Further Reading
Biskind, Peter.Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax,
Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Levy, Emanuel.Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of Ameri-
can Independent Film. New York: New York Univer-
sity Press, 1999.
Waxman, Sharon.Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick
Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood
Studio System. New York: HarperEntertainment,
2005.
Jacob F. Lee
See also Academy Awards; Film in the United
States; Independent films;Pulp Fiction; Sundance
Film Festival; Travolta, John.
Tattoos and body piercings
Definition Two forms of body modification, art,
or adornment
Tattoos and body piercings, once limited to the populations
of prisoners, gang members, bikers, and sailors, became
more mainstream activities in the 1990’s.
Until the 1990’s, tattoos and body piercings were a
provocative part of various societal subcultures. The
1990’s marked an increase in popularity in tattoos
and body piercings and was in part encouraged by
an increasing number of celebrities—from actors to
alternative, grunge, punk, and hip-hop musicians to
athletes—displaying these forms of body art. Ac-
cording to Victoria Pitts inIn the Flesh(2003), both
tattoos and body piercing were eventually “appropri-
ated by MTV and the catwalk, and by the late 1990’s,
these had become wholly acceptable, if alternative
and hip, forms of fashion.”
Body piercing enthusiasts began to pierce more
than just their ears—tongue, nose, and navel
piercings became popular during this time. Tattoos
also became more than just emblems for bikers,
gang members, and military men. Men and women
from all walks of life sought to “reclaim” or beautify
their bodies through this type of permanent, and
stigmatized, body art. Though many teens and
adults chose to become tattooed and/or pierced to
express their individuality, these forms of body mod-
ification became less edgy or rebellious for others.
Some believed that these body modifications lost
their original, seditious meanings and became other
forms of self-expression and decoration. According
to Pitts, “Because they have pushed the envelope of
body aesthetics, body modifiers have been under-
stood as perverse, criminal, and offensive, but also as
artistic, expressive, and radical.” In fact, both tattoos
and body piercings have allowed people to control
and manipulate visual and public projections of
their own sense of individuality.
Impact Although most individuals who sported tat-
toos and/or body piercings were young Americans,
many middle-class and professional women and men
began to participate in these forms of body modifi-
cation. In the 1990’s, tattoos and body piercings
became more widely accepted in virtually all tiers of
society. While they began to cut across diverse social
and class groups and became more mainstream, how-
ever, there was still a relative marginalization of the
practice within society as a whole.
Further Reading
DeMello, Margo.Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural His-
tor y of the Modern Tattoo Community. Durham, N.C.:
Duke University Press, 2000.
Lloyd, J. D., ed.Body Piercing and Tattoos: Examining
Pop Culture. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press,
2002.
Pitts, Victoria.In the Flesh: The Cultural Politics of
Body Modification. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2003.
Desiré J. M. AnastasiaSee also Alternative rock; Fads; Fashions and
clothing; Grunge fashion. Telecommunications Act of
1996
Identification U.S. federal legislation
deregulating the telecommunications industry
Date Signed into law on February 8, 1996
With little attention from the press, Congress passed the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, the stated goals of which
were to produce more competition, a greater diversity of
viewpoints, jobs for the economy, and lower prices for con-
sumers.
The U.S. Congress passed the Telecommunications
Act with a huge majority despite a threatened veto byThe Nineties in America Telecommunications Act of 1996 835