Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

21 Introduction
the corporeal changes move the recipient closer to the aesthetic
ideal of the group-be it conventional or deviant-with which he
or she identifies. Further, they have the function of providing
symbolic information about the bearer's personal interests. social
position. relationships. or self-definition.
Body alteration is culture; it is meaningful to the members of
the society in which it occurs. and it is produced within complex
webs of collective action. As seen above. cicatrization. body painting.
infibulation. tattooing, and other forms of body alteration
have, in most societies. clearly defined and broadly understood
aesthetic meaning. Contemporary western tattooing-the primary
focus of attention here-is of particular interest because its
social definition is undergoing significant change. Tattooing is
being moved away from its roots as a widely disvalued craft-like
practice pursued by producers and consumers who are marginal
to mainstream social groups. In turn. impelled by the purposive
activities of a variety of committed individuals, it is coming to be
defined as an art form centered in a "minor art world," which has
a clear. if somewhat conflictual and marginal. relationship to the
larger social world that revolves around accepted and valued artistic
endeavors.
In the remainder of this chapter. I will briefly present the two
dominant conceptual contexts used to orient this analysis. The
production ojculture perspective focuses on the process by which
cultural materials are conceived. created, distributed. evaluated.
and utilized. The institutional theory ojart deals with the process
by which objects and activities come to be socially labeled as art
and the producers directly involved in the creative endeavors assume
the social role of artist. Having laid this conceptual foundation.
I will then move to the organization of the social world
surrounding tattoo production, the structure of the market for
tattOOing. and the pattern of regulation by which agents of the
larger society exercise control over tattoo production and impede
its legitimation as an acceptable cultural phenomenon.
The Production of Culture
Analyses of art works, craft materials, items of popular culture.
and so forth traditionally have focused primarily on the form and
content of these cultural products. Recent work employing the