Tattooing

Tattooing is the permanent marking of the body by means of ink or other dye inserted under the skin with a needle or other sharp object. Tattooing has been a common practice in many cultures throughout human history. In North America, for much of the twentieth century, tattooing was considered a particularly male activity, engaged in by sailors, gangs, and motorcycle clubs. In the late twentieth century, however, tattooing moved increasingly into the mainstream, and it has become quite common for both men and women to get tattoos. For many people, the decision to be tattooed is deeply personal and significant; tattoos often mark special events, rites of passage, or choices in an individual's life. For women in particular, tattooing is often conceived as a reclamation of one's body and a declaration of one's independence. Similarly, the prevalence of tattooing in gay and lesbian culture is often understood as a means of rejecting or negotiating a heterosexually normative culture. Tattooing is also common in certain sexual subcultures—most notably among those practicing bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadomasochism (BDSM). Although the erotic implications of tattooing are oddly underexplored, many have noted the sensuality of decorated skin, the eroticism of the penetration of the skin by another, the "curious marriage of pleasure and pain" brought on by tattooing (Parry 1933), and the intense rush of adrenaline and endorphins that accompany and follow the procedure.

HISTORY

Evidence suggests that tattooing is almost as old as human culture. The oldest known tattooed human body is that of Ötzi the Iceman, a prehistoric man estimated to have died some 5,300 years ago. Tattooed mummies have been found in Siberia and in Egypt, and archaeological evidence suggests that cultures in the Pacific, Europe, Asia, and North and South America practiced tattooing. Maori tribes in New Zealand practiced extensive tattooing, particularly on their men, which served as marks of rank and achievement. Tattooing in Samoan cultures, for both men and women, served as a rite of passage, marking the transition into adulthood.

In the eighteenth century, Captain James Cook and the crew of the HMS Bounty reintroduced tattooing to Europe. Cook's expedition to the South Pacific had exposed him and his crew to the practice of tattooing among natives of the South Pacific. Upon their return, Cook's crew introduced tattooing to port communities throughout England, where tattooing established its long association with both sailors and the lower classes. Cook's science officer and expedition botanist Joseph Banks, however, had also received a tattoo in the South Pacific, and he instigated a rage for tattooing among the upper classes that lasted until the turn of the twentieth century. By the middle of the nineteenth century, numerous European kings had tattoos and even upper-class ladies—including Winston Churchill's mother—were often tattooed.

In the United States, tattooing in the early twentieth century was primarily associated with the lower classes; it was commonly practiced by immigrants and sailors. Tattooing retained its association with lower-class, male activity for much of the century. Tattooing, done on men by men, was used as a mark of membership in street gangs, motorcycle clubs, and in the military, and in the mind of the general public was often associated with criminality. The eroticism of tattooing has long gone unacknowledged among such groups, although erotic tattoos—tattoos of nude or semi-nude women, tattoos of sexual slogans or activity, or tattoos on or near genitalia—were common. Heavily tattooed women, though rare, were displayed and popularized as erotic objects in carnivals and freak shows in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Captivity narratives that depicted the women being abducted and involuntarily tattooed by a "savage" usually accompanied these displays.

Beginning with the counterculture movement of the 1960s, tattooing has become increasingly mainstream. It has been popularized by celebrities, including actors, musicians, and athletes, who openly wear their sometimes numerous tattoos. A 2003 study estimated that 16 percent of the U.S. population had one or more tattoos, while rates of tattooing among young adults and in the gay and lesbian community were around 30 percent. In contrast to the earlier predominance of male tattooing, men and women appeared to receive tattoos in roughly equal numbers (Harris Poll). In spite of this move to the mainstream, however, tattooing can still incur a social stigma. Most employers discourage visible tattoos, and very heavily tattooed individuals remain outside mainstream culture.

TATTOOING AND SEXUALITY

In his 1933 study of tattooing, Albert Parry suggested that "[t]attooing is mostly the recording of dreams, whether or not the tattooed are aware of it" (p. 2). As such, Parry argued, tattooing had inherent links to human sexuality, as the tattooed designs were necessarily reflective of a person's innermost, often unconscious, desires. Parry's study remains the most comprehensive treatment of the sexual nature of tattooing. Though some tattoo enthusiasts have suggested that Parry has somewhat overstated the connections between sex and tattooing, many agree that tattoos and tattooing do have sexual connotations. Serious studies of this connection, however, have largely been stymied by the unconscious nature of the desire that Parry identifies and, as Samuel Steward (1990) notes, are further compromised by the reluctance or inability of many tattooed subjects to articulate the erotic implications of their tattoos.

Tattooing has long been used to enhance sexual attractiveness, however. Archaeological evidence suggests that tattooing in ancient Egypt was confined to female dancers, singers, and concubines. In Japan, tattoo shops were at one time typically housed in brothels, and prostitutes commonly sported tattoos designed to be alluring or sexually provocative. Certain tribes of Borneo and Papua use tattooing as a means of enhancing the beauty and sexual attractiveness of their girls and women (Scutt and Gotch 1974). In the United States, women in particular are likely to believe that their tattoos render them more sexually attractive, and studies of North American tattooing practice suggest that even where getting a tattoo is conceived as a declaration of ownership of one's body, women often choose its size, design, and location in response to perceived notions about sexual attractiveness and availability.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Atkinson, Michael. 2002. "Pretty in Ink: Conformity, Resistance, and Negotiation in Women's Tattooing." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 47 (5-6): 219-235.

Braunberger, Christine. 2000. "Sutures of Ink: National (Dis)identification and the Seamen's Tattoo." Genders 31. Available from http://www.genders.org/g31/g31_braunberger.html.

Gilbert, Steve. 2000. The Tattoo History Source Book. New York: Juno Books.

Harris Poll #58. 2003. "A Third of Americans with Tattoos Say They Make Them Feel More Sexy." October 8. Available from Harris Interactive, http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=407.

Mifflin, Margot. 1997. Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo. New York: Juno Books.

Parry, Albert. 1933. Tattoo: Secrets of a Strange Art. New York: Simon and Schuster. Reprint, 2006, Mineola, NY: Dover.

Scutt, R. W. B., and Christopher Gotch. 1974. Art, Sex, and Symbol: The Mystery of Tattooing. London: Davies.

Steward, Samuel M. 1990. Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos: A Social History of the Tattoo with Gangs, Sailors, and Street-Corner Punks, 1950–1965. New York: Harrington Park Press.

                                            Maureen Lauder