111
A
Life Told in Ink: Tattoo Narratives and the Problem of the Self in Late
Modern Society
SAGE Publications, Inc.200510.1191/0967550705ab021oa
AtteOksanen
University of Tampere, Finland, atte.oksanen@uta.fi
JussiTurtiainen
University of Tampere, Finland, jussi.turtiainen@uta.fi
Address
for correspondence: Atte Oksanen or Jussi Turtiainen, Department of Sociology
and Social Psychology, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland; Email: atte.oksanen@uta.fi
or jussi.turtiainen@uta.fi
The phenomenon of tattooing
became part of mainstream culture in the 1990s. The article analyses portraits
that were published in Tattoo magazine, where the meanings of tattoos
varied from self-adornment to a narrative structuring of life history and
identity protection. Particular focus is put on how tattoos are used to plot
life stories. The tattooed body represents a map that enables narration.
Dramatic life changes are embodied in tattoos that help subjects to ease
their problems. However, since problems are engraved into skin and flesh they
are visible and also seen by other people. Subjectivities become visible.
The analysis given in the article offers a view upon a paradox of subjectivity
in late modern society. The human body is, at the same time, both a subject
actively seeking meaning and a mere object to be judged.
INTRODUCTION
He gets tattooed all the time, he says, averaging a couple–three sittings
a week: `It's personal gratification. I love the art. I'm able to change my
body the way I want to see it.' (Jason Spinelli, Tattoo, 2001/145: 30) In
the Peter Greenaway film The Pillow Book (1997), calligraphy on skin becomes
a means to write life. The main character Nagiko has men prac- tising calligraphy
on her skin, while she herself practises her fetish on paper and on other
people's skin. Through this procedure they become a book of their own. Like
the calligraphy as portrayed in The Pillow Book, tattooing puts a mark on
the lives of late modern subjects. More than ever, the body has become an
object which is shaped by gym practice and plastic surgery, and which is embellished
with body piercings and tattoos.
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The tattooed,
or modified body, thus always exists on a shifting boundary between subject
and object. Just like Nagiko in Greenaway's film; the body is constructing
a personal history of experiences on the one hand, while on the other hand
it is as an object that is subject to the gaze of others. Only the desire
and the demand to shape the body are present in both levels. The history of
tattoos as consumer products for the middle classes is quite recent, it emerged
no longer than a few decades ago (DeMello, 2000; Sweetman, 1999a). Before
the cultural movement from the 1960s onwards that has been termed `Tattoo
Renaissance' (Rubin, 1988; Sanders, 1989) tattoos had a long and conflict-ridden
history. In the western world, tattoos have marked the bodies of slaves, criminals,
prostitutes, deserters, primitive tribes and later deviant sub-cultures (Caplan,
2000; Castellani, 1995; Marenko, 2002; Le Breton, 2002). In public discussions,
the ambiguity evoked by tattoos is easily channelled into a medicalizing moral
panic about the health risks connected to tattoos and piercing (Pitts, 1999; Fisher, 2002). The sociology of the body has recently started to approach
tattooing as a form of self-expression and body politics, hence opening the
way to a positive diagnosis of tattooing (Fisher, 2002; Le Breton, 2002; Pitts,
1998; 1999; Sweetman, 1999a; 1999b). The article analyses the autobiographi-
cal aspect of tattooing mentioned, for example, by Paul Sweetman (1999a).
The key concept used in this article is tattoo narrative, which refers to
the way that tattooed subjects plot their life through their tattoos. Tattoos
function as points of reference or maps that enable life stories to be told.
It is shown here that tattoos are used by subjects in order to control their
lives when faced with the chaos of late modern society. A tattoo engraved
into the skin represents a link to personal life history, as well as an oppor-
tunity for subjective security. We shall argue that subjectivity is increasingly
tangible and visual in late modern societies. The body enters the core of
the social sphere as a surface for displaying subjectivity, but it also involves
subjects having to negotiate between different symbolic orders (see Irwin,
2001; 2003). Subjects have to face the conflict that although they can modify
and (re)write their bodies they cannot control the meanings that other people
give to their tattoos. Therefore the visualized body is in itself a battle-
ground of contradictory meanings. In the following, we shall first present
our research material and further develop the concept of tattoo narrative,
after which we shall provide a detailed account of how visual tattooed bodies
are used by subjects to narrate their lives. NARRATING THE BODY Tattoo magazine
claims to be the world's best-selling publication on tat- toos. Our analysis
focuses on the portraits published in Tattoo magazine,
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which
are to be found under a section named `Features'. These portraits are approximately
three pages long, containing both text and photographs. The data comprises
34 issues (137–38, 140–62, 164–72) from the years 2001,
2002 and 2003. These issues contain altogether 280 portraits (848 pages).
Additionally, we have utilized as background material two issues from both
1993 (44, 52) and 1999 (117, 120), which consist of 40 portraits (106 pages).
The portraits are written by three men: Frank Booth, H.T. Booth and Paul Garson.
Tattoo magazine is highly visual. Each cover consists of a young woman pictured
in the tradition of soft porn revealing tattooed skin. In the portraits, both
women and men exhibit their tattooed bodies filled with images of animals,
saints, devils, dragons and tribal designs that evoke the primitive. The imagery
of popular culture from film stars to pin-up girls, vampires, comic-book characters
and Star Wars motifs represents another important influence. Portraits constantly
play with the stripping of the subjects who sometimes cover up their tattoos
in everyday life: `My tat- toos are like a hidden identity of mine because,
unfortunately, my job in and of itself and my employer frown upon tattoos
in open view of the public', says Brian Doebler (Tattoo, 2003/162: 61). Peter
Brooks (1993) states that unveiling is a central feature of narra- tives.
