It is our position that the current trend of tattoo body art is more than a fashion statement. Move over Popeye the Sailor Man because Olive Oyl has taken over your seat at the local tattoo parlor. The percentage of women has surpassed the percentage of men sporting body art, encompassing nearly one quarter of the population in the United States. Stars, flowers, vines, butterflies and fairies have replaced anchors and barbed wire armbands among the most popular tattoos.
It’s conceivable that the rise in women being tattooed is due to a greater acceptance among the general public, caused by celebrity influence or gender equality. More than likely, the texting generation sees body art as another form of nonverbal communication in the expression of power, love, confidence, immortality and religion. Dressing for success is now literally skin deep.
Though, the question must be asked, “Is this newly vogue form of self-expression a help or a hindrance to social acceptance?” How will the body art wear as skin starts to age? Will there be a huge market for tattoo removal in the future? After all, flowers do wilt, and stars fall from the sky. Perhaps it’s all a deliberate part of one’s pictorial life story.