Tattoos and the interaction process: managing a tattooed identity

Abstract

The practice of tattooing is something which has undergone a dramatic shift in recent years. Once something deemed worthy for only the lower-class echelons of society, tattooing is now practiced by those from a wide variety of classes, statuses, and demographic compositions. After providing a brief account of the historical and contemporary views associated with tattooing, this paper will discuss the ways in which tattooed individuals manage and negotiate their tattooed identity in relation to audience perceptions and expectations. It is argued that through utilizing various forms of identity work and impression management techniques, an individual's tattooed identity is activated or deactivated dependent upon the interaction process with others.

Inked Lives: Tattoos, Identity, and Power

“…Over the course of my study, I interviewed thirty-four respondents, a number consistent with interviews done by other researchers with more extensive timeframes (Atkinson 2002(Atkinson , 2003(Atkinson , 2004Sween 2007). These interviews 5 , and photographs of the tattoos of the interviewed subjects who consented to photos and possible publication, are included 6 for visual reference.…”

“…The decision to modify the retelling of the events leading up to or embodied by a tattoo is one based on the perceived or anticipated reaction of the listener. This kind of action is very closely associated to forms of affect management (Atkinson 2003a;Hewamanne 2008;Misztal 2000;Sanders and Vail 2008;Sween 2007), first presented by Irving Goffman in, The Presentation of the Self (1959). Goffman's ideas in The Presentation of the Self were recently applied by Sandya Hewamanne (2008) to garment factory workers in Sri Lanka; depending on where the workers were (the factory or their home villages), they would coif their hair in different ways, wear different styles of clothing, and even speak and act in different manners (179;212-213).…”