Inked in Narrative: Body Diversity, Tattooing, and its Representation in Young Adult Literature

Abstract

This dissertation explores notions of body diversity within Western culture in terms of weight, race, disability, gender, and sexuality with a specific focus on tattooed bodies. Historically, tattooing has been associated with negative behaviours such as drunkenness, irresponsible behaviour, and prostitution. Individuals who do not fit into Western cultural ideas of beauty have faced discrimination and marginalisation. In particularly heavily tattooed women have received negative criticism relating to challenging accepted beauty norms.
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how tattooed protagonists are represented in young adult literature through a feminist lens in relation to character traits, physical appearance, personal relationships, and overall story arc. Its aim is to ascertain whether literature portraying tattooed protagonists reinforces social stereotypes or challenges them.
I explored this representation through qualitative interviews with university students and questionnaires aimed at readers between eleven and fourteen. I analysed these responses using critical discourse analysis. The literary representation of tattooed protagonists was also explored in nine young adult novels using textual analysis. A variety of themes were explored and compared with the data gained from the critical discourse analysis.
The overall results from all three sets of data suggested that although tattooed individuals have traditionally been vilified and marginalised, social perceptions are changing as is clarified by the range of books available which feature tattooed protagonists although in some, more traditionally minded areas of society, the stigma remains.

Date of Award	18 Mar 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Northampton
Supervisor	Mark Rothery (Director of Studies), Sonya Andermahr (Supervisor) & Eunice Lumsden (Supervisor)