An old scar enables the recognition of Odysseus when he comes back to Ithaca.
It is a body that reveals the identity of Odysseus to the others. In the
same way, visual stripping in Tattoo magazine is reveal- ing. However, the
trick with tattoo narratives in Tattoo magazine is that thoughts are stripped
as well as clothing. For example, Tsae Lee Dow refers to her tattoos as footnotes
of herself and as a personal history in her skin. She has a tree tattooed
in the back of her neck in memory of her brother who at of age of four accidently
hung himself from a tree. `I was the only one there ... and I was only three,
but I still remember it' (Tattoo, 2002/159: 29–30). Becoming tattooed
can be seen as a form of a permanent diary that no one can take away (Sweetman,
1999a). Tattoo narratives involve subjects narrating with their body and of
their body. In other words, there are stories on the body and the body in
the story (Brooks, 1993). Of course not all the subjects reveal their life
as far as Tsae Lee does. Ted Mitchell (Tattoo, 2002/160: 61) describes his
attitude: `The meanings overall are very personal, and I don't tell anyone
what that is.' This statement refers also to the general problem of our data.
Portraits are modified through interaction between journalists and tat- tooed
subjects and certainly not all the participants were willing to reveal their
lives within the pages of a popular magazine. Many of the portraits describe
more artistic matters and things related to the tattoo community. It is worth
noting also that it seems to be that not all the tattoos are taken
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as representations
of serious personal issues. Some of them have been taken just for fun – but not all of them. It all began in kindergarten, believe it or not. My father
had some motorcycle friends and I remember images with traditional wings and
eagles. But I was twenty-six before I was finally able to get my first. (Debbie
Byrne, Tattoo 2001/138: 60) Although some people say that they are tattooing
themselves for purely aesthetic reason, tattoos appear to situate life in
most of the tattoo narra- tives. The prior stages of life are expressed through
images inscribed on the skin. Tattoo narratives frequently begin in childhood
with memories and dreams, which are strongly associated with tattoos: `Since
he was a kid Scott Buffington has experienced visions. More specifically,
ink dreams' (Tattoo, 2003/167: 59). Mark Epstein explains his relation to
the tattoos as follows: `I knew that I was going to be a tattooed person very
early on. In Seattle, I was surrounded by friends with tattoos, so I was in
the environment as well. Most importantly, my body didn't feel right without
ink' (Tattoo, 2002/150: 37). On occasions, the tattoo narratives almost gain
a semi-religious tone, as the fuzzy tattoo-related memories of childhood are
linked to `one of those primal urges' (Tattoo, 2001/137: 29) or `previous
life leaking ink through to the next' (Tattoo, 2002/156: 67). As shown by
Brooks (1984), narration involves plotting that covers both story elements
and their ordering. `I try to just put a lot of thought into my tattoos and
relate them to what I'm doing and to things in my life' (Kevin Williams, Tattoo,
2001/141: 29). In tattoo narratives, individual tattoos are plotted into a
life story. It is important to underline that in tattoo narratives, life gains
a new coherence through the modified and tattooed body. Experiences and life
events are seen in the skin, but also tattooed pictures also seem to tell
the stories of their carriers. Their relationship between tattoos and subject
is dialogical. Therefore we shall throughout this article, refer to bodies
as experiencing, living bodies, which means seeking bodies as analysed, for
example, by Merleau-Ponty (1945) in his phenomenological study on the body.
When writing about plots, Brooks (1984) refers to their spatial dimen- sions.
The term plot can also mean a small piece of ground for example. Tattoos resemble
these kinds of `plots' also in terms of delineative charts; they are delineated
and spatialized engravings on the body. The tattooed body can be seen as a
map that helps subjects to narrate their lives. Tsae Lee Dow describes the
importance of placement of her tree tattoo: `It was always in my face and
in my head,' she explains, `So by putting it on the back of my neck, I put
it behind me' (Tattoo, 2002/159: 30). Tsae Lee Dow's description shows why
the tattooed body should be seen as three dimensional and not only as a text
or as a collage of two dimensional
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pictures.
A tree in the back of her neck is something physically present and at the
same time surpassed. Hence, tattoo narratives involve multidimensionality:
they bridge space, time, memory and affects together. NEGOTIATING TATTOOED
SUBJECTIVITY In tattoo narratives, the acquiring of the first tattoo is a
significant turning point that appears as a part of the process of becoming
independent. Tattoos work as personal rites of passage from childhood to adulthood
(Le Breton, 2002). `The image symbolized an overall progression of over- coming
my childhood, growing up and becoming independent,' Rick Sprague describes
the phoenix in his chest (Tattoo, 2003/166: 138). Old tattoos are usually
later despised. Josh Brunner who got his first tattoo at the age 14 describes
it as `absolutely horrible' (Tattoo, 2003/170: 33) and Chris Hartgraves who
got his own at the age of 15 uses almost the same words: `It was a horrible
tattoo, the worst!' (Tattoo, 2003/161: 29). Every drop of Melissa Christensen's
ink is saturated with meaning on a very personal level. For her, it's always
been that way, from the very first, small piece she received in her boyfriend's
bedroom at the tender age of 14. `He had a homemade tattoo gun,' she explains.
