A Tattoo Is For Life: - A Sociological Study Of The Changing Significance Of Tattoos.

This dissertation looks at tattooing in contemporary society from a sociological perspective. The main focus of the research is the relationship between tattooing, fashion and identity. The project includes an empirical piece of research, which is guided by previous knowledge of tattooing, and connections established through participation in what is increasingly recognised as an art form.

The key theoretical perspectives that are relevant to the study are those of symbolic interactionism, particularly Goffman, and theorists working in the fields of fashion and subculture. The emerging themes of the analysis include gender differentiation in relation to why a person gets tattooed, why more women participate in tattooing, what designs are chosen and where they are placed on the body.

I examine the possible effect tattoos may have on masculinity and femininity and whether there is a correlation between class and the decision to obtain a tattoo. This dissertation concludes that fashion and design has been partly responsible for the increasing number of women participating in tattooing.

Gender differentiation is found in the reasons for men and women getting tattooed, and in the design and placement of tattoos. Tattoos are not found to have any significant effect on who decides to get a tattoo. In this way this dissertation attempts to dispel prevailing stereotypes surrounding tattoos.

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Our thanks to Tony Lawrence for sharing this.