This thesis investigates the phenomenon of the contemporary ‘Medusa tattoo’ that gained traction on the social media platform TikTok in 2019 as a symbol of sexual assault survival, and which has since come to function as an instrument for digital feminist activism. The study aspires to provide a new, previously unexplored link to the long chain of academic research on the figure of Medusa by looking at the emergence, function, and potential of the Medusa tattoo. It makes use of multimodal discourse analysis followed by the application of a select number of theoretical frameworks by Hans Belting, Michael Baxandall, Roland Barthes, and Hélène Cixous. It is observed that historical representations of Medusa tend to draw upon her dualistic, transformative nature of beauty-monster, threat-victim, and powerful-powerless, in accordance with dominant thoughts and ideologies. The contemporary Medusa tattoo is identified as being comprised of a tripartite structure with three carrier mediums: the tattooed body, tattoo designs, and TikTok videos found under the hashtag #medusatattoo, all capable of acting both independently and intermediary. This form is a result of a decades-long process of thought influenced by various appearing and re-appearing factors, conditions, and agents. The thesis further identifies the ways that the Medusa tattoo functions as myth in accordance with the writings of Roland Barthes, its meaning becoming fixed through acts of repetition on social media. Lastly, it is concluded that while tattoos can act in accordance with Hélène Cixous’ concept of écriture féminine, the contemporary Medusa tattoo cannot, due to its iconography demonstrating postfeminist attitudes towards beauty and femininity that enforce instead of challenge patriarchal structures. However, it is noted that it retains its potential as a symbol of strength and healing on the individual wearer. / Denna uppsats undersöker fenomenet av den samtida ‘Medusatatueringen’ som 2019 uppmärksammades på den sociala mediaplattformen TikTok som en symbol för överlevnad av sexuella övergrepp och vilken därefter har fungerat som ett verktyg för digital feministisk aktivism. Studien strävar efter att bidra med en ny, tidigare outforskad länk till den långa kedjan av akademisk forskning om Medusa vilket sker genom analyserandet av Medusatatueringens uppkomst, funktion och potential. Undersökningen använder sig av multimodal diskursanalys som följs av tillämpningen av ett utvalt antal teoretiska ramverk av Hans Belting, Michael Baxandall, Roland Barthes och Hélène Cixous. Det observeras att historiska representationer av Medusa tenderar att spegla hennes dualistiska, transformativa natur av skönhet-monster, hot-offer och kraftull-maktlös i enlighet med dominanta tankeföreställningar och ideologier. Den samtida Medusatatueringen omfattar en tredelad struktur med bärare som kan agera både självständigt och som mellanhänder: den tatuerade kroppen, tatueringsdesigner och TikTok-videor under hashtaggen #medusatattoo. Formen är ett result av en decennier lång tankeprocess som påverkats av ett flertal nya samt återkommande faktorer, villkor och agenter. Uppsatsen identifierar vidare hur Medusatatueringen fungerar som myt i enlighet med Roland Barthes, då dess innebörd fastställs och naturaliseras genom repetitiva handlingar på sociala medier. Slutligen dras slutsatsen att trots att tatueringar kan agera i enlighet med Hélène Cixous koncept écriture féminine så besitter inte den samtida Medusatatueringen samma förmåga då dess ikonografi reflekterar postfeministiska attityder till skönhet och femininitet vilka upprätthåller snarare än utmanar patriarkala strukturer. Det noteras dock att den bibehåller potentialen att agera styrkande och helande på individen.

The art of tattooing has been around for centuries in human history and tattoos are still very popular in today’s society. Tattoos serve as a way to, for example, express people’s personalities, religious beliefs, or culture, and its growing popularity may lead to the need for more technological and automated alternatives. In this project, a computer numerical control plotter was built to investigate the possibilities of automation of tattooing, and the project focused on the possible limitations of performance and safety in an automated tattooing machine. The machine was built using two stepper motors connected with an H-Bot configuration that moved a gantry in the X and Y directions. A third stepper motor connected to a lead-screw was mounted on the gantry enabling movement in Z direction. Several tests were conducted in order to examine the performance of the machine. These tests were done using ink and whiteboard markers to draw different geometries on paper and the subject’s arm. The results showed limitations in the size of the tattoo as the machine could only draw on a flat surface and therefore had trouble adjusting to the uneven surface of an arm. The results also showed that the machine had some trouble drawing rounded geometries, such as circles, which meant that the circles, to a certain extent, got an elliptical appearance. It did however draw straight lines accurately. The main factors of this were believed to be a combination of sub-optimal assembly and the stepper motors being too weak to optimally operate with the H-Bot configuration. The safety risks were considered restricted when using a limit switch sensor and carefully calibrating the speed and movement in the Z-axis. / Tatueringskonsten har funnits i århundraden och tatueringar är fortfarande mycket populära i dagens samhälle. Tatueringar fungerar bland annat som ett sätt att uttrycka människors personligheter, religion eller kultur. Dess växande popularitet kan leda till ett behov av tekniska och automatiserade alternativ. I detta projekt byggdes en CNC-plotter för att undersöka möjligheterna till automatisering av tatueringar och projektet fokuserade på möjliga begränsningar av prestanda och säkerhet hos en automatiserad tatueringsmaskin. Maskinen byggdes med två stegmotorer anslutna med en H-Bot-konfiguration som flyttade en brygga i X- och Y-riktningarna. En tredje stegmotor ansluten till en ledskruv monterades på bryggan vilket möjliggjorde rörelse i Z-led. Flera tester genomfördes för att undersöka maskinens prestanda. Dessa tester gjordes med hjälp av bläck- och tuschpennor för att rita olika geometriska former på papper och testpersoners armar. Resultaten visade begränsningar i tatueringsstorleken eftersom maskinen bara kunde rita på en plan yta och därför hade problem med att anpassa sig till den ojämna ytan av en arm. Resultaten visade också att maskinen hade vissa problem med att rita runda geometrier, så som cirklar, vilket medförde att cirklarna, till en viss grad, fick ett elleptiskt utseende. Den ritade dock raka linjer med bra noggrannhet. De största anledningarna till detta tros vara en kombination av bristfällig montering och att stegmotorerna var för svaga för att optimalt kunna fungera med H-Bot-konfigurationen. Säkerhetsriskerna ansågs vara begränsade vid användning av en gränslägesgivare och noggrann kalibrering av hastigheten och rörelsen i Z-led.

