Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Tattooing As a Tool for Identity and Resistance; A Qualitative Study in Shiraz

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Siroos Ahmadi 1
Najim Najimi 2
Maryam Mokhtari 3

1 Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran

2 PhD Student, Department of Social Sciences, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran

3 Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/jss.2026.2105721.2001
Abstract
Background and aim: Tattooing has become widespread across various social groups, and displaying tattoos in public has become common. Tattoo is perceived with heightened sensitivity, particularly in contexts characterized by a blend of traditional and modern elements. Shiraz, as Iran’s third religious capital, provides an ideal setting for studying tattoo. Thus, this research aims to study tattooing in the social context of Shiraz to gain insight into the lives of tattooed people to provide a comprehensive picture of this phenomenon.
Data and method: This study employed a qualitative approach based on Grounded Theory. Seventeen tattooed individuals were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding.
Findings: Data coding led to the identification of six categories. Physical-psychological benefits, and aesthetic sensibilities, constitute the causal conditions for tattooing. Tolerance serves as the contextual condition. Significant others act as the intervening condition. Struggle and argumentation are the strategies employed by participants regarding tattoos. Finally, contradictory outcomes represent the consequences of tattoo.
Conclusion: The findings gave rise to a core: Tattooing as a tool for identity and resistance. Within the social context of Shiraz—a metropolis characterized by a dual identity—individuals draw on the structures of metropolitan life to assert themselves and engage in self-repair, deriving a sense of empowerment from their tattoos. However, because of the city’s traditional fabric, they simultaneously encounter numerous social restrictions when dealing with institutional structures and official discourses, thereby experiencing this contradiction more intensely.

Keywords

Tattoo
Identity
Resistance
Shiraz
Grounded theory
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Journal of Iranian Social Studies
Volume 20, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 125-99

  • Receive Date 12 September 2026
  • Accept Date 23 October 2026
  • First Publish Date 23 October 2026
  • Publish Date 22 June 2026

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