(Tattoo, 2001/141: 9) Particularly with women, the experience of getting the
first tattoo is asso- ciated with losing of virginity. Later, the initial
marking on the skin has either been removed or is left in tact `as a quirky
signifier of the state of mind of an 18-year-old woman hot to get her first
tattoo' (Tattoo, 2001/140: 11). The tattoos taken in one's teens or early
teens are described as tentative first steps preceding the better-thought-out
and more refined attitude to the tattooed body in maturity. When I turned
eighteen, I wanted to get my first one, but knew that I wanted to think long
and hard about what I wanted, because it was only going to be on my body for
the rest of my life. So it took me six years before I finally went for it.
(Arlene Acosta, Tattoo, 2001/140: 75) Some younger tatooees, who are already
heavily tattooed, hide their tat- toos from their parents. The journalists
of Tattoo often play around with the idea that young tattooees who cannot
expose themselves to their par- ents exhibit their tattoos to them. `So, as
I said before, should you find yourself reading this article and you're anywhere
near the Belgian town of Brugge, please, for Joeri's sake, make sure his dad
doesn't get to see these pages' (Tattoo, 2003/170: 10). In later age, parents
seem to be
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replaced
by bosses or conventional circles of the job that often force people to cover
up their tattoos (see also Irwin, 2003: 37). My tattoos pose no problem at
work, and at school, it's divided between people who are frightened by them,
and those who want to get to know me because of them. Now, on the other hand,
my father still offers to pay to have all my tattoos lasered off. (Shannon
Utz, Tattoo, 2001/144: 30) Despite the commodification and commercialization
of tattoos, the stigma character of tattoos plays a relevant role in tattoo
narratives. Women in particular describe the reactions generated by their
environ- ment in the following terms: `My mom just wants me to keep the ink
off my arms until I become a lawyer' (Tracy Dailey, Tattoo, 2002/156: 59).
As observed by Katherine Irwin (2001), subjects are forced to use legitimation
techniques to maximize the benefits of the phenomenon and to minimize the
negative meanings associated with tattoos. Though tattoos are currently `in',
they still retain an element for the middle-class flirtation with forbidden
fruit. Susan A. Phillips (2001) argues that social class defines how tattoos
are perceived. While middle-class tattooing seems to be a partly safe way
of expressing the self, a lower-class status can change how other people read
the signs of the body; the self-expressive status of tattooing as art can
turn out to be the mark of criminality. The risk to be misinterpreted is at
least virtual for the middle-class subjects (Irwin, 2003). On the one hand,
it can perhaps be even an enjoyable form of voluntary and rather harmless
risk taking. On the other, it can turn out to be repressing for the self which
might end in having to cover up the body. At least in some respects a business
man who is wearing his `full body suit' under his suit resembles a prisoner
who tries to tattoo himself in secrecy. The regularly repeated slogan about
the `world of ink' in the portraits serves to construct a sense of community
that seems to be a narrative solu- tion for the problem of deviancy. Although
tattoos problematize some social relationships they enable others. `I've been
lucky. Good choices. Good people. I really did grow up in a world of ink'
(Miss Dee Dassen, Tattoo, 2002/154: 86). Tattoo magazine frequently cites
stories of couples having found themselves through tattooing. Family bounds
are also strengthened through ink. `All of my brothers, my dad … everyone
born into the McKay clan … has that tattoo' (David Mckay, Tattoo, 2002/157:
90). In late modern society, ink may occasionally obtain the function of blood:
`You could say they are indeed a family linked by ink' (Tattoo, 2002/154:
58). Tattooing provides a feeling of belonging and of retaining some connection
to others (Le Breton, 2002). The imaginary interface joining the individual
to the community is inscribed directly into the person's skin.
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`A world
of ink' seems to refer generally the problem of modern subjects. Our life
spaces are increasingly `lifted out' as Scott Lash (2002: 21) points out,
like McDonald's restaurants, the Internet, theme parks and airports. Richard
Sennett (1994: 349) states that an airport waiting lounge is an architectural
emblem of our age. According to Bryan S. Turner (1999), airport departure
lounges capture the temporary and fleeting nature of modern social relationships,
and also uncertainties of modern life, its ennui, anxiety and fragility. Subjects
wait in boredom but on the other hand flights run risks to be delayed or cancelled.
The pointless leisure and alienation of airports seem to be captured also
in tattoo narra- tives. Subjects are at risk of being exposed, yet happy that
they have taken their risks. Body marking is the uniting factor of a social
world. In a sense the technological age seems to call for a new kind of primitivism – when life is too distancing, the skin and flesh start to speak. THE VISUALIZATION
OF SUBJECTIVITY Visual and aesthetic issues play a crucial role in tattoo
narratives that stand sometimes very near to the values and standards of the
Western cul- ture of consumption. The portraits frequently highlight youth,
sexuality, individuality and handsome white bodies. Tattoos function as foreplay.
When it comes to women, images situated on the hip, the lower back, or the
upper chest frame areas generally considered erogenous. As far as men are
concerned, the tattoos adorn biceps and shoulders, traditionally seen as phallic
symbols. A first glance reveals that everything on Gina's body is not only
in its proper place, but pleasantly arranged to boot. Upon second glance,
the viewer notices that the owner of this corporeal abode takes considerable
pride in decorating the exterior of her temple. (Tattoo, 2001/137: 29) The
portraits indicate a powerful connection between tattoos and sexual fantasies.
