Presents 97 international tattoo artists and their best work in words and images. Over 560 color images depict a wide range of tattoo motifs, including tribal themes, women, botanicals, Japanese, and futurism. In addition, current tattoo-related art, shops, conventions, magazines, and the internet are discussed. The international contributors represent some of the greatest names in the tattoo world sharing their thoughts and art.

Cultural sensibilities about tattooing are discussed within historical context and in relation to broader trends in body modification, such as cosmetic surgery, dieting, and piercing.

Warned that Emma may be in danger from whoever gave her the mysterious tattoos, Lucy goes in search of Emma's real identity, a quest that leads Lucy to a confrontation with the demons haunting her past.".

In a time when women were restricted in every aspect, Maud Wagner became the first female tattoo artist in North America. Maud ran away to join the circus when she was a teenager. By 1904, she was working as a contortionist at the World's Fair when she met the famous tattoo artist, Gus Wagner. She struck a deal with him: she'd give him a date if he gave her a tattoo-and a lesson in how to create them. Along with her husband and daughter, for more than fifty years, Maud travelled the country tattooing the masses. Throughout this fictionalized biopic, we see Maud and her family manage their way through life inside the safety of their beloved circus. Each life Maud touches leaves its mark, quite literally. All this through the eyes of a relatively unknown woman... until now.

Living in a time when it was scandalous even to show a bit of ankle, a small number of courageous women covered their bodies in tattoos and traveled the country, performing nearly nude on carnival stages. These gutsy women spun amazing stories for captivated audiences about abductions and forced tattooing at the hands of savages, but little has been shared of their real lives. Though they spawned a cultural movement—almost a quarter of Americans now have tattoos—these women have largely faded into history. The Tattooed Lady uncovers the true stories behind these women, bringing them out of the sideshow realm and into their working class realities. Combining thorough research with more than a hundred historical photos, this updated second edition explores tattoo origins, women's history, circus lore, and includes even more personal and professional details from modern tattooed ladies. A fascinating read, The Tattooed Lady pays tribute to a group of unique and amazing women whose legacy lives on.

"Stewed, screwed and tattooed has long been the cheer of seafaring men. Yet a sailor's only memory of a wild night on shore may be the one that's embedded under his flesh for the rest of his life, a tattoo. Filled with intriguing illustrations from C.W. Eldridge's Tattoo Archive and the Triangle Museum, this book examines a multitude of topics, including tattooed women in the circus sideshows, military tattoos, social stigma & tattoos, prison tattoos, contemporary American tattoos, modern day tribal rituals, spiritual aspects of tattooing and tattoos as an alternative to implants for the woman who has experienced a mastectomy. Peppered with interviews, anecdotes, and the adventurous tattoo travels of Chinchilla and her partner Mr. G., this unique book presents an insightful look at a very personal, ancient art form."--Back cover

"In this provocative work full of intriguing female characters from tattoo history, Margot Mifflin makes a persuasive case for the tattooed woman as an emblem of female self-expression." —Susan Faludi Bodies of Subversion is the first history of women’s tattoo art, providing a fascinating excursion to a subculture that dates back into the nineteenth-century and includes many never-before-seen photos of tattooed women from the last century. Author Margot Mifflin notes that women’s interest in tattoos surged in the suffragist 20s and the feminist 70s. She chronicles: * Breast cancer survivors of the 90s who tattoo their mastectomy scars as an alternative to reconstructive surgery or prosthetics. * The parallel rise of tattooing and cosmetic surgery during the 80s when women tattooists became soul doctors to a nation afflicted with body anxieties. * Maud Wagner, the first known woman tattooist, who in 1904 traded a date with her tattooist husband-to-be for an apprenticeship. * Victorian society women who wore tattoos as custom couture, including Winston Churchill’s mother, who wore a serpent on her wrist. * Nineteeth-century sideshow attractions who created fantastic abduction tales in which they claimed to have been forcibly tattooed. “In Bodies of Subversion, Margot Mifflin insightfully chronicles the saga of skin as signage. Through compelling anecdotes and cleverly astute analysis, she shows and tells us new histories about women, tattoos, public pictures, and private parts. It’s an indelible account of an indelible piece of cultural history.” —Barbara Kruger, artist