I focused a lot of my attention on chapters 13 and 14 this week because I’m doing presentations on both of them, and I found both of these topics to be very interesting.
For both chapters, I’m particularly intrigued by the way culture around tattooing and piercing has changed over the years, especially how socioeconomic status has been perceived and also how different groups have claimed trends of tattooing and piercing. Chapter 13 documents how tattooing was perceived as exotic and seen as something worthy of a show in the circus. But tattooing began to lose its appeal in the circus as it became more widespread. I also thought it was interesting how people started moving to the suburbs in the post-war era and focusing on middle-class life and materialistic culture, excluding tattoos in this lifestyle and deeming them something to be looked down upon. Piercing also has negative connotations surrounding class, and the quote that really put it into context for me was “The guy with the $10,000 tattoo and a few thousand dollars worth of body jewellery is no different than the guy in the Italian designer suit wearing a Rolex” (Benson in Caplan 244). There is so much stigma around tattooing and piercing that people have neglected to honor both art forms as the sophisticated, expensive, high art forms they are. Even though tattoos and piercings might cost the same as a fancy suit and watch, they aren’t always perceived as having the same style or quality.