In the case of Gina Allman, the writer H.T. Booth invites the reader to look
at Gina's body. The aim is to uncover the body, turning the portrait into
something near to a striptease. Gina's knowledge of shiatsu philosophy is
mentioned in the text with reference to her appear- ance. The inner conflict
of the article thus is that despite the comparisons drawn to shiatsu philosophy,
it still represents Gina herself as a temple looked at from the outside. The
point of view is crystallized at the end of the article: `Gina Allman's body
is indeed a marvellously constructed temple and a highly effective advertisement
for her chosen vocation' (Tattoo, 2001/137: 30). The magazine repeatedly associates
the pleasure derived from tattoos with the gaze directed to the body.
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In a
consumer culture, gaining control of one's life starts to rely on embodiment
of the visual (Featherstone, 1991). Subjectivity is much more prone to the
gaze of the other, as in the case of Gina Allman, the construc- tion of an
own meaningful life is downplayed to the outward appearance. The magazine
chooses to celebrate appearance and splendour, while sub- jects attempt to
find sense and meaning in their tattoos. For example, H.T. Booth cuts short
Arlene Acosta's discussion on the process of planning her tattoos: `That's
nice, Arlene, but let's get back to your strengths. You know, nakedness and
sexuality. Could you elaborate a little more?' (Tattoo, 2001/140: 75). This
seems to capture the basic problem of tattooed subjects who are at the same
time both subject and object – the one seeing and to be seen (see also
Marenko, 2002). Subjectivity becomes visualized as if there would not be a
single action without an outer gaze to the body. In this sense the body as
temple is not portrayed as if it would house a subject, but rather as a commercial
tourist trap. Women's tattoos are often viewed in Tattoo magazine within the
regis- ter of beauty and sensitivity. Tattoos make them sexy. This seems to
convey one important factor of the body in consumer culture: the body is seen
as a collection of separate parts that are desired and constantly enhanced
(Grogan, 1999; Stratton, 1996). Tattoo narratives manifest the sexual desirability
of tattoos. According to Marc Blanchard (1994), tat- toos are fetishes, since
a picture inscribed into the skin is more desirable and more alive than the
body itself. After Jean Paul Gaultier's fashion show in Paris in 1993, the
world of fashion announced that piercings and tattoos had become even more
important than clothing (Hewitt, 1997: 93). One might even claim that tat-
toos are at a certain extent taking over the position of generating fetishes
traditionally held by clothing. `Tattoo is about revealing, being revealed
and gazing upon the revealing,' Marc Blanchard states (1994: 295). Sometimes
a single tattoo can be seen as almost living a life of its own. When Paul
Garson asks his interviewee, Scott Risley, why he does not frame the original
model for his tattoo and hang it on his wall, Risley replied: `Why? I've got
it on my back.' Garson concludes by saying: `He's right, and that's better
than any static wall display, his version is literally living and breathing'
(Tattoo, 2001/144: 68). The most important thing about my work is that it's
all original art, completely original. … I look at myself as a canvas
on which I am letting artists express their talent on my body. I give them
full creative freedom so that they can enjoy it to the max and put their heart
into it. (Erin Holly, Tattoo, 2003/169: 66) Tattoo magazine frequently describes
the body as a canvas on which artists paint their work. `At 6'2” and
289 lbs., 26-year old Michael
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presents
quite an expansive canvas for his number one artist' (Tattoo, 2001/141: 55).
This is one solution to the problem of positioning the subject as a mere visual
target. Christopher Lasch (1979) points out that in a world of self-expression,
life itself is becoming a work of art. This kind of aestheticization of subjectivity
enables the subject to engage in narcissistic mirroring where he or she is
looked upon by others: I'll show my tattoos to anybody, or my piercings. I
have no shame when it comes to them. I love them all, and they all mean something
to me. It's just like any other masterpiece. I'm just the lucky one that gets
to wear it for the rest of my life. (Cyndi Zonneveld, Tattoo, 2001/146: 87)
In fact, the portraits often communicate unabashed exhibitionistic pleasure
derived from `tattoo posing'. Subjectivity is constructed only upon the appearances
of the body. `My tattoos don't necessarily have deep meanings, sometimes I
just go for what I feel is really beautiful' (Tanja Nixx, Tattoo, 2001/137:
73). David Le Breton (2002) suggests that, for women, the function of tattoos
is sometimes purely decorative, and that there is a tendency to refer to tattoos
as modern-day jewellery. Sweetman (1999a) notes that it is usually lightly
tattooed subjects who are willing to see their bodily marks in decorative
terms. In the tattoo narratives of men there is clearly a defined understanding
of the division between `girlie stuff' and manly tattoos. Men distance themselves
from the association of feminine beauty and self-adornment, although they
still view their tattoos as art. The majority of men tend to choose tattoos
displaying a truly male iconography: symbols of power, sexist imagery and
characters from popular culture. Macho-masculine tat- toos are characterized
by the aesthetics of violence, in which the enforce- ment of action, strength
and heterosexuality plays a major part. Superheroes, different variations
of the devil and biomechanical monsters belong to the mainstream of men's
tattoos. The gaze on the male body does not seem to make it passive. Their
tattooed bodies are associated with street-credible masculinity. Although
the magazine makes women the objects of the masculine gaze, it also opens
up a possible challenge to the rigid boundaries of the feminine body. In
