Customizing the Body

Originally published in 1989, this ground-breaking ethnographic exploration of tattooing-and the art world surrounding it-covers the history, anthropology and sociology of body modification practices; the occupational experience of the tattooist; the process and social consequences of becoming a tattooed person; and the prospects of ""serious"" tattooing becoming an accepted art form. Curiously, despite the greater prevalence of tattoos and body modification in today's society, there is still a stigma of deviance associated with people who get or ink tattoos. Retaining the core