This is a book I think you can take away from it what you please - the photos make it interesting to skim through as a brief visual history of Western women and tattooing, while a cover-to-cover read describes many women professionals absent from history books and asks hard questions about the evolution of tattooing and feminist politics. It grapples with the hyper-sexualization of women in tattooing and the marginalization of black artists in the later chapters. Interesting, smart, short read.

This is an interesting read that spends most of it's focus on women and tattoos since the 60s. It examines the history of tattoos, the history of tattooed women, the history of women tattoo artists and the gender politics of the body and tatoos.

‘Bodies of Subversion’ is a largely visual history of tattooed women, and thus quite a quick read. The narrative is more anecdotal than the academic-sounding title might suggest, but still informative. Perhaps most interesting is how the social acceptability of women getting tattoos has waxed and waned in the Western world. There was a fad in the 1880s for society ladies to get discreet tattoos, which is rather enchanting. Allegedly even Queen Victoria had one, although opinions seem to be divided on that. More visible in the historical record are the 19th century women whose tattoos were their livelihood, as they toured with circuses showing them off in freakshows. During the 20th century, more women began to do the actual tattooing, although the author notes that plenty of sexism remains the industry. In the late 20th century (my edition is from 2001), tattoos have become more mainstream for women, although Mifflin makes the good point that they still appear transgressive if not concealable beneath ordinary business wear. Getting a tattoo on your face or hands retains quite a powerful stigma.

The range of designs and styles shown in ‘Bodies of Subversion’ demonstrate how fashions in tattoos have changed over the decades. This made me think about their permanence on the body making it into a history book of sorts, whether this is an intentional feature of the designs or not. Mifflin doesn’t speculate very systematically upon why women get tattoos, but there are some thoughtful comments and examples. The interview material can get a bit repetitive, as I felt that the underlying ideas weren’t that clearly articulated. This book wasn’t as in-depth a study as I might have liked, but it was still compelling and quite inspiring. The pictures of Elizabeth Weinzirl’s beautiful tattoos were a particular highlight.

Well illustrated with a lot of history about tattoos and women if you find that subject interesting.

So good. This history of women in tattooing is a fascinating and very unexplored/undervalued aspect of society. I adored reading about its evolution through the early 20th Century as a form of torture into how it has changed in the contemporary period into a form of self-expression. Recommended for women to view how feminism is a varied concept, and recommended for men as well so they can appreciate the hard work and tenacity many women had to face to achieve recognition. Permanent place on my shelf.

A very intriguing look at a history of women and the culture, traditions and art of tattooing. Margot Mifflin enlists a variety of photos, quotes, and interviews with women who are intimately involved in a culture that simultaneously bespeaks public and personal spheres. I found that Margot Mifflin deftly handled a topic that would have been taboo to even approach a decade or more ago, making a scholarly effort to present the individuals populating her research as living, breathing people not afraid to journey into a world that is often ambivalent, one-dimensional and dismissive of its treatment of women. The resulting work answered some questions for me, but made me more interested in learning reading more interviews with tattooed women/tattoo artists themselves, rather than trying to make broad assumptions about why women become tattoo artists/collect tattoos and body art. A boundary-breaking work of anthropology, culture and subculture.

If you are looking for a survey of women's tattoo history this might be your book. If you are looking for in depth analysis or anything other than superficial conclusions you may want to look elsewhere. Tattoos and women with tattoos are already a spectacle which draws interest, perhaps this book relies to heavily on that fact to present much else. To be fair, it is a good cursory glance at the history which I think is its purpose.

Loved the pictures but wish there were more to see and read. Interesting nonetheless!!

A feminist history of Western women's tattoos. The photos are amazing.

Beautiful tattoos and interesting history.

A lot of really good pictures and I enjoyed the beginning about circus ladies but towards the end it got way into feminism and tattoos and I'm not really into that kind of thing. At all.

More about women tattoo artists than anything. I was hoping for a more in depth look into what makes tattoos themselves so liberating, in particularly for women