the portraits, tattoos become a part of a street- credible appearance and
way of life. `I can express myself in a feminine way and still have the edginess'
(Shannon Utz, Tattoo, 2001/144: 30). According to Irwin (2001: 55), tattoos
offer women a means to display hardness and strength. `It all started with
rock `n' roll … I sort of turned myself into the bad girl … but in a good way. I thrive on the male energy, which I try to turn into
feminine sexuality.' Toughness
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is needed,
since a woman wearing large tattoos violates more western beauty ideals than
a man. I never dress girly. I never use make-up. I don't ride my bike like
a girl. But I do have a girly tattoo. (Kelli Davis, Tattoo, 2001/142: 57)
Despite the fetishist and commercial character of tattoos, tattoo narratives
show that tattoos can be used in terms of feminine identity politics in the
same way as high heels and corsets in the gothic style (see also Stratton,
1996; Wilkins, 2004). However, the increasing visualization places the subject
under constant negotiation. If subjectivity is built on visual appearance,
it is constantly subject to the gaze and criticism of others, and there is
a risk that the subject is forced into stereotypical positions. In a thoroughly
commercial world, even ideas that are presented as one's own are shared. Ramona
Nations talks about the impulse that led her to inscribe her whole body with
fruits: `I wanted something different, and just then the Fruit of the Loom
commercials were coming out on TV, and I just thought that was catchy' (Tattoo,
2003/165: 37). Tattooed subjects are like travellers in the airport waiting
lounge, gazing at commercial advertisements, looking at the bodies of other
people and eventually being gazed at themselves. However, as Victoria Pitts
(2003) notes, late modern bodies should not be taken as ontologically free
to play the cultural play and narrate about themselves. The fundamen- tal
paradox of tattoos remains that what is defined as personal is, in real- ity,
shared (Le Breton, 2002). The crucial question is to what extent subjects
are able to create their own meanings and situate their personal feelings
and experiences. As shown by Sweetman (1999a), tattooing should not be approached
in an exclusively commercial fashion. Viewing one's body as art is used to
refer to its lasting nature – no matter how consuming current culture
is. TUNING UP THE BODY Many tattoo narratives view tattoos in the light of
dramatic life experi- ences. Significant memories, radical life changes, losing
loved ones and looking for a new direction in life are all manifested through
the marking of the body. `When I got that piece, it was a critical point in
my life, where I was in college trying to figure out who I was and what I
was doing with myself' (Tattoo, 2001/140: 11). The connection between tattoos
and life stages is emphasized by showing how the tattooing process can lead
to significant changes in understanding and experiencing the self (Sweetman,
1999b). Life is constantly discussed in relation to tattoos that serve as
memory maps and tool kits helping subjects to structure their
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experiences.
In a metaphorical sense the body is like an instrument that life is playing.
When it goes out of tune, it has to be tuned `up' (i.e., modified) again.
I always think that a tattoo also connotes something like a period in one's
life … When I had good times, the tattoo would turn out colourful,
and in bad times they were black-and-grey. (Ralf Reich, Tattoo, 2002/154:
11) Images, colours and symbols reflect transitions and provide the structure
for life history. They function as reminders for their bearers' history and
they serve as lived memories remaining on the surface of the body. Some of
the stories are coloured by self-hatred directed to prior life stages. The
28-year old Chad Rice decided to have a phoenix etched on his right shoulder,
`when I quit drugs and started to do things my own way about five years ago'
(Tattoo, 2001/140: 11). The symbolism is conscious: the bird phoenix serves
as a cathartic sacrifice purifying its carrier of earlier life stages and
becomes the manifestation of a new beginning. Dan Massey describes battling
dragons on his right shoulder that he took on as a result of his divorce:
I got into a whole bunch of trouble etc., etc., and the image represents my
attitude at the time, me being the one kicking the other dragon's ass. Then
I met my wife, Melanie, with whom I've been seven years now. After I met her
I added the swords that represent me slaying the dragons and my internal dragons
as well since she helped me calm down a lot. (Tattoo, 2003/171: 59) Tattoo
narratives are characteristically personal and confessional. Sari Näre (1999)
uses the concept `intimization of the public' to refer to a process where
the intimate personal aspects of life, such as sex and emo- tions, are becoming
part of mainstream publicity. The tattooed body, too, represents the intimization
of the public, since it renders subjectivity as visual and public. Although
the meaning associated with tattoos may vary according to the onlooker, the
portraits of Tattoo magazine present the relationship between the tattoos
and the subject as iconic: `To look at Shannon is to look at an open book'
(Tattoo, 2001/140: 29). Committed to a narcotic/alcohol-free lifestyle, Jeremiah
Hanzey has the words `Drug Free' inscribed on his abdomen (Tattoo, 2001/144:
9). The 23-year old Mark Postema's chest displays a cross as a sign of his
religious conviction (Tattoo, 2001/148: 87). Kevin Williams, a vegetarian,
has opted for an artichoke on his leg (Tattoo, 2001/141: 29). Carlos Sanchez,
Jr states that he wears a collage of his Mexican heritage (Tattoo, 2002/155:
57). However, the visualized subjectivity is not necessarily determined by
the signs on the body, for tattoos can gain new meanings with altering life
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phases.
