Recent research has shown that in contemporary societies, tattoos and body piercing are no longer seen as compulsory signs of collective belonging, but rather as voluntary auto-bio-graphical resources for personal identities constructed around values of individuality, difference and authenticity. More than a trend of narcissist individualism, these new symbolic investments in body marks show how new patterns of sociability among young people are constructed in a more fluid and fragmented way, in which somatic affinities take place amidst other kinds of elective affinities. This contention is underpinned by insights from post-subcultural approaches, and also by the concept of bio-sociabilities proposed by Francisco Ortega (2004). Methodologically, the present study is based on qualitative data from intensive and ethnographic fieldwork on body modification scenes in Lisbon. Indepth interviews with both working professionals and consumers of tattoos and body piercing were conducted.
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