Customizing the Body discusses tattooing as a highly social actas a manipulation of self-image, as a symbolically meaningful form of body alteration in contemporary society. A tattoo changes "how the person experiences his or her self and, in turn, how he or she will be defined and treated by others." Tattoos continue to be a mark of alienation from the mainstream, but they also have an affiliative effect, identifying one as a member of a select group. Common wisdom associates tattoos with life-long regret, but Sanders introduces passionate collectorsthose who cannot resist the desire to "get more ink"and tattooees who are very content with modest coverage. "(In the future) when Im sitting around and bored with my life and I wonder if I was ever young once and did exciting things, I can look at the tattoo and remember."

Sanders immersion in this hidden social worldhis years of hanging out in tattoo parlors and participating in conventions of enthusiastsenable him to draw compelling portraits of tattoo collectors and artists. His interviews and observations reveal the ways in which artists are drawn into the work, their concerns in building their careers, and the nature of commercial exchange in tattoo studios. He juxtaposes an institutional view of art with the work done by highly skilled tattoo artists who are dedicated to erasing the negative stereotypes of their production and earning recognition for this marginally accepted form of body decoration.

A few interesting facts from the book . . . Some classically trained fine artists are gaining acceptance in tattooing doing custom, commissioned, one-of-a-kind pieces . . . Women often get tattooed after a breakup . . . Most tattoo regret comes from getting one with poor craftsmanship . . . Men's first tattoos tend to be on the arm, women's on the breast . . . your social life will change if you get one . . . They really do hurt.

This book is unique in that nearly every other book on the subject falls under the rubric of tattoo fandom.

I read the book several years ago, and I'm still "clean skinned".


Interestinginly Informative   July 21, 2000
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Customizing the Body is an academic study of tattooing and the whole culture that surrounds it. For most people the best part of the book is its introduction, which provides an excellent mini-history of tattooing and how it found it's way into western society. The rest of the book covers modern tattoo culture -- Becoming tattooed, tattooing as a career, and other issues surrounding tattooing and tattooists. The study is complete on an academic and informative level, yet is also easy and impelling reading that should appeal to anyone with a serious and non-voyeuristic interest in tattooing -- this is not a picture book.