069 – Meaning, Purpose and Tattoos

May 11, 2020 0:28:22

Tattoo’s and tattooing has become somewhat mainstream in western culture today and we, as therapists, will work with tattooed individuals every day. But how many of us have actually considered them through an occupational lens? 

The notes collated for this episode were kindly researched by the amazing Emily Cheesman. I can’t thank her enough for the time and effort she has put into this!

During the episode, I also discuss Dr Sarah Grey, an Australian Surgical registrar who actively pushes against the negative stereotypes often associated with heavily tattooed individuals. 

Check out a news story about “The World’s Most Tattooed Doctor” here:
https://7news.com.au/sunrise/on-the-show/meet-the-heavily-inked-aussie-doctor-smashing-stereotypes-c-429841View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dr Sarah Jane (@rosesarered_23) on 

Context:

  • We, the tattooed nation: Australian tatt stats: 2018 statistics released by McCrindle state that 1 in 5 Australians admit they have a tattoo.  Women with tattoos outnumber men with tattoos (21% to 19%); people of all ages have tattoos (and not just in their youth – 36% were 26+ when they got their first tattoo). 31% of people with tattoos say they regret ‘to some extent’ getting a tattoo  (McCrindle, 2018).
  • There’s a global resurgence of ink: Tattoos are increasingly visible with a global stage of celebrity/social/media/TV (Rees, 2016).  The current tattoo in a resurgence in Australia is sometimes dismissively referred to as a fashion or fad. 
  • However, tattooing traditions have rich histories and meanings: these can be traced back to the Stone Ages, and across continents and cultures, with tattooing traditions developing independent of each other (Buss & Hodges, 2017, p.5; Dinter, 2005, pp. 9-21; Farley, Hoover, & Rademeyer, 2019, p.155).  
  • Buss & Hodges (2017, p.5) explain a trajectory of tattooing: ‘(1) from ancient traditions in which tattoo practices were fully integrated into social settings; to (2) a period of tattoo stigmatization, even taboo, which paralleled the rise of organized religion and nation-states with ambitions to conquer and colonize the world; and then  (3) to the resurgence of tattoo [from the 1970s] that we are seeing today.’
  • Multicultural & contemporary Australia may represent many tattoo traditions and systems of meaning: Nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians have either been born overseas (first generation Australian) or one or both parents had been born overseas (second generation Australian) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). See also Rees  (2016, pp. 165-167) on cultural fluidity, appropriation & tattoos generally. 

Key concepts/literature informing tattoo as an
occupation:

  • There’s no tidy formula to explain the reason for, or the impact of being tattooed, either in historical or contemporary settings (Buss & Hodges, 2017).
  • But an occupational lens can be applied: Kay & Brewis consider ‘mainstream’ tattooing in UK through an occupational lens of doing, being, belonging, becoming and suggest that ‘the process of tattooing is complex and involves multiple facets of art, sensation, exploration of issues and creation of connections’ (2017, p.361).
    •  Wilcock’s framework of occupation looks at doing, being, and becoming with occupation as a dynamic interaction between each component (see, eg, Wilcock, 1998). ‘Belonging’: Hammell discusses how occupation can encompass more than the individual (2014).
  • Literature has considered motivations, processes and implications of tattooing, but considering tattoos as occupation ‘challenges understandings of what occupation is’  (Kay & Brewis, 2017, p.361); this may be because of our understanding of ‘occupation’ should be broader (see, eg Twinley, 2012). 
  • Potential explanations for why tattoos and tattooing may be outside a narrow conception of occupation:
    • Occupation is generally conceived as activities, tasks and ways of being that are health-promoting, pro-social (see, eg Twinley, 2012).  Occupational literature and models are also based primarily in Western practice and experience (see, eg Iwama generally). 
    • The Western understanding of the body is often informed by the ideals of the pure, young and unmarked body, established and reinforced through colonisation (distinguishing colonisers from tattooed indigenous inhabitants), dating back to Roman and Greek expansion (Buss & Hodges, 2017, p.5; Dinter, 2005, pp. 23-53)
    • The body is increasingly seen as a site for constructing (and commodification of) identity: (Rees, 2016, p. 160). However, tattoos are seen differently to other forms of ‘cosmetic’ body modification: [teeth whitening & straightening, tummy tucks and breast implants] because they challenge dominant ideas of beauty.   
    • Tattoos are a marker of pathology in health and social research:
      •  Heywood et al. (2012): A health study on demographic & behavioural characteristics of 8656 Aussies about tattoos.  Found that ‘tattoos appear to be a marker for risk-taking behaviour in adults.’  Includes references to previous (old) Aussie studies that included a consideration of tattoos (see pp51-52, but the main survey cited was focused on sex and relationships; tattooing was incidental).
      • A German study of personality characteristics of 540 tattooed individuals found that tattoos were primarily an act of self-expression (as well as risk-taking and other factors) (Swami et al., 2012).
      • A 2008 review of medical and health literature on the meaning of tattoos and the people who were tattooed found descriptions from the 1980s onwards of the tattooed person as “simple-minded.” “immature.” “hostile.” “aggressive.” “self-destructive.” “untrustworthy” and “infantile” (Sanders & Vail, 2008, p.37)
      • Attitudes towards tattoos can impact on the quality of health care: consumers have a negative reaction to body art, viewing surgeons less favourably (less competent/trustworthy) if they have ink (Baumann, Timming, & Gollan, 2016, p.37).
      • Tattoos are considered to be related to the taboo:
        • Some literature focuses on the sexualised nature of tattooing: “The very process of tattooing is essentially sexual. There are long, sharp needles. There is the liquid poured into the pricked skin. There are two participants of the act, one active, the other passive. There is the curious marriage of pleasure and pain..” (citing Parry, 1971 in Sanders & Vail, 2008, p.38).
        • Pain and painful experiences; willingness & desire to undergo pain and reflect pain in permanence. 
        • See, also Vice’s series on tattoos, pain as means and ends, ritual, passion, performance art & BDSM (Kaviani, 2019, 2016).

Tattoos within Wilcock’s framework for
occupation

Doing

  • Kay and Brewis (2017) suggest that the ‘doing’ of an occupation lens involves consideration of how tattoos and the tattooing process ‘can be adapted to meet individual needs and [how they are] constrained by external factors’.
  • What is a tattoo?  Dinter (2005) names 3 elements:
  • Indelible, fixed mark on the body by inserting pigment under the skin
  • Deliberate (rather than accidental or incidental) darkening of the skin or scar
  • Creative (but see brands – below)
  • The choice/act of getting a tattoo can involve an individual’s control/adaptation of:
  • Meaning
  • Design and style (often now drawing on many traditions and styles; ‘tribal’ or ‘blackwork’  is shorthand for styles that aren’t easily traced to a contemporary Western tattoo style: Dinter, 2005, p.23).
  • Timing and paying the cost (artist fee or exchange; waiting & planning time; time for tattooing; acknowledging potential future cost to self and reputation; achievements required to be able to bear ink; life experience; anaesthetic vs experience of pain)
  • Choice (of an artist(s), studio location, tools, ink source, negotiating design and redesign with the artist. Could be done in professional, traditional, amateur, or cosmetic settings (Farley, Hoover, & Rademeyer, 2019, p.154).
    • Trust & power underpins the relationship between