Body modifications are becoming mainstream as more individuals are becoming tattooed. Using a convenience sample of college students, participants with and without tattoos were compared on measures of body appreciation, self-esteem, and need for uniqueness. Among these central Texas students 44% had at least one tattoo. Women, compared to men,…

We examine the process of getting a tattoo and its meaning among 195 tattooed and 257 non-tattooed undergraduates. Most tattooed respondents contemplate getting a tattoo for months, get a professional tattoo, can cover it easily, and like it. Respondents acquire first tattoos to represent important role transitions and as a form of identity and…

Almost a century after the end of the period of Japanese immigration to Hawaii plantations, the Japanese language is no longer the main medium of communication among local Japanese in Hawaii. Today, use of the Japanese language and associated traditional images are often used symbolically rather than literally to convey their meanings, and this is…

Since 2013, our research team has discovered that English is no longer "foreign" to Colombian language ecologies. As a follow-up to our initial research on physical spaces, this study provides a more personal dimension of these second language literacies. Through our conceptual framework of "city as literacy" and narrative…

David E. Kirkland turns our attention to the ways tattoos can represent "human" stories of literacy through the power of inked flesh, the self-portrait it creates, and the words and worlds that surround the body. The body, for Kirkland, is an important site of cultural production that represents the transformative, political, and personal terrains…

Discusses the ease with which mental labels become imprinted in our system, six basic axioms for maintaining negative mental tattoos, and psychological processes for eliminating mental tattoos and labels. (RK)

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between body modification practices and psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 198 undergraduate college students, 129 of whom had I or more piercings (other than in earlobe) or tattoos. Findings showed that individuals with body modifications reported more symptoms of depression and…