Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

199 Methodological Appendix
ment with tattooing. I regularly began to approach people I saw
with tattoos and ask them about where they had gotten their
"work" done and what had led them to choose that particular image.
Tattooees accosted in this way initially tended to respond
with considerable suspicion and hostility. Their affect changed
dramatically, however, when I displayed my own tattoos and could
demonstrate some familiarity with the tattooist they had patronized.
I was no longer a curious (and, probably, unsympathetic)
stranger; we were both members of a select and often stigmatized
group. The fact that we would often touch each other-stretching
the tattooed skin and feeling the texture of each other's designwas
a special indication of the affiliative significance of the tattoo
symbol. It was through social encounters such as this that I came
to build an understanding of the meaning of the tattoo experience
beyond that which could have been derived from structured information
collected solely through more conventionally distanced
techniques.
My experience with putting together my own tattoo collection
over the course of some eight years was also a major source of
insight into the perspective of committed members of the tattoo
subculture. As I said before, my first piece was chosen more or
less impulsively at the time of my initial visit to the museumstudio
in San Francisco. Prompted by a casual interest in the development
of the Art Deco style, I had done a bit of reading about
Egyptian designs and symbolism (the artifacts discovered when
Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1922 had been an important
influence on Art Deco [see Hillier, 1971 n. As I looked at the flash
shOWing available tattoo designs a small Winged scarab caught my
eye. The design was relatively small and inexpensive, interestingly
detailed and I was drawn by the fact the scarab had symbolized
immortality to the Egyptians. I chose to have it applied to my
right forearm because I wanted to watch the application process
and I could easily hide or display a tattoo placed there depending
upon the circumstances and the potential audience.
My second experience with the tattooist's needle came after I became
involved in the fieldwork. I again chose an Egyptian symbol,
an eye of Horus, and had it inscribed on my right earlobe. I had it
placed there because of the unconventionality of the location and