Abstract
Cultural models are simplified images and storylines that encapsulated what is regarded as typical for a social group. Cultural models of teachers include body images of dress, adornment, and comportment, and are useful in examining society’s standards and values. Two participants, Erin and Gabbie (pseudonyms), shared stories about their tattoos, which in the U.S. have historically been seen as a mode of resistance. These tattoos that reflected the teachers’ personal lives were regarded in light of the cultural model of the U.S. teacher, a typically conservatively dressed and coiffed female. According to discourse analysis of the participants’ stories, each teacher’s students did not interpret these tattoos in the same ways. Erin’s students were surprised at the tattoo and interpreted it as a sign she no longer fit the typical teacher mold. Gabbie’s students were not surprised at the tattoo but noted it as confirmatory evidence that she fit the needs of the alternative, nonmainstream school context where the cultural model would be ill suited. This analysis makes a case for more complex interpretations of teachers’ bodies that do not fit the mainstream cultural models of teachers.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-31-2012
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/soc2040252
Repository Citation
Mallozzi, Christine A., "Cultural Models of Bodily Images of Women Teachers" (2012). Gender and Women's Studies Faculty Publications. 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gws_facpub/1
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Societies, v. 2, issue 4, p. 252-269.
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).