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From ‘tramp stamps’ to traditional sleeves: A feminist autobiographical account of tattoos
Citation
Nash, M, From tramp stamps' to traditional sleeves: A feminist autobiographical account of tattoos, Australian Feminist Studies, 33, (97) pp. 362-383. ISSN 0816-4649 (2018) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
DOI: doi:10.1080/08164649.2018.1542591
Abstract
n this article I use a feminist autobiographical approach to present my ‘tattoo narrative’ as a gendered, embodied account in which I map out key moments in my life over two decades through the images inscribed on my skin. Specifically, I examine how my bodily modifications have magnified the social responses to my body as a woman. For example, as a teenager, I acquired a naval piercing and trendy ‘feminine’, discretely located tattoos to satisfy a heterosexual male gaze. In contrast, as a woman in my late thirties, my tattoos satisfy a different purpose. They are larger, bolder, and more ‘masculine’ in line with the evolution of my feminist politics. However, as an academic, the social responses to my tattoos are more complex. In class defined social spaces such as the university where I work, my tattoos cause trouble because they challenge gendered and classed norms for femininity. I conclude by calling for women to engage in autobiographical writing about bodily modification as a critical feminist political act.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | tattoo, feminism, academia, body modification |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Sociology not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
Objective Group: | Other culture and society |
Objective Field: | Other culture and society not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Nash, M (Associate Professor Meredith Nash) |
ID Code: | 128129 |
Year Published: | 2018 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2018-09-04 |
Last Modified: | 2021-10-28 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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