Bodies, Tattoos and Youth Cultures

• Published in: Espacio abierto 2006-01, Vol.15 (1-2), p.427-453
• Main Author: Ganter, Rodrigo S
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Aesthetics; Body Modification; Minority Groups; Santiago, Chile; Youth Culture
• ISSN: 1315-0006

This paper constitutes a sociological essay based on a series of reflections, empirical observations & comprehensive interviews made since 2003 in the city of Santiago, both in relation to youth that practice the art of tattooing the bodies of other people (the offer), & several young urban actors who have accepted the option of altering their own bodies with tattoos (the demand), or ear & body piercing & other body modifications. In relation to this it is important to understand what a tattoo is, when this practice occurred historically, what significance is associated with this milenium desire to alter the body with indelible characters, & how or why this practice is appropriate in contemporary youth cultures in which on the one hand the tensions between massification of markings on the skin of youth & the industrialization of anatomical tracing, & on the other, the production of a lasting juvenile alter ego, where the sentiment of belonging to a group, the option for minority esthetics & the revindication of the body as radical terntory for the reinvention of ones-self, makes one feel his own mechanical power & vibration on the epidermis of the city. Finally, only questions remain that serve as a pretext for advancing in a zigzag tattoo in pale textures that today detain me & retain me a little, over the advance of other bodies that the city does not manage to contain them. References. Adapted from the source document.