Book review: 'Bodies of Subversion', by Margot Mifflin

by Margot Mifflin

powerHouse Books

Among the first mainstream American celebrities to openly wear tattoos was Janis Joplin. On her chest, she wore a small heart - the size of a candy heart. "Just a little treat for the boys," she told Rolling Stone, "like icing on the cake."

For most of history, tattooing has been a male preoccupation, either a one-fingered salute or an exercise in swagger. Mifflin had the good idea to examine tattooing in the Western world from a female perspective. Her relatively slim book doesn't provide a truly wide-angle view, but the insights she brings are insinuating and complex.

For the first time, a 2012 Harris Poll says, US women are more likely to be tattooed than men. They're no longer rebel emblems, Mifflin notes, but a mainstream fashion choice. Tattoos have been "emblems of empowerment in an era of feminist gains", she declares. They're also "badges of self-determination at a time when controversies about abortion rights, date rape and sexual harassment" have made women "think hard about who controls their bodies".

Her book includes striking colour photographs of the tattoos some women have had embroidered on their chests after mastectomies. Thanks to recent legislation, tattoo artists can sometimes directly bill insurance companies for this work.