Marked Bodies, Oppositional Identities? Tattooing, Piercing and the Ambiguity of Resistance

Abstract

The last twenty to thirty years have seen a considerable resurgence in the popularity of tattooing and body piercing in the West, with tattooing, for instance, undergoing what some have called a renaissance (Tucker, 1981; Rubin, 1988; Sanders, 1989; Curry, 1993). This refers not only to the development of new designs and techniques, but also to tattooing’s growing popularity amongst an increasingly diverse clientele. Although they may still form a large proportion of many professional tattooists’ clients, the stereotypical image of the tattooee as young, male and working class is increasingly outdated as more and more men and women, of various age-groups and socio-economic backgrounds, choose to enter the tattoo studio (Rubin, 1988; Sanders, 1989; Curry, 1993; Blanchard, 1994; DeMello, 1995).