Women are getting this tattoo for an empowering reason

For the past few months, women from all over the globe have been getting inked for a pretty badass cause —think sci-fi meets prison meets feminism. That’s right, feminist tattoos inspired by Bitch Planet, the comic series created by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro. If you haven’t heard of the series, it’s Orange is the New Black on a whole new, even more fantastic level. Sure, the stories feature prisoners who are in for theft or assault, but there’s also crimes of adultery, or refusal to conform to beauty standards. It’s an artistic interpretation of the prison some women feel like they’re in every day.

The tattoo itself is the letters “NC,” first illustrated by De Landro, standing for “Non-Compliant.” In the comics, it’s used to brand inmates who have defied the patriarchy by being boldly and beautifully themselves, and now women are using it as a symbol for their own fierce independence.

The Mary Sue reached out to some of these real life Non-Compliant women, and they had great things to say about what the symbol means to them:

That’s from Liesl Dittmann, one of the many women who connected with this series from the moment it hit the stands in December. By issue number four, it’s gathered a large following of readers who are putting their own spin on its symbols. For Aria Burrell, it’s about being transgender:

Take a look at some of these rad tats right here:

But of course, like most feminist movements, the tattoo has received backlash. Many opposers were quick to point out that the comic is still so new —what if women have permanently marked themselves with something that will go out of style? Jenn Northington, events director for Riot New Media, isn’t concerned:

We’re not worried either. As far as we’re concerned, a symbol of women’s independence and beauty, regardless of society’s standards, is always on trend.

(Images via Pinterest )