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Annotated Bibliography

Boag, P. (Writer and Director). (2009). Marked death of the yakuza. In R. Palumbo
(Producer), Marked. Locker 100 Productions.
This documentary centers on a central topic of my capstone paper: tattoos and their
significance in gang culture. Boag travels to Japan to discuss the Yakuza gang, the largest
organized-crime organization in the world, and the symbolism of tattoos in Yakuza
society. Yakuza gang members usually have full body tattoos to show their allegiance and
dedication to the gang. Boag interviews many Yakuza members and discusses the
symbolism behind the recognizable tattoos. He ends the documentary by stating that the
traditional Japanese tattoo methods used to identify members are now fading as western
tattoos influence the world of tattooing. This source is reliable because it uses historical
facts, face-to-face interviews, and anecdotes to describe the symbolic meaning of Yakuza
tattoos. Compared to other sources, it is more in depth about what the tattoos mean. It
focuses specifically on one certain group and flushes out all the information, unlike other
sources that look more broadly at gang tattoos. This documentary can help form my
argument about gang tattoos. It will allow me to look at one or two gang tattoos instead
of an overall idea of gang tattoos. It will give more emphasis on gang tattoos, which I
originally wanted to focus on.

Boag, P. (Writer and Director). (2009). Marked Pure evil. In R. Palumbo (Producer),
Marked. Locker 100 Productions.

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This documentary, also, centers on the central topic of tattoos and their significance in
gang culture. However, it focuses on the largest organized-crime gangs in the world: the
Russian mafia. Boag interviews Russian mafia members and discusses the message
behind the gangs tattoos, such as the stars on the shoulder and spider webs on the
elbows. Not only does he discuss this, but he also discusses tattoos in prison and how
they affect the significance of Russian mafia tattoos. Like the other documentary, it is
reliable because it uses live interviews and historic information to back up his
information. Compared to other sources, it is very specific and narrowly discusses only
the Russian mafia. This is helpful for my in-depth analysis on gang tattoos. It will shape
my argument that the significance of gang tattoos has evolved with the emergence and
perception of gangs.

Dalke, A., & Blakenship, L. (2009, January 1). Technology of ink: a study of the
implications of tattoos on gender identity. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from
http://gandt.blogs.brynmawr.edu/web-papers/final-papersprojects/technology-ofink-a-study-of-the-implications-of-tattoos-on-gender-identity
The authors discuss the symbolism of tattoos and the gender difference in symbolism.
They start off by discussing how ancient women mummies were the first to have tattoos
in order to protect them in child birth. As western culture emerged, they were famous in
circus side shows. During the mid-twentieth century, during times of war, it was frowned
up for women to have tattoos because it was against the ideal image of a modest woman.
With the 60s and 70s, women got tattoos as a sign of empowerment and independence
during the feminist movement. They end their argument by explaining how tattoos are

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seen as over-sexualized with women. This source is reliable because they back up each
point with data and use the information to teach a class. Compared to other sources, it
takes a different angle, which I am not sure if I want to approach this angle, but it could
be an interesting point to make in my paper. It can shape my argument by taking not only
a cultural aspect of the symbolism of tattoos, but a gender aspect.

Goldberg, L. (2001, December 1). Gang tattoos: signs of belonging and the transience of
signs. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://www.linagoldberg.com/gangtattoos/
Goldberg discusses the overall symbolism of tattoos in gang cultural and what they
represent. He introduces by talking about criminals, in some ancient tribes, were tattooed
to show the crimes that they committed. He talks about how gangs began to use tattoos as
a way of identification and belonging. Goldberg also briefly summarizes some traditional
gang tattoos associated with certain gangs, like the pachuco cross and the three dots in the
shape of a triangle. They also symbolize a life time membership and dedication to the
gang, as well as details about the crimes and life of the bearer. He concluded by
discussing tattoos done in prison and how they symbolize power and strength from doing
time. This source is reliable because he uses graphs, figures, and historic evidence to
effectively express the symbolism of gang tattoos. Compared to my other sources about
gangs, it does not focus only on one gang, but overall, what the tattoos mean, which will
be most useful in answering my question. This site will help narrow my focus on the
symbolism of gang tattoos.

