Body Decoration is an ancient form of self-expression, which experienced a twentieth-century revival in a variety of forms. The broad category of body decoration, so thoroughly studied by anthropologist Robert Brain and others, includes everything from styles of dress, to cosmetics, to jewelry, to hair dye, to war paint. More specifically, in an American sense, the term refers to the patterned arts of body decoration, such as tattoos or piercing (or even mehndi or branding).

In a number of traditional cultures, body painting exists for an assortment of purposes, from the purely decorative to the ceremonial. Typically, the designs are in a symbolic form that is based on specific cultural or spiritual beliefs. In their American manifestations, however, these designs ordinarily lack a deeply rooted cultural basis. Rather, the symbols are reappropriated by different groups and imbued with new meanings.

Tattoos are one such example, a...