9th Grade World History Teacher Recorded Giving Detailed Lesson To Students About 'Tramp Stamps'
Parents should stay involved in what their kids' teachers are saying in the classroom.
RDNE Stock project, Creatas Images | Canva An anonymous 9th grade student used their phone to record a teacher who went wildly off topic during a lecture. The teacher veered into topics that weren’t appropriate for a classroom of any age, as she used vulgar language to describe women’s bodies and sexual activity.
The 9th grade world history teacher gave a detailed lesson to her students about ‘tramp stamps.’
The recording was posted on TikTok by a user with the name “infamousprofessor,” who writes in their bio that they are a “constitutional conservative, pro-life advocate.”
The TikTok itself is solely audio of the teacher speaking, played against a black background with text that offers some slight context to the lecture. “This was recorded in a 9th grade world history class,” the text reads. “The screen is blacked out for the students’ protection. Not only did the teacher discuss these topics in depth, but she demonstrated the discussed positions.”
The teacher’s tramp stamp tangent started with a question, as she asked her class, “Do you all know the really common tattoo that people got? It was right here… on a female. Does anybody know what this is called?”
“It’s called a tramp stamp,” the teacher declared, answering her own question. She offered personal context for that particular cultural marker, explaining, “When I was in school — not high school, but college — that was the thing you got. Everybody went and got one. Everybody.”
Hyperbole aside, the teacher attempted to acknowledge how the tramp stamp appeared at a moment in time when women wore flared, low-rise jeans that easily displayed their lower backs. While tramp stamps are now seen as an outdated style of tattoo, they were hugely popular in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Photo: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels
The teacher continued to dig herself into a deep ethical hole, in regards to what should and should not be discussed in a classroom setting.
She referred to tramp stamps as having "a sexual connotation," remarking, "It was a sexual connotation then, and then over the years, a lot of my friends who have enough money, they got them removed… because it’s like, you used to be a s---, like, 20 years ago.”
After referring to other women’s bodily choices in derogatory terms, the teacher went on to describe different ways of having sex.
Perhaps the most disturbing part of her unhinged diatribe came in the form of her attempt to protect herself, proclaiming, “Half the people in here can’t speak English, and the other half are not gonna tell on me.”
Then, she dug herself even deeper into the muck and mire, saying, “If you were doing it doggy style, the boy could see your tattoo… that was why it [was called] the tramp stamp.”
In a supremely misguided move, the teacher chose to open the floor to class participation, asking, “Do you know what doggy style is? From behind. Put it like this, and you have the tattoo here… The girls have the tattoo here, and the boy can see this tattoo.”
Photo: Anete Lusina / Pexels
Her next sentence didn’t make syntactic sense, yet she pushed forward anyway, stating, “As why now, we think it’s s----y, so we see girls, I see women my age, and I’m like, ‘Oh, you were a s--- back in the day.’ But were they? Who knows? But that’s what I think… ‘cause I don’t have one.”
Without any context, this teacher’s end-goal remains entirely unclear.
What is clear is that speaking about women’s bodies and how they choose to use them in such lewd form is inappropriate for students of any age.
Most of the press regarding poor classroom etiquette points fingers at students’ bad behavior, yet one thing this video makes clear is that sometimes, teachers aren’t behaving as they should be, either.
Teachers aren’t infallible. School administration should be held up to a high standard, as they’re the ones educating America’s children. Eventually, those children will grow into adults, who will build upon what they’ve learned — hopefully — to build a better version of our world for future generations.
This teacher’s behavior is an example of what can go wrong in a classroom. Her lecture shows not only her own bad judgment, but it also outlines the importance of parents being active participants in their kids’ education.
No matter what side of the political spectrum a parent falls on, whether they’re bleeding-heart liberals or right-wing conservatives, all parents should stay involved in their kid’s school experience. That means knowing who their teachers are, and talking to their kids about what goes on in the classroom.
Students deserve classrooms that function as safe spaces for open dialogue, within the parameters of appropriate content. The classroom should be a space where kids don’t feel shame or ridicule for the act of asking questions, for learning, and for growing.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.