The Changing Image of Tattooing in American Culture

Cleaning Up the Dirty Work: Professionalization and the Management of Stigma in the Cosmetic Surgery and Tattoo Industries

“…Samuel O'Reilly is credited with inventing the electric tattoo machine around 1890, marking a significant advance in the tattoo industry (Gilbert 2000). Hand-tapping tattoos was a long and painful process and the electric machine not only reduced the amount of time and pain involved, but also allowed for greater detail in the artist's work (Govenar 2000). This new technology enabled more artists to become tattooists and created a new market for tattoo machines, pre-made stencil designs, inks, and how-to manuals (Gilbert 2000).…”

“…Nevertheless, tattooing began to lose favor at the start of the twentieth century. Govenar (2000) notes that in the United States tattooing during the Civil War was understood to be an ''acceptable means of expressing devotion and loyalty to country'' yet ''by the beginning of World War I, military authorities were attempting to discourage the practice'' (214). Similarly, Fisher (2002) attributes the upper class' fleeting interest in tattooing to both the ''simultaneous increase in the number of social 'deviants' getting tattooed during this same time period and an increased visibility of 'vulgar' tattooed bodies'' (96) during the late nineteenth century.…”

“…The narrative for tattooing was constructed usingArmstrong (2005);Atkinson (2003);Bradley (2000); DeMello(2000);Fisher (2002);Gilbert (2000);Govenar (2000);Grandy and Wicks (2008);Oettermann (2000);Rubin (1988); andSanders (1989).152 J. ADAMS…”

Secret Ink: Tattoo's Place in Contemporary American Culture

“…Though tattoos were a fad among the upper class, sailors and soldiers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they became unacceptable by the 1920s, leading to academic research framing tattoos as deviant or symbolic of mental health disorders (Post 516; Sanders, “Customizing” 18; Steward 10, 190). Negative stereotypes associated with tattooees emerged after the invention of the electric tattoo machine made tattoos affordable for the working class, causing social elites to distance themselves from and stigmatize the practice previously celebrated as an indicator of status and/or one's knowledge of foreign cultures (Govenar 30). Once removed from the upper class’ repertoire, tattoos became affiliated with social undesirables and deviants.…”

Using Dramaturgy to Better Understand Contemporary Western Tattoos

“…Whereas ancient Romans used tattoos as a way of disgracing prisoners (van Dinter ), the position of tattoos changed in the Middle Ages, as exemplified by the Catholic Church's blessing of tattoos “that were worn to honor God” (Scheinfeld , p. 363). Negative stereotypes associated with tattooees – people who have been tattooed – more recently re‐emerged in the late 19th century after the invention of the electric tattoo machine made tattoos affordable for the working class, causing social elites to distance themselves from the practice they celebrated (Govenar ).…”