Abstract
This thesis examined the lived experiences of breast cancer through the lens of survivability. Drawing on the embodied, spatial, temporal, emotional-affective experiences of women after the end of breast cancer treatment, this thesis unpacks the geographies present within the everyday life of living with, through and on from breast cancer. This thesis also examined how women living with breast cancer engaged with different forms of breast cancer related tattoos to understand and negotiate with their lived experiences. It also examined the different spaces and relations of care present within the practice of breast cancer related tattooing. Methodology wise, this research is guided by tenets of post-phenomenology and insights from palliative care to conduct qualitative semi-structured interviews with women living with breast cancer, as well as breast cancer related tattoo practitioners. This research also utilised photographs, social media sites and blogposts provided by the participants to further enhance the analysis. This thesis found that the everyday geographies of breast cancer were multi-scalar in nature as a result of the constant process of recovering that occurred. This is in contradiction to conventional expectations of recovery. This thesis also found that engagements with breast cancer related tattoo enabled important processes of negotiations, and were not solutions to breast cancer related issues. Finally, this thesis demonstrated how breast cancer related tattooing practices and spaces were filled with care and attentiveness towards the lived realities of breast cancer. In doing so, this thesis contributes to current geographical scholarship surrounding health geographies, geographies of survivability and geographies of the body. It also makes an original contribution to geographical scholarship by examining the under-researched practice of tattooing.
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
2025
Embargo Period
2025-04-19
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Teow, P. (2025) Tattooed geographies: exploring tattoos and its relationship with breast cancer and emotional well-being. Thesis. University of Plymouth. Retrieved from https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/gees-theses/470
