University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations Dissertations and Theses 12-20-2009 Tattoos as Personal Narrative Michelle Alcina University of New Orleans Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Recommended Citation Alcina, Michelle, "Tattoos as Personal Narrative" (2009). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 993. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/993 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tattoos as Personal Narrative A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology by Michelle Alcina B.A. University of New Orleans, 2006 December 2009 Copyright 2009, Michelle Alcina ii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the contribution of those individuals that agreed to be interviewed for this study. I would also like to extend my DSSUHFLDWLRQWR'U6XVDQ0DQQ'U3DP-HQNLQV'U'·/DQH&RPSWRQ'U9HUQ%D[WHU and Dr. James Lapeyre whose insights and wealth of experiential knowledge were essential to the merit of the study. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. v Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 Section 1: The Sociogenesis of Tattoos in the United States .................................... 4 Section 2: The Erosion of Tradition and the Rise of The Individual in Modernity ... 22 Section 3: The Modernist View of the Self ............................................................. 28 Time and Memory ........................................................................................ 29 Self as Narrative ............................................................................................ 30 Section 4: The Postmodern View of the Self .......................................................... 37 The Saturated Self in Postmodernity ............................................................... 39 The Body as Means of Control ....................................................................... 45 Section 5: Methodology ........................................................................................ 49 Section 6: Findings ............................................................................................... 63 Remembering ............................................................................................... 65 Tattoos as Anchors for the Self ...................................................................... 71 Describing the Role of Tattoos Through Metaphor ........................................ 74 A Critical Distinction in the Role of Tattoos ................................................. 77 Perceptions of the Self ................................................................................... 80 Multiple Identities ......................................................................................... 80 Multiple Ways of Describing Identity ............................................................ 84 Narrating the Self .......................................................................................... 90 Gender and Racial Analysis .......................................................................... 94 Section 7: Limitations and Implications for Future Study ...................................... 97 Section 8: Conclusion ......................................................................................... 100 Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 103 Appendices ........................................................................................................ 108 Vita .................................................................................................................... 114 iv Abstract This study explores the history of tattoos in the United States along with the role and VLJQLILFDQFHRIWDWWRRVWRGD\7KHVWXG\·VSULPDU\UHVHDUFKTXHVWLRQVHHNVWRGLVFRYHU ZKHWKHUWDWWRRVDQFKRUDQLQGLYLGXDO·VSHUVRQDOQDUUDWLYHDQGKHOSWRVROLGLI\DQ LQGLYLGXDO·VVHQVHRIVHOI7KHVWXG\Fonsiders both modernist and postmodernist concepts of identity, but ultimately supports a perspective which argues that identity is the result of an LQGLYLGXDO·VDELOLW\WRNHHSDFRQVLVWHQWQDUUDWLYHJRLQJRYHUWLPH7KLVH[SORUDWRU\VWXG\ uses a qualitatLYHDSSURDFKWRGLVFHUQWKHPHDQLQJVEHKLQGLQGLYLGXDOV·WDWWRRVWKURXJKWKHLU own words and conceptions. Eight individuals ranging in age, race and gender were interviewed in order to collect data for the study. The findings suggest that individuals frame the importance of their tattoos in a variety of ways from tattoos that commemorate aspects of one's past to tattoos that are highly symbolic of an individual's sense of self. Keywords: Tattoo, Identity, Self as Narrative, Postmodern, Technology v Introduction There is an on-going debate over the existence of what is generally called identity. As this study will discuss, the concept of identity has been approached from both modernist and postmodernist perspectives and range from modernist notions that claim there is a core self - a doer behind deeds or actions ² (Mead, 1913; Giddens, 1991; Zalewski, 2000) to the postmodernist conception of the self as purely a social construction of various discourses that define identity - where the doer is defined by his or her deeds (Butler, 1998; Gergen, 1991). The question of identity and my own personal experiences with tattoos served as the inspiration to study the contemporary roles of tattoos. The primary question I seek to answer is: Do tattoos serve as DQFKRUVIRULQGLYLGXDOV·GHILQLWLRQRIWKHLURZQLGHQWLW\LQWKH United States today? I take a modernist approach to the concept of identity based on the work of Anthony Giddens and argue that the self can be best understood as a narrative. However, I also consider the postmodern challenge to the construction of identity, which contends that individuals in postmodern societies are bombarded by social relationships, which leads to both the saturation of the self and the fracturalization of relationships. Theorists like Kenneth Gergen (1991) recognize the massive amount of information and communication technology available in postmodern societies and their implications for the increasing number of identities individuals now possess. The frequency and sheer quantity of social relationships and interactions made possible by these new 1 technologies has been argued to make the construction of a committed identity an arduous DQGFRPSOLFDWHGSURFHVV7KHUHIRUHWKHVWXG\·VVHFRQGDU\UHVHDUFKDLPDGGUHVVHVWKH question of how individuals define identity in postmodernity and whether individuals are experiencing multiple identities in their day-to-day lives. :KLOH,DUJXHWKDWWKHLQGLYLGXDO·VVHQVHRILGHQWLW\LVEHLQJVLJQLILFDQWO\DIIHFWHGE\ contemporary social conditions including mass travel and mass communication, I do not wholly follow the postmodern view that identity can be deconstructed to the point of non- existence or simply to performances of social construction. Rather, I, and the participants in this study, will argue that there does exist core individual identities, which, while difficult to articulate, are present nonetheless. Here, I adopt a definition of identity, which is, if not comprehensive, broad enough to encompass time as an unavoidable variable that must be considered when discussing identity. My definitions of identity and sense of self are taken from the perspective of authors such as Anthony Giddens (1991), Lisa Capps and Elinor Ochs (1996), who define the self as ´WKHDELOLW\RIDQLQGLYLGXDOWRPDLQWDLQDQDUUDWLYHRYHUWLPHµ *LGGHQV ,WLVDQ LQGLYLGXDO·VDELOLW\WRUHPHPEHUWKHSDVWWKDWDOORZVIRUWKHFUHDWLRQRIDFRQVLVWHQW personal narrative or story in which one plays the main character. Narratives in turn are defined E\/DZOHUDV´FUHDWHGZLWKLQVSHFLILFVRFLDOKLVWRULFDODQGFXOWXUDOFRQWH[WVZKLFK contain transformation, some kind of action and characters, all of which are brought together within an overall plot which then serves as a means of connecting past, present, IXWXUHVHOIDQGRWKHUVµ /DZOHU Participants in this exploratory study were interviewed in depth about their tattoos 2 and meanings of tattoos. The purpose of this study is to better understand how individuals experience their tattoos anGZKHWKHUWDWWRRVKDYHDVLJQLILFDQWUHODWLRQVKLSWRDQLQGLYLGXDO·V sense of identity. This is important because this study specifically addresses the concerns put forth by theorists who see contemporary individuals as struggling with their sense of identity, in part due to the technologies of post modernity. The major discoveries here can contribute to new avenues of research, which, in the future, may provide a better understanding of identity as well as a greater