According to Vilma Hänninen (2000), narratives have a tendency to form a dialogical
relationship between personal life experiences and narration. Analogically,
tattoos are reinterpreted in relation to new life experiences. Marenko (2002)
points out that the narrative feature of tat- toos should not be reduced to
the symbolic level alone, for the tattooed body is more adaptive than static
by nature. In other words, although the picture on the skin has a relative
permanence, the affects connected to it change with the flow of life. Although
permanence is commonly seen as perhaps the most central feature of tattooing,
the portraits clearly state that individual tattoos are not necessarily permanent:
`[The tattoo on] the belly is the only thing that's gonna stay there, and
everything else is getting totally reworked' (Jason Roderick, Tattoo, 2002/154:
35). Like the sense of community created by tattoos, the permanence of tattoos
is thus a shifting notion. Old tattoos have either been covered by new ones
or removed by laser. Paul Garson's concluding remark on his interviewee, Wes
Grissom, having covered his ex-girlfriend's name with a new picture motif,
carries a deeper meaning: `Sometimes girls come and go, but ink is forever,
right?' (Tattoo, 2002/156: 86). Since life is constantly changing, the tattooed
body cannot be static. Only the will to engrave the skin seems to remain,
or `get tattoos `til I die', as Michael Shook puts it (Tattoo, 2002/150: 68).
Tattoo narratives represent the acquisition of new tattoos as a cathartic
process. Pitts (1998), who has studied people with scarification, talks of
tattoos as a liminal space between the old and the new. In the tattooing rituals
analysed by Pitts, a new, strong identity is claimed to replace the former
weak one. I'd like to get part of my female anatomy tattooed on the appropriate
place on my stomach. … I had my right ovaries removed a couple of years
ago, so this would be a way of getting them back. (Shannon Lamm, Tattoo, 2001/140:
30) The ritual character of tattooing can be seen to involve a power that
serves to unify and restore the body. In the case of Shannon Lamm, a defective
body is symbolically restored by marking the skin. In this way, the body is
tuned up closer to the ideal self with the aim of regaining the harmony lost.
According to Pitts (1998), one of the functions of tattooing is the symbolical
reclaiming of the body. In Pitts's study, women who had acquired tattoos and
piercings described how their tattoos provided a means to reclaim their own
bodies (see also Benson, 2000; Fisher, 2002; Irwin, 2001). The tattoo narratives
can be viewed as a reflective body project (see Shilling, 1993; Sweetman,
1999a). The body is constantly worked and reworked and it is tuned up in relation
to life itself. When there are
123
dramatic
changes in life, there are new tattoos on the body. The metaphor of tuning
`up' does not only refer to music and establishing harmony between the body
and the various life stages. Since the body is a product of life, goal rationality
becomes another important aspect in addition to the more affective and intimate
sides. Therefore body tuning refers to the maximization of the visual capacity
and appearance of the body. The body is like a machine that is constantly
improved and adjusted (Featherstone, 1991). The body is the product of careful
planning and perfected craft, which is measured in the portraits, for instance,
by stating the exact number of hours spent on the pieces. Besides aesthetic
gains, the pleasure associated with tattoos also springs from the sense of
control achieved by body modification. TATTOOS AS SHIELDS OF SUBJECTIVITY
Tattooing is a lot about helping people, the changes that the person will
go through after they've have been heavily tattooed. The transformation of
ink often restores their confidence that they may have lost along the way.
(Ted Mitchell, Tattoo, 2002/160: 63) In addition to serving the purpose of
exhibiting and tuning up the body, tattoos also have protective functions
for the subjects. Some describe how tattoos protect the body by forming magical
armour on the surface of the skin: `We're working on some wasps for my waist
line, because I'm aller- gic to them. They'll be a sort of protective symbol'
(Kevin Williams, Tattoo, 2001/141: 31). According to Le Breton (2002), the
potential of tattoos is directed towards the future. A mark tattooed on skin
serves as talisman or shield that enables the subject to look ahead in life.
At the time [of the first tattoo] I moved to a job that was overwhelming.
