Don't know if this breaks the rules

As head mod, shouldn't you know if it is against the rules or not?

I’m not a historian or anything, but I was around and it was my peers that were getting these tattoos.

Shirts that show your tummy/lower back were also popular then (still are? 🤷‍♂️), so getting a tattoo there was a spot you could show it off while also keeping it hidden when needed.

IMO it really had nothing to do with sexuality until the joke started going around about “giving you something to read while doing it doggystyle,” and some people getting sexually suggestive ones lead to the phrase Tramp Stamp.

*aughts, but I appreciate seeing someone else use this term regardless of spelling.

"Tramp stamp" was a joke term. They didn't actually have anything to do with sexuality.

They didn't start as a way to signify women that got around, but as any stereo type starts: you take a handful sample and come to a conclusion that applies to all.

You often saw the rough looking (booze and cigarettes taking its toll) party life ladies displaying the tattoo in everyday scenarios.

You occasionally saw somebody that looked cleancut have them too.

The rest were probably hidden by higher rise clothing.

So a stereotype starts, and a catchy rhyming term to go with it.

Tattoos have been used to communicate things for hundreds of years, at least, and across a handful of cultures (think Maori culture or the Yakuza in Japan). If you mean tattoos that were specifically meant to communicate sexual interest/openness, I'm not sure, but that could be an interesting topic of study.

What does OTS stand for?

Butthole tattoos usually mean open for business.