Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

Preface to the First Edition
xxiii Preface
conceptual framework. Chapter 2 focuses on the "career" of the
tattooed person-especially the process by which he or she comes
to be tattooed and the impact of this choice upon his or her selfdefinition.
social identity. and interaction. The next chapter presents
the other major actor in the tattoo exchange. the tattooist.
The process of becoming a tattooist and the occupational rewards
and tribulations are discussed in some detail. This chapter emphasizes
the differences in perspective and occupational experience
between commercially-oriented "street" tattooists and those
tattoo "artists" who define themselves and their work within the
larger legitimating context of the contemporary fine art world. The
final substantive chapter focuses on the setting of the tattoo
"studio" and the commercial exchange that takes place within it. I
pay particular attention to the means by which the tattooee minimizes
both the short-term and long-term risks inherent in tattoo
consumption. and the techniques used by the tattooist to exercise
control over the customer. The last chapter reprises the major
conceptual issues and extends the discussions of institutional legitimation
and the transformation of a deViant activity into an artistic
practice. As has become conventional in SOCiological
ethnographies, the methodological appendix offers the reader a
relatively informal account of the various sources of data upon
which the discussion is based and some of my own experiences
during the course of the research.
Although not all of my colleagues and acquaintances have been
entirely supportive of my interest in what one anonymous reviewer
derogatorily referred to as the "wacko world of tattooing:'
those for whom I have the most respect realized that even the
most ostensibly bizarre ,social world is. as Erving Goffman observed.
"meaningful. reasonable. and normal once you get close to
it." I am particularly grateful for the adVice. criticism. and support
offered by: Patricia Adler. Peter Adler. Howard Becker. Spencer Cahill.
DerraJ Cheatwood. "Cloud." Robert Faulkner. Alan Govenar.
Kenneth Hadden. Douglas Harper. Edward Kealy. Stephen Markson.
Robert Prus. Arnold Rubin. Susan Spiggle. Priscilla Warner.
and Joseph Zygmunt. For allOWing me to hang around and ask all
kinds of questions. I am indebted to Mike. Les. Jesse. Steve. Pat.