I couldn't go back to my old job because it was eliminated. … I was
off for four or five months, and during that time I developed a really bad
depression. Tattooing helped me get through that difficult period. You could
say it was an alternative to doing something stupid. It took my mind off what
I was going through. (Ken Nantais, Tattoo, 2001/138: 56) The story of Ken
Nantais elucidates the protective nature of tattoos. The body becomes a reliable
anchor for subjectivity. The subject avoids plung- ing into distress by tattooing
himself. As the social world disperses, the tattooed and pierced body is
created as a controllable miniature world. Subjective experiences are made
controllable through the act of attaching them to the surface of the skin
(Le Breton, 2002). In his analyses, Le Breton (2002; 2003) emphasizes the
sense of control derived from
124
tattooing,
body piercing and cutting. The subject may experience the feeling of living
and being in control of life through the skin. It is impor- tant to remember,
however, that the protection offered by tattoos does not necessarily refer
to control, but to peace of mind and release from self- control. Janet Kearns,
for instance, speaks about the dragon images covering her wrists: `While it's
difficult to tell that story, I'm also very proud of those tattoos. Also,
during the time they kept me from thinking of re-cutting [my wrists]' (Tattoo,
2003/167: 86). Tattoos as shields of subjectivity function in the context
of war and peace: `On my left arm I have the sign for protection, home and
faith, with hope, survival, and endurance runes on my right arm' (David McKay,
Tattoo, 2002/157: 89). Tattoos can serve as fortifications and armour used
in the battle for subjectivity. For instance, the violent tattoo images of
some men can be interpreted as symbolic warfare for the purpose of appropriating
masculinity. According to Calvin Thomas (1996), masculin- ity is defined by
the struggle against the threat of feminization and the fear of weakness and
disempowerment. Constructing a street-credible look through tattoos can be
interpreted as masculine armouring (see Theweleit, 2000). For example, Eric
Baer, who works in the security business, has acquired a large Superman tattoo
on his back (Tattoo, 2002/154: 89–90). For the second context of subjectivity
protection we will use the metaphor of peace. In contrast to the above-described
state of war, this implies a pursuit of a homely state of security and peace
of mind, as in the story of Janet Kearns. In the portraits of Tattoo magazine,
this form of pro- tection is dominant. Tattoos are associated with the ideas
of familiarity, intimacy and home. For Paul Giconi, who has numerous tattoos
inspired by the comic book characters Calvin and Hobbes, the skin-inscribed
adventures of the comic book heroes do not imply simply a keen interest in
the art of comics, but are associated first and foremost with the experi-
ences that he and his loved ones have gone through. The images on the skin
remind their bearer of the durability of human relationships as well as the
hardships encountered in life. The comic book stories inscribed on the skin
serve as a script for a future that appears uncertain (Tattoo, 2002/157: 33).
Some time ago, it came to me that what I enjoy the most about tattoos is
the permanence of them. I've lost both parents, people who were close to me,
and I realized that things that I hold important in life are sometimes fleeting,
but my tattoos are permanent. … It's something that can't be taken
away. (Hank Maffetone, Tattoo, 2001/140: 72) The portrait of Hank Maffetone,
a clown tattoo enthusiast, stresses the unpredictability and uncontrollability
of life. Against this backdrop, his
125
tattoos
are construed as permanent objects. For Jessica Perozzi who has a Catholic
family background, a tattoo of the Virgin Mary represents some- thing that
will last for all time (Tattoo, 2001/141: 33). A similar notion of permanence
is central in memorial tattoos, where dead family members are marked in the
person's skin through names, facial portraits, or sym- bols representing them.
The 35-year-old Alexia Phillips has devoted an entire arm to symbols representing
family members: `My left arm is my “tribute arm'' ', she says (Tattoo,
2001/141: 60). The tribute arm displays the name of her daughter and a nurse
figure representing her grandmother. The meaning of memorial tattoos is to
create a firmer link to loved ones than is possible through immaterial mental
images. Memory is anchored to tangible pictures. My daughter, my mother, and
myself went to visit my mother's grave. We were walking toward the grave,
and I said, `Hey, Dad, I don't want you to be offended by this, but I did
something, a memory piece for Mom.' … When I took off my shirt, my
daughter started weeping immediately. I waited for my dad's reaction. I was
expecting him to punch me in the face and storm off, but he reached out and
touched it. Then he said, `This artist really captured your mother.' (Daniel
Bueller, Tattoo, 2002/152: 30) Daniel Bueller has a tattoo portrait of his
dead mother as a saint with a sword on his back. Images of saints stand, according
to a psychoanalyti- cal interpretation by Marja Tuominen, for the longing
for the ideal object. The visual presence of the caring, emphatic and all-sacrificing
mother's function is to bring back the good object, but at the same time it
also opens up a possibility to let go (Tuominen, 2001). In the narrative of
Bueller, the oedipal drama between son, father and dead mother is solved by
the admi- ration of the tattoo. `It was a special day for both of us' (Daniel
Bueller, Tattoo, 2002/152: 30). The tattoo joins the family together so that
they are able to both grieve and glorify the lost mother. PAIN AND NARRATING
Elaine Scarry (1985) discusses physical pain as a state that lacks an object
in the external world. There are no words that could express it. Grief that
is not processed functions in the same way. It stays silent. Socio-cultural
changes have an impact on our capacity to cope with pain. According to Richard
Sennett (1994), contemporary society has through its structuring of time and
space alone aimed to diminish feelings of pain and disturbance, at the same
time also decreasing our opportunities to feel. Scott Lash (2002) argues that
among other factors, the technologization of life functions to create chaotic
presence, where the subjects may find
126
it difficult
to grasp reality. They do not have time or space for critical distance. According
to Lash (2002), the times of the narrative are clearly over. In the context
of this reading, it is significant that tattooed subjects portrayed in Tattoo
magazine are able to discuss even highly dramatic events in their lives. Their
stories are not characterized by chaos; the pain does not rub out the narrative
(see Frank, 1995). Tattoos seem to situate pain in a way that enables the
person to discuss distressing experiences (see Alford, 1997). `I just remember
the pain. They say you don't remem- ber the pain, but I found a couple spots
on my back that had especially good memories,' as one man describes his experience
of getting a tattoo (Paul Merrick, Tattoo 2001/143: 68). Just as there is
pain in childbirth, a pain that bonds the mother to her child, there's a similar
thing going on in tattooing, the pain, the bonding of ink and imagery with
your skin, a very personal thing that I call my own. (Anna Pasternak, Tattoo,
2002/160: 71) The process of tattooing is described as a powerful and purifying
experi- ence. `For me, getting tattooed is definitely a form of acupuncture.
