Re: Mutilation and ritual

Beth E. Kaminow (kaminow@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU)
Sat, 13 Jul 1996 11:11:55 -0400

Kristian,
I think that this resurgence in tattooing in the West right now actually=20
helps to blur the line between public and private spaces on the body. =20
Once one gets tattooed (at least in the beginning) one has a desire to=20
show everyone (or many people) the new mark. This might come about by a=20
change in clothing style or in just showing a selected group the new=20
design. Two examples: my last tattoo is on my lower back. The guy that=
=20
did my tattoo tells me that that's becoming a fairly popular place for=20
woman on account of the cropped shirt coming back in vogue (or actually=20
those two styles kind of play off each other). I was recently at a party=
=20
where one of the guests gleefully went about lifting his shirt to show=20
his nipple ring.

At the risk of upsetting Mike again, I think this is yet another=20
interesting place to look at body adornment. =20


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