Feeling the Sting of Being a Tattooed Mother in the Public Eye

Abstract

This chapter maps a process of corporeal pedagogy realizing differences in regional norms as a tattooed mother having recently relocated to a deeply conservative rural environment. The narrative recounts Coats’ experience of taking her children to a local grocery store with her tattoos visible for the first time since moving her family from a large city. In this new location, the grocery store serves as a site of public pedagogy, particularly in relation to surveillance and visibility. The author traces her corporeal awareness of patrons’ eyes on her body, witnessing them move away from her and recoil as she reached near them. The experience provided a sensual awareness, where her skin acted as an index of cultural difference, societal norms, and local desire.