 | Customizing the Body: The Art and Culture of Tattooing Originally published in 1989, this ground-breaking ethnographic exploration of tattooing--and the art world surrounding it--covers the history, anthropology and sociology of body modification practices; the occupational experience of the tattooist; the process and social consequences of becoming a tattooed person; and the prospects of "serious" tattooing becoming an accepted art form. Curiously, despite the greater prevalence of tattoos and body modification in today's society, there is still a stigma of deviance associated with people who get or ink tattoos. Retaining the core of the original book, this revised and expanded edition offers a new preface by the author and a new chapter focusing on the changes that have occurred in the tattoo world. A section on the new scholarly literature that has emerged, as well as the new modes of body modification that have come into vogue are included along with a new gallery of photographs that shows some splendid examples of contemporary tattoo art. A directory of artists' websites invites readers to discover the range of work being done around the world--from "suits" (full body tattoos) to skulls. Clinton R. Sanders is a Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Connecticut. His most recent book is Understanding Dogs: Living and Working with Canine Companions (Temple), which received the Charles Horton Cooley Award given by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. D. Angus Vail is Associate Professor of Sociology at Willamette University in Salem, OR. He is also co-editor (with Erich Goode) of Extreme Deviance . |
