Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

43 Becoming and Being a Tattooed Person
act as "purchase pals" (Bell, 1967). They provide social support
for the decision, help to pass anxiety-filled waiting time, offer
opinions regarding the design and body location. and commiserate
with or humorously ridicule the recipient during the tattoo
experience (see Becker and Clark, 1979).
The tattoo event frequently involves a ritual commemoration of
a signtftcant transiUon in the life of the recipient (cf. Van Gennep,
1960; Ebin. 1979: 39-56; Brain. 1979: 174-184). The tattooee
conceives of the mark as symbolizing change-especially, achieving
maturity and symbolically separating the self from individuals
or groups (parents. husbands. wives. employers. and so on)
who have been exercising control over the individual's personal
choices. A tattoo artist related his understanding of his clients'
motivations in this way:
I do see that many people get tattooed to find out again ... to
say, "Who was I before I got Into this lost position?" It's almost
like a tattoo pulls you back to a certain kind of reality about
who you are as an individual. Either that or it transfers you to
the next step in you life. the next plateau. A woman will come
in and say, "Well, I just went through a really ugly divorce. My
husband had control of my fucking body and now I have it
again. I want a tattoo. I want a tattoo that says that I have the
courage to get this, that I have the courage to take on the rest
of my life. I'm going to do what I want to do and do what I have
to do to survive as a person." That's a motivation that comes
through the door a lot.
One Interviewee expressed her Initial reason for acquiring her
first tattoo In almost exactly these terms:
(My friend and I) both talked semi-seriously about getting (a
tattoo). I mentioned it to my husband and he was adamantly
opposed-only certain seedy types get tattoos. He didn't want
someone else touching my body Intimately, which Is what a
tattoo would involve ... even If it was just my arm. He was
against it. which made me even more for it ... I finally really
decided sometime last year when my marriage was coming
apart. It started to be a symbol of taking my body back. I was
thinking that about the time I got divorced would be a good
time to do it.