Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

48 Becoming and Being a Tattooed Person
the arm or hand (71 percent of the males and 19 percent of the
females). The sixteen interviewees had, all together, thirty-five tattoos,
twenty-seven of which were carried by the ten males. Eightyone
percent (twenty-two) of the mens' tattoos were on their arms
(of the remainder two were on hips, one was on the back, one on
the face, and one on the recipient's chest). The six women interviewees
possessed eight tattoos-three on the back or the shoulder
area, three on the breast, one on an arm, and one on the
lower back. Thirty-five percent of female questionnaire respondents
received their first tattoo on the breast, 13 percent on the
back or shoulder, and 10 percent on the hip (see Figure 1).
Clearly, there is a definite convention affecting the decision to
place the tattoo on a particular part of the body-men, for the
most part, choose the arm while women choose the breast, hip,
lower abdomen, back, or shoulder. To some degree the tendency
for male tattooees to have the tattoo placed on the arm is determined
by technical features of the tattoo process. Tattooing is a
two-handed operation. The tattooist must stretch the skin with
one hand while inscribing the design with the other. This operation
is most easily accomplished when the tattoo is being applied
to an extremity. Tattooing the torso is more difficult and, commonly,
tattooists have an assistant who stretches the client's skin
when work is being done on that area of the body. Technical difficulty,
in turn, affects price. Most tattooists charge 10 to 25 percent
more for tattoos placed on body parts other than the arm or
leg. The additional cost factor probably has some effect on the client's
choice of body location.
Pain is another factor shaping the tattooee's decision. The tattoo
machine contains needle groups that superficially pierce the
skin at high speed, leaVing small amounts of pigment in the tiny
punctures. ObViously, this process will cause more or less pain
depending on the sensitivity of the area being tattooed. In general,
tattooing arms or legs generates less pain than marking body
areas with a higher concentration of nerve endings or parts of the
body where the bones are not cushioned with muscle tissue. 8
The sex-based conventions regarding choice of body site are
largely determined by the different symbolic functions of the tattoo
for men and women. Women tend to regard the tattoo (com-