Gay Sailor Tattoos Zine

It wasn't always a breeze to find lovers on the high seas, and we don't have many sources about sailors who desired their shipmates. But what we do have are tattoo designs—still recognizable in today's traditional tattooing styles—which sailors used to communicate their origins, status, and sexuality while on ship or shore. Gay Sailor Tattoos gives us a look into the lives of queer men, who, despite the dangers and difficulties of the sailing life, found freedom in their relationships and bodily expression. This thoughtful and well-researched zine brings together historical and visual details about the lives (lustful and otherwise) of sailors at the height of the seafaring profession, and their enduring cultural influence.

DETAILS

5.5" x 4.25"

10 Pages

ABOUT

Portland's most colourful, authentic, and empowering publishing house and distributor, Microcosm Publishing equips readers to make positive changes in their lives and in the world around them. Microcosm emphasizes skill-building, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom with books and zines about DIY skills, food, bicycling, gender, self-care, and social justice.