Illustration Nation: A Critical Analysis
I have chosen to analyze Mary Kosut’s peer reviewed article from a scholarly source, The Journal of Popular Culture entitled “An Ironic Fad: The Commodification and Consumption of Tattoos”. This article discourses on the mainstreaming of tattoos into our cultural society.
Authorship
Upon researching the author’s credentials, it was found in the biographical section of this article that Mary Kosut is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Purchase College, State University of New York. She has published previous studies in the areas of her interest which include research on visual arts, the body, popular and alternative cultures, and ethnographic fieldwork (Kosut, 2006, December, p. 1048). Some of her published work is regarding tattoo art, body modification, and academic culture in journals such as Deviant Behavior, Visual Sociology, and Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies (Kosut). Upon further internet searches, the author was found to have had spoken at the Manhattan College (Harris, 2005) at an art symposium on subject matter related to tattooing and body suspension. An unpublished manuscript in the form of a conference paper submitted to the American Sociological Association annual meeting in 2006 entitled "”Feels like flying”: Contemporary flesh hook suspension narratives" (Kosut, 2006, August) reveals the reactions and motivations of individuals behind a modern day revival of hanging by flesh piercing hooks, a practice of some primitive cultures. The content of the article being analyzed in this paper, however, deals mainly with the spreading popularity and normalization of tattoos.
A review of the literature cited from the author’s article and specific terminology employed therein suggests that the audience intended to digest her research would be predominately fellow sociologists, perhaps psychologists, educators, and students of social sciences. For example, the term “commodification” is found at various intervals throughout the text as well as in the title. Commodification, in sociological terms, refers to the process of the transformation of non-commercial relationships into commercial relationships such as buying and selling. This supports one premise put forth in the article, that tattoos perform a dual role commercially, by being used increasingly to advertise products and by being sold as a commodity. Other terms used include “mediation” in the sense of linking one relationship with another. In this case, the author finds that the boundaries, both socioeconomic and cultural, which separated traditional tattooees from modern tattooees is becoming blurred. Although written almost 3 years ago, the article under scrutiny has identified trends which, to date, shows no signs of letting up. Indeed, the overall premise of the article speaks to the normalization of tattoos in our current popular culture.
Article Summary
The United States has accepted tattoos into normal society. Tattooed actors, athletes, and musicians have presented their tattooed bodies through America’s mass media to where the practice has spread to suburban households. This burgeoning trend has spread from the formerly backstreet and largely underground counterculture to all facets of the population. Age, ethnic background, every economic class, men, women, teens, blue and white collar, and college educated have jumped on the bandwagon. It is estimated that twenty percent of the population has received a tattoo. Demographically speaking, tattoos are cool.
How does coolness become mainstreamed? The most powerful conduit has been through the entertainment industry. As previously mentioned, the stars display tattoos and thus their audiences, over time, have come to adopt the practice. There is some literature cited whose research shows that at some point in this process, like most fads, the practice will wane as it is not seen to be cool, or provocative anymore. But this is where the author disagrees. She claims that the practice of tattoos differs from the life cycle of normal sartorial or behavioral fads in that the act of consuming a tattoo is a permanent affair. She categorizes this trend therefore as an ironic fad, which cannot be easily thrown away, as a pair of designer jeans. Even more than that, the mere act of receiving a tattoo, from the process of choosing a unique design, the painful process of application, the several weeks following of caring for the wound, and the permanent nature of the tattoo, tends to contribute to their lasting allure and meaning. This process cannot be related to buying a pair of fashionable footwear.
Criticism
The article is well written, easy to read and flows well with meaningful ideas linked by fluid transitions.
Mary Kosut contends that as a lifelong participant in this process, a tattooee is spun into a unique relationship with the artist which is a complicated mix of ritualism, consumerism, and individualism. The tattoo itself invites engagement because it is a permanent addition or modification of one’s own body or self. After reviewing the body of literature, I was unable to link the author’s claims regarding this complicated relationship with tattooing with any of the research offered. Kosut then goes on to offer that tattoos are also used to sell other commodities in the sense of advertising a specific product. No direct evidence of this was cited within the article either. It seems as though there may be an agenda at work with this part of the article.
What is heavily supported through the literature, and true to the title, is the fact that the practice of tattooing is experiencing exponential growth in this country across all demographic bounds, and that it is no longer relegated to the socially excluded subcultures. Some articles go further to equate tattoo as high art because skin can be equated to canvas. Indeed some reputable museums, in recognizing the increased aesthetics of tattoos, have offered exhibitions on tattoo as art. At some point, we may expect that tattoos will make the jump from popular to elite culture.
References
Harris, L. (2005, April 20). Sociology core symposium gets inked, suspended and acquires sexist iPods [Electronic Edition]. Manhattan College Quadrangle, Features Section. Retrieved January 12, 2009 from
http://media.www.mcquadrangle.org/media/storage/paper663/news/2005/04/20/Features/Sociology.Core.Symposium.Gets.Inked.Suspended.And.Acquires.Sexist.Ipods-931657.shtmlKosut, M. (2006, August). "”Feels like flying”: Contemporary flesh hook suspension narratives" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online
. Retrieved January 11, 2009 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p103516_index.html
Kosut, M. (2006, December). An ironic fad: The commodification and consumption of tattoos. Journal of Popular Culture, 39(6), 1035-1048. Retrieved January 12, 2009, doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00333.x
