A Look at the Tattoo from the Late Eighteenth Century to Contemporary Times in the Western World

Tattooing is a process by which the skin is pierced and a dye of some kind is inserted below the surface. So really, tattooing is a form of piercing. Is it because a tattoo is so enmeshed with the body, and so visibly permanent, that it is seen as a different process with different connotations to say piercing one's ears? Westerners tend to see the body as a reflection of one's outer and inner morals, beliefs and qualities. One can display one's 'place' in society often merely by appearance. Susan Benson states that it can only be through the body and embodied action that we make visible, to ourselves and others, what we are. To scrutinize the body, then, for the signs of what may lie within or beyond it has been a powerful preoccupation within the Western tradition (2000: 235). This quote emphasises the importance of the tattoo in social and historical analysis.…