This qualitative study explored the use of Body Mapping as a tool to enhance dialogue with sentenced adolescent boys in a Special Youth Centre. Their scars and tattoos were regarded as the key to unlocking their life stories. Body maps and unstructured interviews formed the main body of data. The paradigms of both Gestalt- and occupational therapy formed the basis of the conceptual framework and a literature control was done as “theory after” as well as a method of data triangulation. Themes extracted pointed to broken bonds and familial trauma which lead the adolescents to search for belonging and mastery in deviant peer groups and street- and Numbergangs. The tattoos provide graphic affirmation of identification and belonging to these groups. The mapping of their lesions and scars provided the opportunity to relate traumatic experiences. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations could be made as a result of the study. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

This qualitative study explored the use of Body Mapping as a tool to enhance dialogue with sentenced adolescent boys in a Special Youth Centre. Their scars and tattoos were regarded as the key to unlocking their life stories. Body maps and unstructured interviews formed the main body of data. The paradigms of both Gestalt- and occupational therapy formed the basis of the conceptual framework and a literature control was done as “theory after” as well as a method of data triangulation. Themes extracted pointed to broken bonds and familial trauma which lead the adolescents to search for belonging and mastery in deviant peer groups and street- and Numbergangs. The tattoos provide graphic affirmation of identification and belonging to these groups. The mapping of their lesions and scars provided the opportunity to relate traumatic experiences. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations could be made as a result of the study. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Using interpretive methods of social inquiry, this thesis explores the socio-political significance of body tattoos made of Chinese-like text, which have recently become popular Western phenomena. It theorizes how contemporary Western tattooing complicates bodily and social boundaries, providing context to interrogate ideas of authenticity. Coining the term "Chinesenough" (from “Chinese” and “enough”), I describe how many such tattoos do not reflect in Chinese what many wearers and viewers assume they do. I contrast how Chinesenough tattoos (re)produce whiteness to the multiple and contradictory Chinesenesses that are also (re)produced. Reading Chinesenough flash art on tattoo studio walls as objects constituting social space, I consider the social meaning of their English subtitles and manner of organization. I theorize the body’s absence from Chinesenough flash art while articulating my body’s sense experience of encountering the same. Finally, I produce and theorize five illustrations that carnivalize Chinesenough iconography to disrupt and transform the phenomenon.

Using interpretive methods of social inquiry, this thesis explores the socio-political significance of body tattoos made of Chinese-like text, which have recently become popular Western phenomena. It theorizes how contemporary Western tattooing complicates bodily and social boundaries, providing context to interrogate ideas of authenticity. Coining the term "Chinesenough" (from “Chinese” and “enough”), I describe how many such tattoos do not reflect in Chinese what many wearers and viewers assume they do. I contrast how Chinesenough tattoos (re)produce whiteness to the multiple and contradictory Chinesenesses that are also (re)produced. Reading Chinesenough flash art on tattoo studio walls as objects constituting social space, I consider the social meaning of their English subtitles and manner of organization. I theorize the body’s absence from Chinesenough flash art while articulating my body’s sense experience of encountering the same. Finally, I produce and theorize five illustrations that carnivalize Chinesenough iconography to disrupt and transform the phenomenon.

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This study explores how heavily tattooed women with a history of childhood sexual abuse give meaning to their tattooing practices in view of the recent appropriation of tattooing by the mainstream. Embodied feminist poststructuralist theory revealed the ways that dominant discourses on gender, beauty, painful body modifications, and childhood sexual abuse intersect and interact in attempts to shape the identities of the participants. These intersections also reveal the participants’ resistance strategies and the process of identity transformation they engage in as they get tattoos. The constitution of identities through discourses offers alternative ways of seeing this population, challenging dominant discourses regarding female survivors of childhood sexual abuse tattooing practices. The research methodology used was a qualitative approach based on ‘interpretive interactionism.’ This approach makes visible and accessible to the reader, the problematic lived experiences of the participants through their narratives. The research methods involved several in-depth interviews with three heavily tattooed women who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The analysis involved interpreting the meanings participants gave to their tattooing practices in relation to how they construct their identities as they negotiate gender ideology, the tattoo renaissance, self-injury practices as related to tattooing, healing from childhood sexual abuse and oppressive beauty ideals. This study unearthed alternative ways of conceptualizing painful practices, female aesthetics, tattooing, women’s body reclamation projects, emotional trauma release, embodied domination, and bodily learning. It also offered insights into how the participants fragment their subjectivities and actively take over the authorship of their identities as they also try to positively influence their environments, challenge beauty norms and seek healing outside of traditional therapeutic environments.