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The history of tattooing - from tattoo temple hong kong. (2011, April 14). Retrieved
March 22, 2015, from http://tattootemple.hk/history-of-tattooing
This site briefly summarizes the symbolism of tattoos in different countries and cultures.
It does through to discuss what tattoos represented in Egyptian, Greek, African, Japanese,
Polynesian, and other cultures. For example, in Egyptian culture, royalty got tattoos to
show their elevated status. Also, women, mainly, got tattoos to protect them during child
birth. The source may not be the most reliable because it shows no sources, but the
information on this page matches up with previous research, which makes it accurate.
Compared to other sources, it mainly focuses on ancient history, which I find I want to
focus on instead of modern tattoo symbolism. It was useful in helping start my research
on ancient tattoos symbolism. I am able to use this as a stepping stone for further
research.

Levins, H. (1997, January 1). The changing cultural status of the tattoo arts in america.
Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://www.tattooartist.com/history.html
Levins discusses the changing symbolism of tattoos in response to the media. Levins
claims that the way people saw and see tattoos was based off how the media covered
tattoo culture. As it became to be seen as a form of art, it changed to represent selfexpression and not a label for a group. She uses stories from popular magazines, like the
NY Times, to show the reliability of her claim and provide evidence. Compared to other
sources, it places more emphasis on media influencing the symbolism of tattoos. This can
be something interesting to include in my paper, but I am not sure if it would flow well

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with my overall idea. It can help me shape my argument by emphasizing that the
seventies-eighties greatly influenced tattoos as symbolizing art.

Porcella, A. (2009) Tattoos: a marked history. California Polytechnic State University,

California.
In her dissertation, Porcella looks at how the perception of tattoos has changed with the
evolution of tattoos. She examines what factors and historical events triggered these
shifts in perception. She begins with the origins of tattoos and what they represented in
Polynesian, Greek, and European society. She discusses the popularization of sideshows in Europe and how it led to tattoos symbolizing inferiority and savagery. Then,
she introduces the evolution of tattooing in the United States and the how tattoos
originally showed ones love for their country. With this, she leads into the introduction
of how tattoos symbolized deviance with the emergence biker gangs and gangs in the
forties. She ends by claiming that with the evolution of new tattoos techniques, tattoos
became a form of art, not a label. This source is reliable because she accurately sites her
sources and had it proofread by her professor. Compared to other sources, it covers a
wider range of history and does not single out a specific period. She also frames her
paper by not only discussing the perception of tattoos, but subtly explaining their
significance. Overall, it is, so far, my strongest source. All her information can be used to
accommodate my paper. The historic information will be the most useful because my
paper will be focused more on history, nto on current tattoo culture.

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Rosenthal, G. (2015, January 1). Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Evolution of Tattooing in the
Auschwitz Concentration Camp Complex. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/tattoos1.html
Rosenthal discusses the literal symbolism of tattoos during the Holocaust. He explains
that tattoos were important during the Holocaust because it was simple way to identify
how many bodies were in the camp, especially the deceased. Then, he goes in depth
about the process and meaning behind each specific number, each gender getting a
specific serial number. He concludes that these practices brought a negative attitude to
the United States concerning tattoos. The author is a Holocaust victim working with the
Jewish virtual library, making him knowledgeable of the experience. Compared to my
other sources, especially the other Holocaust site, this site has more information
concerning the actual tattoo and relates it back to the worlds response towards the Nazi
tattoos. I can use this Holocaust information to talk about the major events that impacted
the symbolism of tattoos, which will be core in my paper.

Socializing bodies: a history of the tattoo. (2008, July 26). Random History. Retrieved
March 22, 2015, from http://www.randomhistory.com/2008/07/26_tattoo.html
This article tells the history of tattoos dating back from biblical times to modern times.
He starts by talking about the appearance of tattoos seen in the Bible and goes into the
European appearance of tattoos. Then, he discusses the impact of tattoos in America
though the eighteenth and twenty-first century. This source is reliable because he sites his
sources and I can back up the information presented with other sources. Compared to
other sources, it is very broad and only dictates the overall history or tattoos and their

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trends. Despite this, I can use it in my paper as an introduction to the history of tattoos
because the site is very in-depth and detailed. Also, this can be the backbone for my
historical research.

Tattoos and Numbers: The System of Identifying Prisoners at Auschwitz. (2014, June
20). Retrieved March 22, 2015, from
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007056
This website discusses the significance and symbolism of tattoos during the Holocaust. It
briefly describes the tattoos and techniques used. Also, it summarizes the different places
where the tattoos were originally done. It is somewhat reliable, but a very vague source
that was broad on the topic. Compared to my other Holocaust source, it is not as detailed,
but is a good stepping stone for future Holocaust research.