Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

31 Introduction
communicable diseases such as hepatitis. herpes. and syphilis is
typically presented to justify official regulation or outright prohibition.
Recent legal attempts in the United States to define tattooing
as an art form protected by Constitutional guarantees of free
speech have. as yet. proved to be unsuccessful. For example. in
the case of Yurkew v. Sinclair (495 F. Supp. 1248. 1255-56 [D.
Minn. 1980)) the court found that the defendant was within his
rights to deny rental space in the Minnesota State Fair to a tattoo
artist because. while the tattoo product itself may be protected by
the First Amendment.
[the) process of tattooing is not sufficiently communicative so
as to implicate the First Amendment as regards government
regulation and licensing because not only is the tattoo itself
more communicative than the process but unsuccessful
applicant for tattoo booth at state fair failed to show content of
images he created through the process and there was no
suggestion that political or social thought was conveyed or that
the observer or recipient would regard the process as
communicative and. also. fact that sterile and sanitary
conditions were essential for the undermined contention that
tattooing was a First Amendment activity.
The association of tattooing with deviant groups and communicable
disease. together with the dangerousness implied in its regulation
by official agents of social control, has significant impact
on the practice of tattOOing. Its legitimation as a viable art form.
its diffusion into more prestigious social segments. its adaptation
as an artistic medium by creators. and the innovative expanSion
of its stylistic repertoire are impeded by negative definition. While
legal regulation places limits on the legitimation and stylistic
diversity of tattOOing. it does not appear to be particularly effective
in limiting the availability of tattOOing. Even in those areas
in which the practice is officially prohibited. the demand for tattooing
remains high. and illegal tattooing by "bootleggers" is common.
Traditional mechanisms of official control generally have
been ineffective in decreasing the availability of tattooing for a
variety of reasons. The cost of production is relatively low. the necessary
technical skills are easily acqUired. public advertising is