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A review by sarah_tellesbo
Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo by Margot Mifflin
2.0
This was one of those interesting-but-boring books. Like a textbook. You know that the information is probably fascinating and you’re definitely curious about it, but it’s presented in a way that makes it taste like dirt rather than delicious cuisine.
Some folks really like textbooks. They like the endless names and dates and oh-so-minute specifics that frankly just make my mind fall asleep. I’m a memoir girl all the way. I mean, what’s the overall picture here? Where’s the story? Where’s the flavor?
I suppose it’s a personal preference; I’m the type who needs more abstract, big-picture storytelling and less “Jane Doe was born on January 1, 1885 in San Antonio, Texas and in 1900 opened a tattoo shop in San Diego, California where she utilized a single needle tattoo method developed in the early 1700′s.” BLAH. Save your dry regurgitation of facts– it feels SO beige. I’m craving some color here (which, by the way, you’d think wouldn’t be too difficult given that the topic is tattooing…). Good thing the book included some beautiful tattoo pictures or I may not have made it out alive.
Textbook-y style aside, women and tattoos do indeed have a very cool history that is worthy of print and discussion. Tattooing has swung from taboo to mainstream to taboo again throughout history, and women have had a particularly complex and remarkable relationship with the art form. From sexualization and objectification to self-expression, memorial, and explicit declarations of self-determination, tattooing represents an enormous variety of meaning that has been ever-evolving over the course of the thousands of years that folks have been hammering ink and ash into their skin.
Women as artists, too, are an interesting topic of contemplation. Like most other professions, feminist waves broke their way, slow and steady, through layer upon layer of misogyny and oppression in the world of tattooists. Still not completely void of sexism but definitely making progress, third wave feminists are both reaping rewards of those who fought before, and struggling with their own battles to be heard and respected for their art rather than their genitalia.
Long story short– killer topic, not my favorite book.
Some folks really like textbooks. They like the endless names and dates and oh-so-minute specifics that frankly just make my mind fall asleep. I’m a memoir girl all the way. I mean, what’s the overall picture here? Where’s the story? Where’s the flavor?
I suppose it’s a personal preference; I’m the type who needs more abstract, big-picture storytelling and less “Jane Doe was born on January 1, 1885 in San Antonio, Texas and in 1900 opened a tattoo shop in San Diego, California where she utilized a single needle tattoo method developed in the early 1700′s.” BLAH. Save your dry regurgitation of facts– it feels SO beige. I’m craving some color here (which, by the way, you’d think wouldn’t be too difficult given that the topic is tattooing…). Good thing the book included some beautiful tattoo pictures or I may not have made it out alive.
Textbook-y style aside, women and tattoos do indeed have a very cool history that is worthy of print and discussion. Tattooing has swung from taboo to mainstream to taboo again throughout history, and women have had a particularly complex and remarkable relationship with the art form. From sexualization and objectification to self-expression, memorial, and explicit declarations of self-determination, tattooing represents an enormous variety of meaning that has been ever-evolving over the course of the thousands of years that folks have been hammering ink and ash into their skin.
Women as artists, too, are an interesting topic of contemplation. Like most other professions, feminist waves broke their way, slow and steady, through layer upon layer of misogyny and oppression in the world of tattooists. Still not completely void of sexism but definitely making progress, third wave feminists are both reaping rewards of those who fought before, and struggling with their own battles to be heard and respected for their art rather than their genitalia.
Long story short– killer topic, not my favorite book.