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From Outsider to Established - Explaining the Current Popularity and Acceptability of Tattooing
Vom Außenseiter zum Etablierten - Erklärungen zur aktuellen Popularität und Akzeptanz von Tätowierungen
[journal article]
Abstract Tattooing is a practice long associated with social outsiders – sailors, criminals, bikers and women of disrepute. In recent years, however, the practice has become increasingly popular, and acceptable, in mainstream culture as these marks of distinction appear on an ever greater number of bodies. D... view more
Tattooing is a practice long associated with social outsiders – sailors, criminals, bikers and women of disrepute. In recent years, however, the practice has become increasingly popular, and acceptable, in mainstream culture as these marks of distinction appear on an ever greater number of bodies. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, academic literature, and content analysis of popular media, I propose that four inter-related developments have contributed to the redefinition of tattooing: the increasing importance of the body as a site for constructing identity; processes of cultural diversity and globalization; the increased visibility of the practice in popular culture; and attempts to legitimise the practice as an acceptable art form both within academia and popular culture. By drawing together these inter-related developments this paper demonstrates how Elias’ theories of established-outsider relations provides an understanding of the processes that lead to changing statuses for certain cultural practices.... view less
Keywords
Elias, N.; tattoo; social relations; body; social inequality; group; popularity; cultural diversity; stigmatization; identity formation; sociology of the body; identity; acceptance; popular culture; marginality
Classification
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Cultural Sociology, Sociology of Art, Sociology of Literature
Free Keywords
Sociogenesis; established and outsider relations
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Page/Pages
p. 157-174
Journal
Historical Social Research, 41 (2016) 3
Issue topic
Figurational Analysis as Historical and Comparative Method: Established-Outsider Relations
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.41.2016.3.157-174
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed