Abstract:
This thesis explores how women who acquired tattoos and who established careers in
the tattoo industry during the 1880s up to the present challenged, and negotiated gender roles
as well as the way gender in American culture is performed. With this in mind, my thesis takes
into account the geographic location, race, class, and historical events surrounding the various
women studied and places their involvement within the burgeoning tattoo industry against the
backdrop of major culture shifts across primarily the 20th century.
For example, working class women who acquired tattoos and performed in circuses
during the turn of the 20th century, did so as major social, political, and economic shifts
occurred with the onset of the Second Industrial Revolution and Progressivism. In a similar
vein, the widespread changes brought on by the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and
unprecedented access to countercultural influences through media, encouraged women to
reassert ownership of their bodies, leading some to acquire tattoos or pursue careers as
professional tattoo artists. While these tattooed women across various eras appear to be
engaged in full rebellion, I assert that their behavior actually reflects and demonstrates the
mainstream permeation of feminist and countercultural ideology concerning bodily autonomy
and agency. By exploring the stories of these women, while contextualizing their experiences
against the backdrop of the time periods in which they lived, this thesis challenges scholarship
that overlooks women in the US tattoo industry and seeks to create a cohesive history that fills
critical gaps in knowledge.
