A study released today confirms what local tattoo artists have known for some time: Body ink is no longer countercultural.
“It isn?t just sailors, bikers and criminals anymore,” said Robert Smith, owner of The American Tattoo Co. on Eastern Avenue in East Baltimore.
“It?s become more mainstream, with doctors, nurses, soccer moms, police officers, people from all walks of life getting them.”
About 24 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 are tattooed, according to the results of a study scheduled to appear today on the Web site of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
“Really, nowadays, the people who don?t have them are becoming the unique ones,” said Chris Keaton, a tattoo artist and co-owner of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum on Eastern Avenue in Fells Point.
Bill Stevenson, the museum?s other co-owner and also a tattoo artist, wasn?t surprised to hear statistics that prove tattoos? arrival into the mainstream.
“People turn 18 every day, and they want to express themselves in a culture that doesn?t have clear-cut pathways to adulthood,” he said.
Smith said that since he opened his shop more than three years ago, he has seen an influx of women and people who are middle-aged and older requesting ink.
“I?ve seen 18-year-old kids come into the shop with their dads, and they get their first tattoos together,” said Smith, who sports a red-white-and-blue tattoo machine on his left bicep.
TV?s “Miami Ink” on TLC and “Inked” on A&E may have spurred interest, Smith said, and such shows are shattering taboos by showing audiences why people are willing to endure the pain and pay for permanent skin adornments.
Many get inked as a memorial to a deceased loved one, for example, he said.
And despite an increase in the number of people of all ages getting tattooed, a social stigma linked to the practice persists, Stevenson said, as some clients still request body art in discreet places.
The survey?s results may hint at why: People who drink, do drugs, have been jailed or forgo religion are more likely to be tattooed.
The telephone survey on tattoos included 253 women and 247 men and was conducted in 2004. It has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
