Short Description
This book is the first to uncover the subversive,relationship of women and tattoo, It chronicles,the rises and falls which parallel women's,movements from the 19th century, the suffragist,movement of the 1920's and again with the rise of,feminist movement in teh 1970's. A comprehensive,and clear eyed account of tattooing and women in,Western society over the past century.BDS Summary
Bodies of Subversion is a fascinating excursion into a secret history and subculture that dates back to the 19th century. It examines feminist and suffragist attitudes to tattooing and includes many hitherto unseen photographs of tattooed women.Publisher Fact Sheet
The first book of its kind, Bodies of Subversion is a profusely illustrated history of women & tattoo in Western society, documenting the development of this art since the early 1880s. The history of tattooing, a symbolically charged mark of skin modification, tells stories of female experience through the course of time--the reactions which underscore social expectations of women, & progress of feminism. Even decades after feminist progress, women who mark themselves with tattoos commit a transgressive act whose shock value continues to linger in society. Mifflin's book is an engaging, thoroughly researched account of this unconventional practice--a journey through the art, history, & folkways of these renegades of the flesh.
A fascinating excursion into a thriving subculture, this book explores the feminist significance of tattoos, noting that women's involvement with tattoo accelerated in both the suffragist '20s and the feminist '70s. Author Margot Mifflin uncovers the subversive relationship between women and tattoo, from society ladies who wanted to sever their identification with "natural" beauty and purity, to the healing powers that tattoo's color and symbolism can provide for a mastectomy survivor.