It's very relaxing and vents all the pent up frustrations and aggressions.
It's very therapeutic' (Erin Holly, Tattoo, 2003/169: 65). Dave Reynolds refers
to pain therapy when talking of the process of tattooing (Tattoo, 2003/170:
168) and Sarah Weyant states: `Tattoos are a great source of strength for
me and have enhanced me. I think they're very therapeutic and good for your
soul' (Tattoo, 2003/161: 58). There seems to be an almost intimate connection
between physical pain caused by the tattooing process as Anna Pasternak notes.
Ink makes bonding possible. Marenko (2002) makes the Nietzschean point that
physical pain signi- fies self-expression and a transition beyond fixed identity.
According to Kim Hewitt (1997), physical pain may have pacifying and harmonizing
functions. Even forms of self-mutilation can be seen as a means of regain-
ing force over one's own body and letting out feelings that one was not allowed
to feel (Favazza, 1996; McLane, 1996). Tattoo narratives, too, are affected
by the notion of `good pain'. Pain is a positive affect, as it guides a person
out of chaos and towards security and a grasp of life. In this sense tattoo
narratives are often plotted as quest narratives where to narrator changes
character through suffering (Frank, 1995). Tattooing serves for subjects as
a path to find a voice of their own. Susan Benson (2000) observes that tattoo
narratives do not constitute parades of postmodern flexible and amoeba-like
personalities, instead, they appear to address issues such as the uncertainty
of the future, the blurring of boundaries, and the fear of fragmentation of
subjectivity. Benson goes on to state that tattoos do not communicate, but
they declare
127
what
is permanent in the flesh. In the portraits of Tattoo magazine, this aspect
is visible in their iconic character in relation to life itself. Yet, unlike
Benson's claims, tattoos also open up an opportunity for commu- nication.
The subject tells his or her life story in relation to them, situates pain
and charts life experiences. The tattoo narratives are construed as powerful
existential experiences, where life events are integrated into a narrative
form via the body. RETREAT TO THE BODY Tattoos are one example of the vast
field of body modification that spreads out around us, incorporating phenomena
as varied as body build- ing, eating disorders, plastic surgery, piercings,
implants, self-mutilation and amputations. According to Pasi Falk (1995),
the spread of body mod- ification does not mean that the notion of the natural
and unmarked body would be disappearing in the West. In fact, it may even
be enforced. The consequence of this is a constant negotiation as to which
phenomena of body modification are socially acceptable and which are not.
Tattoos form a part of this moral battleground of defining what we should
and should not do with our bodies. Sheila Jeffreys (2000) argues that self-mutilation,
piercings and tattoos are the outcomes of subordinate positions in society
and experiences of exploitation. Jeffreys perceives body modification in a
pathological light, comprising first and foremost a manifestation of a subordinate
position and acknowledges no possibilities for emancipation. In contrast to
this view, the portraits of Tattoo magazine highlight agency and bodily auton-
omy in the plotted form that they take. Tattoos articulate as memory maps
written in flesh that enable life stories to be told. Tattoo narratives reinforce
the sense of self-control that does not turn out to be too restrictive. Rather
tattoo narratives are plotted as quests in order to find balance with the
self. Tattoos function as shields for subjec- tivity when everything else
seems uncertain. With the help of tattoos sub- jects help themselves to confront
the unpredictability of the future. In this sense, body modification fights
against chaos. Hewitt (1997: 94) makes the apt observation that self-mutilation,
eating disorders and tattoos are not the worst thing that could happen: `A
stigmatized, emaciated, abraded, or tattooed identity is better than a fragmented
ego, and perhaps more attrac- tive than other alternatives our society offers.'
The spread of the practices of body modification should be observed primarily
in relation to society and the limitations imposed on the lives of the individuals
instead of perceiving it as part of individualistic psychopathology. As the
portraits of Tattoo magazine show, the societal landscape is becoming increasingly
corporeal. The body serves as a mediator between
128
the
subject and the social world. As noted by Bryan S. Turner (1996), we live
in a somatic society where social and personal problems are increas- ingly
expressed through the conduit of the human body. Tattoos are not used to cover
up identity, but it is rather the subjects who use their bodies to declare
who they are although their ways to express themselves would be in the core
of commercial society. The body is modified and tuned in relation to life
so that it is always both something permanent and some- thing to be transformed.
In late modern society, which gives rise to impulses that are causing unstableness
and insecureness, marking the body brings comfort. The conflict between the
individual and the social is engraved into the skin. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would
like to thank Stephanie Märthesheimer for insightful comments that improved
this article when it comes to both form and content. As well, we would like
to thank Sari Näre, Ilkka Levä and the referees of this article for the critical
comments they made.
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NOTES
ON CONTRIBUTORS JUSSI TURTIAINEN, M. Soc. Sc. is a researcher in the Department
of Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Tampere, Finland.
His research interests include embodiment, body modification, physical culture
and sociology/social psychology of health and illness. Jussi is cur- rently
writing a dissertation on fitness culture in the triad of body, nation and
gender. ATTE OKSANEN, Lic. Soc. Sc., MA is a researcher in the Department
of Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Tampere, Finland.
He has studied bodily experiences of artists and masculinity in various contexts
including art, literature and popular culture. Atte has also written about
welfare of children in Nordic countries. He is currently finishing his doctoral
dissertation on identity crisis and wound subjectives in control societies.