Legitimating the First Tattoo: Moral Passage through Informal Interaction

Abstract

Once considered low class or dangerous symbols, tattoos began to be defined as hip, trendy, and glamorous in the 1990s. Using the increasing popularity of tattoos among nineties youth as an example of moral passage, this article examines some of the interpretive processes at work in the destigmatization of deviance. Whereas researchers have positioned political action or population shifts as the main forces influencing moral passage, this article posits a new route toward social change. It builds on participant observation data with a population of middle‐class tattooees and examines how individuals attempted to legitimate their tattoos during interactions with others. First‐time tattooees in the 1990s are seen as agents caught between multiple symbolic orders—symbolic orders that generated conflicting images of tattoos. Relying on a set of legitimation techniques, middle‐class tattooees worked to overcome the negative meanings associated with tattoos by getting body art that conformed to core mainstream norms and values. By examining the creation and use of these legitimation maneuvers, this article reveals the way in which definitions of deviance are negotiated in everyday contexts. In addition, the process of legitimation identified in this article points to one way in which everyday interactions can contribute to larger cultural shifts.

Understanding Differences in Mental Health History and Behavioral Choices in a Community Sample of Individuals with and without Body Modifications

“…The view of tattoos as a deviant activity is influenced by the belief that they are a deliberate affront to social standards or indicate an affiliation with a deviant activity or group (Bell 1999;DeMello 2000;Irwin 2001Irwin , 2003Vail 1999). Body modification is linked with deviant and risky behavior and mental illness (Atkinson 2004;DeMello 2000;Kosut 2006), and this is largely due to an over-focus on college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and adjudicated populations where deviance and mental illness are more prevalent (Atkinson 2004;Struppy, Armstrong, and Casals-Ariet 1998).…”

“…Body modification is linked with deviant and risky behavior and mental illness (Atkinson 2004;DeMello 2000;Kosut 2006), and this is largely due to an over-focus on college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and adjudicated populations where deviance and mental illness are more prevalent (Atkinson 2004;Struppy, Armstrong, and Casals-Ariet 1998). For women, tattooing: (a) is a violation of basic standards of appearance, (b) is considered less feminine, and (c) may result in women being perceived as displaying more negative personality characteristics (Irwin 2001(Irwin , 2003Rosenhoeft et al 2008). Even so, recent research supports that women are being tattooed at nearly equivalent levels to men, so it no longer has a mostly masculine appeal (Adams 2012).…”

“…Motivations differ between middle-class individuals who get one or more inconspicuous tattoos, individuals who wear tattoos publicly, and people in different sub-groups within the body modification community (Bell 1999;DeMello 2000;Irwin 2001Irwin , 2003Vail 1999). Middle-class motivations focus on conventional ideas of commemorating an event or having a unique form of self-expression (Irwin 2001).…”

“…Middle-class motivations focus on conventional ideas of commemorating an event or having a unique form of self-expression (Irwin 2001). For example, an inconspicuous tattoo can mitigate tensions between conforming to social standards and desiring to assert one's individuality (Bell 1999;Irwin 2001). Meaning is ascribed to the image itself, rather than the act of tattooing (Irwin 2001(Irwin , 2003.…”

Speaking Through the Body: The Incidence of Self‐Injury, Piercing, and Tattooing Among College Students

“…Researchers have also found that piercing and tattooing may represent a person's attempt to individuate him-or herself from the larger society. The body can be the ideal site for this highly personal act (Claes et al, 2005;Irwin, 2001;Velliquette & Murray, 2002).…”