Adams, Josh.
"Bodies of Change: A Comparative Analysis of Media Representations of Body
Modification Practices." Sociological Perspectives 52.1 (2009):
103-29. Print.
This article from the Pacific
Sociological Review explores how mainstream media presents and displays
cosmetic surgery, tattooing and bodily piercings as methods of body
modification. The article also explains how they are positively advertised as
culture and consumer lifestyle options. The article even begins to juxtapose
how media presents tattoos and cosmetic surgery versus piercings. This article explores
how the media negatively construct s a picture of piercings by describing
piercings as problematic, infection prone and unhealthy. The author of the
article also found that there are indications that point to deemphasize of the
risk associated with tattoos and cosmetic surgery. Although the author does
recognize that tattoos are often seen as acts of deviance. The author also
makes the point to say that the potential risks associated with piercings are
exaggerated. The article also makes note to how gender plays a significant
factor in defining the norm for expectations and appearance in media and culture.
The author closes the article by arguing how the present foundations, views and
current social understandings of body modification reflect the media’s
influence while concurrently attempting to inform and give the public a broader
picture.
This article was based off the
research of the author. The author of this article pulled information from
seventy-two news papers discussing tattoos, piercings and body modification.
The newspaper represents a form of media for my research. Knowing that the
author pulled a lot of sources gives me reason to believe that bias is
eliminated outside of the fact of knowing that the author addressed multiple
sides of the practice of media’s influence on body modification. This article
is a peer-reviewed article and published in a peer-reviewed journal. The
article was published in 2009 which solidifies the relevance of the times and
the discussion is relevant to my question of the media’s influence on tattoos
and piercings in America. The author of this article has a B.S., with Honors in
Sociology and minors in American Culture and Recording Industry Management from
Middle Tennessee State University. The author also holds a M.A., in Sociology
from Ohio State University and a Ph.D., in Sociology from Ohio State
University. This leads to make me believe the author is a well-qualified source
with a deep background with studies of society and culture.
Angel, Elayne. The Piercing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Safe Body
Piercing. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 2009. Print.
The beginning of the book discusses
the fascination and thrills of piercings. The book continues to explain how
piercing has now become a trend of the 21st century whereas before it was
shunned as a satanic worship. Piercings
are now turning up in the most unexpected places; people who one would never
expect to where piercings such as teachers and policemen and women are now
participating in the process of body modification. The book is broken into different parts, the
first part explaining the history and art of body piercings, the second and
third part of the book are for people who want to get piercings and it explains
what all considerations should be taken
before one gets a piercing. Part
four mainly breaks down the different types of body piercings one may be able
to get.
The Piercing Bible is based on the
research and personal experience of the author. This source is beneficial to my
paper because of its relevance to my topic discuses the stigmas and media
influence of piercings. The book discusses a brief history of piercings and how
piercings are now found on unexpected persons. This source is creditable
because the author takes the time to thoroughly explore all the sides of
piercings. This is also a published book and this also influences my decision
of declaring this a reliable source. I would recommend this book to someone who
is curious about piercing or someone who is thinking about getting pierced and
I would encourage them to do some of their own research.
Cesare, Nina. "Wearing Your Life as a Sleeve: Examining
Tattooing as a Form of Postmodern Identity Expression." Thesis. Ohio
University, 2011.Print.
In this thesis the author claims
that perceptions of tattoo as dramatically changed in the past fifty years. The author
states that tattoos were once seen as defiant behavior and characteristics of
certain groups of people who fit into traditional stereotypes. The thesis
argues that the tattoos present today are seen
amongst us does not fit the traditional groups of individuals but now
constitutes a legitimate form of art and self-expression. The author states that individuals are forced
to place themselves into a number of social and change their persona to blend
in with their social group. The author argues that tattoos are an attempt to
reclaim their own personal identity. The author states that tattooing and the
search for personal identity through this medium is seen in young individuals
of high level of social and economic status.
The author attempts to analyze data collected from a survey distributed
from Ohio University.
This thesis was written in part
of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Tutorial College with a
degree of a B.A., in Sociology. I believe this source to be credible because it
was used as a thesis to a university. The thesis was presented in 2011 making
this source relevant in time for my discussion concerning of media influence of
tattoos. The fact that the
author wrote the thesis for a sociology degree further leads me to believe this
to be a credible source because sociology is the study of society. The author
did not seem bias in their findings and representation of information.
Kosut,
Mary. "An Ironic Fad: The Commodification And Consumption Of
Tattoos." Journal Of Popular Culture 39.6 (2006): 1035-1048. Literary
Reference Center. Web.
This article discusses tattoos as a
popular art form in the United Stated and its prevalence in media. This source
covers the mass culture debate on tattoos as an art form. The article displays
the commercial showcases of tattoos in kid television in episodes of The Power
Puff Girls and Sesame Street. This article explores the childhood of children
growing up in a culture flooded with ideas of tattoos. The article also
discusses the role of the media with popularization of tattoos and the growth
of tattoos in America. The article covers pop celebrities and pro athletes
embrace of the tattoo culture. The article displays the acceptance of tattoos
by media and media’s acceptance influences the general population.
This article uses other sources as
evidence of their position. This article is beneficial to my paper because it
explains the influence of media on the popularity of tattoos in America. The
article uses examples from celebrities, cartoons, pro athletes and even news
host to explain the influence of media on tattoos. This is important because it
does not narrow media down to only one source but multiple forces of influence.
The fact that the author uses multiple sources leads me to believe that the
author is not bias and can be trusted as a reliable source. The fact that I
found this article in the Journal of Popular Culture also encourages my belief
that this a reliable source for my research.
Roberts, Derek J.
"Secret Ink: Understanding Contemporary American Tattoo Practices." Thesis.
Michigan State University, 2009. Http://proquest.umi.com. Web.
The author claims that the past twenty year
there has been dramatic increase of the American population that have tattoos.
The author contributes most of the growth to the growing acceptability of
tattoos especially among the younger population. The
author states that the people who get tattoos have change but also the reasons
for getting the tattoos and the behavior of the tattooed population. The author
also acknowledges that tattoos are still not considered the normal behavior in
American society. The author argues that
those with tattoos and considering tattoos do so with thoughts and influences
from mainstream culture.
I believe this
source to be credible because it is an dissertation at Michigan State
University. The author was studying sociology, the study of society, so I feel
that the author could be considered an expert in the field of people and
society. The thesis is relevant because of the topic discussed and the year it
was presented. The author did not seem bias in their writing or research for
the thesis further encouraging me to be that this is a credible source.
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