them to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. This is unprecedented in our time and for many of us, our identity and even self-worth is deeply invested in tattooing, so it’s difficult.
Tattoos play an important role in helping people express their identity, it’s one of the oldest professions and I believe it’s an important part of our human experience. For women and other marginalised groups in particular, when we mark our body we rebel against the patriarchy and reclaim our autonomy.
I have felt a huge loss these past few weeks being disconnected from the practice I love so much. As I’ve tried to navigate through my grief and establish a plan for how I might proceed I keep coming back to the importance of community. To those with privilege, like myself, we have the opportunity here to take a step back and imagine a life outside of ridiculous capitalist pressures of productivity and we can refocus our energies to contributing to a happier, kinder and more inclusive world.
While I am unable to tattoo right now, I can still talk about tattooing and while I can’t proceed with any Not Just A Girl events, we can still rely on the strength of that community to bring a little joy to others. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be chatting to some people I admire in tattooing via Zoom to share their stories and experiences with you. I am really excited to see how this podcast develops, making new friends and learning new skills in the process.
Along with this podcast I will be sharing the footage of some of the interviews on YouTube and you can stay up to date by following our Instagram @notjustagirl_tattoo. I will link all the information for this podcast and my guests in the show notes. Please take a moment to subscribe, follow and share Not Just A Girl and all the artists involved to help spread the love of tattooing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to listen today, I really hope you enjoyed it and continue to follow along as I speak to a new artist each week. I hope you all have a wonderful day if you can.
And remember to be kind to others
And fuck the patriarchy!
