Inscribing Difference: How Dutch Queer Tattoo Artists Navigate Identity, Race, and Belonging

Abstract

In this thesis, I investigate white queer tattooers in the Netherlands and how they identify the influence of their identities on their professional practice, as related to inclusion and exclusion. I ask, how does the contemporary Dutch queer tattoo scene simultaneously function as a site of identity affirmation and a space where racial and cultural power dynamics are negotiated? To further nuance my main question, I ask, in what ways do queer tattoo artists in the Netherlands navigate the intersections of queer identity and whiteness in their artistic practice and client relationships? How do practices within the Dutch queer tattoo scene create spaces of belonging for some while potentially reinforcing boundaries of exclusion for others? Cultural studies of the Dutch tattoo scene are largely missing, making this one of the few studies that map the scene through narrative, subjective perspectives of practitioners, and discuss tattoos as linked to identity. I applied feminist body theory, queer theory, postcoloniality and critical whiteness studies in my theoretical framework, looking at body modifications and queerness (DeMello, 2000; Pitts, 2003; Kitt, 2017; Beckett, 2018; 2023; Lee, 2023), and the cultural construction and organization of bodies through Butler’s (1990) performativity and Ahmed’s (2006) queer phenomenology. I used Crenshaw’s (1991) intersectionality and Essed's (2008; 2014) and Wekker's (2016) work to critically discuss whiteness in the Dutch context. I conducted semi-structured interviews with five tattooers based in the Netherlands, using a feminist qualitative methodology, informed by queer feminism and critical whiteness studies. I identified care practices and intersectional politics as central to what I call queering of tattooing. These values impacted how the tattoo artists reasoned, organized, learned about and practiced client interaction, space and privacy, technical skills, marketing, and community, which, to them, set them apart from the larger scene and influenced the demographics of their clients.