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This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry describes the lived experiences of three visibly tattooed teachers and what it is like to sense their tattooed flesh while they are at school. Lived experience descriptions were collected during in-depth interviews and from personal reflective writings conducted by the study author, who is also a tattooed teacher. Using hermeneutic research approaches outlined by Max van Manen and Linda Finlay, lifeworld descriptions of visibly tattooed teachers are presented in the form of anecdotal passages that urge readers to ‘step into tattooed skin’. Drawing from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception, Luce Irigaray’s work on intersubjectivity, Michel Foucault’s notion of the disciplinary gaze, theories of the look in education forwarded by Madeline Grumet, and Judith Butler’s notion of subversive bodies, meanings are made of tattooed teachers’ experiences of adopting uncomfortable teacher identities and then growing comfortable in their professional roles. Through hermeneutic analysis, five main themes are presented, constituting the “essences” of the phenomemon of living as a visibly tattooed teacher: Trying to Fit; Mis-fit; Fit. You? Fit You!; Fitting In; and One Size Does Not Fit All.

This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry describes the lived experiences of three visibly tattooed teachers and what it is like to sense their tattooed flesh while they are at school. Lived experience descriptions were collected during in-depth interviews and from personal reflective writings conducted by the study author, who is also a tattooed teacher. Using hermeneutic research approaches outlined by Max van Manen and Linda Finlay, lifeworld descriptions of visibly tattooed teachers are presented in the form of anecdotal passages that urge readers to ‘step into tattooed skin’. Drawing from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception, Luce Irigaray’s work on intersubjectivity, Michel Foucault’s notion of the disciplinary gaze, theories of the look in education forwarded by Madeline Grumet, and Judith Butler’s notion of subversive bodies, meanings are made of tattooed teachers’ experiences of adopting uncomfortable teacher identities and then growing comfortable in their professional roles. Through hermeneutic analysis, five main themes are presented, constituting the “essences” of the phenomemon of living as a visibly tattooed teacher: Trying to Fit; Mis-fit; Fit. You? Fit You!; Fitting In; and One Size Does Not Fit All.

Tattooing in the federal Indian boarding school system appears to have been common among the student body, but the practice is not well documented. A search of the literature on Native education, focusing on boarding schools, yielded only fragments of references to tattooing because there has been no substantive or detailed research on Indian boarding school tattoos. One brief narrative from Celia Haig-Brown (1988), however, illustrates the commonality and the dangers of tattooing. This study examines tattoos among female students who attended Indian boarding schools in the Southwest during the 1960s-1970s. The personal accounts of my mother's experience in tattooing at the Phoenix Indian School provide a baseline for this study. My study explores an undocumented area of boarding school history and student experiences. Many students from various tribes tattooed. The tattoos most often included small initials and markings, and my analysis concludes that the meanings were mostly related to resistance.

This hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry describes the lived experiences of three visibly tattooed teachers and what it is like to sense their tattooed flesh while they are at school. Lived experience descriptions were collected during in-depth interviews and from personal reflective writings conducted by the study author, who is also a tattooed teacher. Using hermeneutic research approaches outlined by Max van Manen and Linda Finlay, lifeworld descriptions of visibly tattooed teachers are presented in the form of anecdotal passages that urge readers to ‘step into tattooed skin’. Drawing from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception, Luce Irigaray’s work on intersubjectivity, Michel Foucault’s notion of the disciplinary gaze, theories of the look in education forwarded by Madeline Grumet, and Judith Butler’s notion of subversive bodies, meanings are made of tattooed teachers’ experiences of adopting uncomfortable teacher identities and then growing comfortable in their professional roles. Through hermeneutic analysis, five main themes are presented, constituting the “essences” of the phenomemon of living as a visibly tattooed teacher: Trying to Fit; Mis-fit; Fit. You? Fit You!; Fitting In; and One Size Does Not Fit All.

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In this thesis, I investigate permanence through exploring tattoo consumption in terms of the social-historical context of being tattooed. The analysis is based on four years of data collection adopting a grounded theory approach. I present an analysis of how permanence occurs in terms of tattoo consumption, with particular interest in the physical permanence in relation to identity creation. This is set within the framework of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT). The reason for this is twofold, firstly to illustrate the ability of using tattooing as an instrument to investigate permanence within CCT. Secondly, to show the lack of use of the socio-historical perspective within such an investigation, and to show that the use of such data is a valid strategy and which adds depth and context to such an investigation. Furthermore, I suggest that tattoo consumption has become a site of embodied expression that is bounded by physicality, and permanence. I present a typology of tattooed consumers based on levels of commitment and explore in depth two main categories, physicality, and, permanence. I find that the physical permanence is shown through the commitment to tattoo usage. Its permanent nature determines the tattoo as an act of consumption that is dualistic in nature; both accepted, and yet equally rejected, which is seen within the consumers‘ negotiation of its use, in terms of mimicry and placement. Being tattooed represents a form of consumption that contravenes certain rules and norms of society, and yet at the same time is the basis for community membership and adherence to a set of sub-cultural norms and values.

Master of Arts / Department Not Listed / Timothy J. Shaffer / This thesis explores experiences of mental health among some queer community members in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. This research specifically investigates how the queer community in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, i.e. anyone who identifies with a marginalized sexuality and/or gender identity, communicates their experiences with mental health through their pieces of body art and/or non-surgical body modifications, which are defined as tattoos, piercings, scarification, and intentional branding, to themselves and others. The Flint Hills region of Kansas is defined as the cities of Manhattan, Junction City, Fort Riley, Riley, Wamego, Ogden, and Abilene. Centered within multiple theoretical frameworks from critical and communication studies disciplines, this thesis examines the stories and experiences behind the imagery and adaptations to some of the queer bodies, in this specific location, as it communicates experiences with mental health. Body art/non-surgical body modifications are a road map to the traumas we have experienced; the scars show our resilience. Those who assist with this research vary in ages (from 18-46), marginalized sexualities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and queer), marginalized gender identities (transgender, gender non-binary, gender queer, and androgynous), and racial identities/ethnicities (white, Black, Hispanic, Native/indigenous, and mixed race/ethnicities). The experiences and diagnoses with mental health range from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and suicidality/suicidal ideation. Listening to these narratives through in-depth, open-ended questions and natural conversations, and taking photographs of all discussed pieces of body art/non-surgical body modifications it was clear that these pieces serve to communicate both to others and themselves. When communicating to others, it was to memorialize the loss of someone. Five themes surfaced when these individuals were communicating their experiences with mental health to themselves: 1. attempting to gain control of their lives, even if that control is temporary; 2. transgender and gender nonbinary folks transitioning and fighting for space; 3. experiences with and attempts to prevent self-harm and/or self-mutilation; 4. symbolizing failed suicide attempts; and 5. individual engagements with personal mental health diagnoses. The implications of this research ignite and further conversations about mental health among queer individuals in the Flint Hills region of Kansas and strives to reduce the stigma surrounding communicating about experiences with mental health, especially among marginalized communities.

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