Bodies of Subversion

Bodies of Subversion
Author: Margot Mifflin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2013-08-02
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1576876926

"In this provocative work full of intriguing female characters from tattoo history, Margot Mifflin makes a persuasive case for the tattooed woman as an emblem of female self-expression." -Susan Faludi Bodies of Subversion is the first history of women's tattoo art, providing a fascinating excursion to a subculture that dates back into the nineteenth-century and includes many never-before-seen photos of tattooed women from the last century. Author Margot Mifflin notes that women's interest in tattoos surged in the suffragist 20s and the feminist 70s. She chronicles: * Breast cancer survivors of the 90s who tattoo their mastectomy scars as an alternative to reconstructive surgery or prosthetics. * The parallel rise of tattooing and cosmetic surgery during the 80s when women tattooists became soul doctors to a nation afflicted with body anxieties. * Maud Wagner, the first known woman tattooist, who in 1904 traded a date with her tattooist husband-to-be for an apprenticeship. * Victorian society women who wore tattoos as custom couture, including Winston Churchill's mother, who wore a serpent on her wrist. * Nineteeth-century sideshow attractions who created fantastic abduction tales in which they claimed to have been forcibly tattooed. "In Bodies of Subversion, Margot Mifflin insightfully chronicles the saga of skin as signage. Through compelling anecdotes and cleverly astute analysis, she shows and tells us new histories about women, tattoos, public pictures, and private parts. It's an indelible account of an indelible piece of cultural history." -Barbara Kruger, artist

The Blue Tattoo

The Blue Tattoo
Author: Margot Mifflin
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2009-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0803211481

"Based on historical records, including the letters and diaries of Oatman's friends and relatives, The Blue Tattoo is the first book to examine her life from her childhood in Illinois including the massacre, her captivity, and her return to white society - to her later years as a wealthy banker's wife in Texas."--BOOK JACKET.

Bodies of Inscription

Bodies of Inscription
Author: Margo DeMello
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2000
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780822324676

An ethnography of the tattoo community, tracing the practice's transformation from a mostly male, working-class phenomenon to one adapted and propagated by a more middle-class movement in the period from the 1970s to the present.

Looking for Miss America

Looking for Miss America
Author: Margot Mifflin
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1640092242

From an author praised for writing “delicious social history” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandals—and how the pageant, nearing its one hundredth anniversary, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress Looking for Miss America is a fast–paced narrative history of a curious and contradictory institution. From its start in 1921 as an Atlantic City tourist draw to its current incarnation as a scholarship competition, the pageant has indexed women’s status during periods of social change—the post–suffrage 1920s, the Eisenhower 1950s, the #MeToo era. This ever–changing institution has been shaped by war, evangelism, the rise of television and reality TV, and, significantly, by contestants who confounded expectations. Spotlighting individuals, from Yolande Betbeze, whose refusal to pose in swimsuits led an angry sponsor to launch the rival Miss USA contest, to the first black winner, Vanessa Williams, who received death threats and was protected by sharpshooters in her hometown parade, Margot Mifflin shows how women made hard bargains even as they used the pageant for economic advancement. The pageant’s history includes, crucially, those it excluded; the notorious Rule Seven, which required contestants to be “of the white race,” was retired in the 1950s, but no women of color were crowned until the 1980s. In rigorously researched, vibrant chapters that unpack each decade of the pageant, Looking for Miss America examines the heady blend of capitalism, patriotism, class anxiety, and cultural mythology that has fueled this American ritual.

Lying Bodies

Lying Bodies
Author: Akiko Shimizu
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2008
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781433101007

Lying Bodies explores how to survive with invisible, non-normative identities by focusing on literally 'invisible' differences. The first half of the book attempts a theoretical account of the self in the field of vision, drawing on psychoanalytic theories of the formation of the self. In order for the survival of the self with a visual image that both enables and threatens it, the book proposes the strategy of 'the lying body', which combines mimicry with equivocality. The second half of the book demonstrates possible forms of 'the lying body' through an analysis of specific examples of cultural practices, including works by artists Cindy Sherman and Morimura Yasumasa, as well as the claim of invisible sexual differences by feminine-looking lesbians.

Ancient Ink

Ancient Ink
Author: Lars Krutak
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2018-01-08
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0295742844

The human desire to adorn the body is universal and timeless. While specific forms of body decoration and the motivations for them vary by region, culture, and era, all human societies have engaged in practices designed to augment and enhance people’s natural appearance. Tattooing, the process of inserting pigment into the skin to create permanent designs and patterns, is one of the most widespread forms of body art and was practiced by ancient cultures throughout the world, with tattoos appearing on human mummies by 3200 BCE. Ancient Ink, the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new, globe-spanning research examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and ancient art. Connecting ancient body art traditions to modern culture through Indigenous communities and the work of contemporary tattoo artists, the volume’s contributors reveal the antiquity, durability, and significance of body decoration, illuminating how different societies have used their skin to construct their identities.

The Tattooed Lady

The Tattooed Lady
Author: Amelia Klem Osterud
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2014-11-06
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1589799976

Living in a time when it was scandalous even to show a bit of ankle, a small number of courageous women covered their bodies in tattoos and traveled the country, performing nearly nude on carnival stages. These gutsy women spun amazing stories for captivated audiences about abductions and forced tattooing at the hands of savages, but little has been shared of their real lives. Though they spawned a cultural movement—almost a quarter of Americans now have tattoos—these women have largely faded into history. The Tattooed Lady uncovers the true stories behind these women, bringing them out of the sideshow realm and into their working class realities. Combining thorough research with more than a hundred historical photos, this updated second edition explores tattoo origins, women's history, circus lore, and includes even more personal and professional details from modern tattooed ladies. A fascinating read, The Tattooed Lady pays tribute to a group of unique and amazing women whose legacy lives on.

Pagan Fleshworks

Pagan Fleshworks
Author: Maureen Mercury
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2000-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1594775427

A groundbreaking work that sees the contemporary cultural trends of tattooing, piercing, implanting, and branding as a quest for a transformative psychic experience. • Features unforgettable color photographs by Steve Haworth, the foremost body modification artist in the United States. • Introduces a subculture that has gone far beyond the realm of simple tattooing. Acts of body modification are deeply rooted in physical impulses that are obscured in our technological society. As we become more removed from the physicality of our existence, we lose touch with an essential part of our humanity. Body modification is a way of reconnecting to our bodies, to the earth, and to the divine. Pagan Fleshworks reveals that the prevalence of body modification--tattooing, piercings, brandings, and implants--is the postmodern way to heal the body and enliven the soul. These "fleshworks" are the result of people creating their own rituals and symbols of meaning in order to feel a sense of the divine within. Maureen Mercury relates the various stages of obtaining fleshworks to the stages of alchemy, showing how fleshworks lead to psychic transformation--soul-making. Using mythological imagery and the stories of those who have chosen to modify their bodies, she identifies the signposts of our journey toward self-expression, exploring the connection between our desires and our outward life. More than 30 riveting color photographs by leading body modification artist Steve Haworth provide the perfect visual complement to this examination of the soul as it rises toward freedom.