Posted on 06/10/2006 2:30:40 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - A sun shines on Dan Yu's back, alongside a swimming koi fish. A tree soon may grow on his arm. "Your body's an empty canvas, so you almost want to continue to add to it," said Yu, 28, as he showed off his tattoos.
A generation or two ago, Yu's tattoos — to say nothing of his pierced nose — probably would have placed him in a select company of soldiers, sailors, bikers and carnival workers. But no longer: The American University employee is among about 36 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 with at least one tattoo, according to a survey.
The study, scheduled to appear Monday on the Web site of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, provides perhaps the most in-depth look at tattoos since their popularity exploded in the early 1990s.
The results suggest that 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that's almost one in four. Two surveys from 2003 suggested just 15 percent to 16 percent of U.S. adults had a tattoo.
"Really, nowadays, the people who don't have them are becoming the unique ones," said Chris Keaton, a tattoo artist and president of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum.
But body art is more than just tattoos.
About one in seven people surveyed reported having a piercing anywhere other than in the soft lobe of the ear, according to the study. That total rises to nearly one in three for the 18-to-29 set. Just about half — 48 percent — in that age category had either a tattoo or piercing.
Given their youth, that suggests the percentage of people with body art will continue to grow, said study co-author Dr. Anne Laumann, a Northwestern University dermatologist.
"They haven't had time to get their body piercing. They haven't had time to get their tattoo. They are just beginning to get into it and the number is already big," Laumann said.
So why has body art become so popular?
Laumann and others believe it allows people to broadcast to the world what they are all about. Others call it sign of rebellion or a rite of passage. The survey found nearly three-fourths of the pierced and nearly two-thirds of the tattooed made the leap before 24.
"It's a very easy way to express something that you think represents part of your identity — that you don't have to tell someone but you can just have seen," said Chelsea Farrell, 21, an American University senior from Albany, N.Y. Farrell has a tattooed fish on each hip and a Celtic knot on the small of her back.
The survey also found that what your mother may have told you about who has tattoos is true: People who drink, do drugs, have been jailed or forgo religion are more likely to be tattooed.
The same holds for piercings, though rates do not appear to vary with education, income or job category. In that sense, they appear to be "different animals," said Laumann, who has traditionally pierced ears but no tattoos.
One obvious difference is that piercings can be easily removed, unlike tattoos.
"I guess I liked the way they looked and the rush of getting them pierced, as well as them not being permanent. I can take them out and the holes will close up," said Simah Waddell, 21, of Rochester, N.Y., of her pierced nose, tongue, belly button and ears.
Waddell, who is entering her senior year at American University, said she suffered no side effects, other than the anger of her parents. The survey suggests that is not always the case for others with piercing. Nearly one in four reported medical problems, including skin infections. Among those with mouth or tongue piercings, an equal proportion reported chipped or broken teeth.
For tattoos, 13 percent of respondents had problems with healing. Generally, the Food and Drug Administration receives few reports of complications from tattoos.
The industry is regulated by state and local officials, but not the FDA, and there is no such thing as an agency-approved tattoo pigment or ink. The FDA is considering more involvement, said Dr. Linda Katz, director of agency's Office of Cosmetics and Colors.
"If you look at the fact that a quarter of adults have a tattoo, it's amazing how safe the industry is," said Dr. R. Rox Anderson, a Harvard Medical School dermatologist and tattoo removal expert. None of the survey respondents had ever had a tattoo removed, though 17 percent had considered it.
Freedom-2 LLC, a Philadelphia company co-founded by Anderson, hopes to launch the first of two lines of not-so-permanent tattoo inks next year, though without FDA approval.
To create the ink, pigments would be encapsulated in a polymer and the microcapsules injected into the skin. A tattoo would be permanent only as long as its wearer wanted it to be.
It would only take a few pulses of a laser to break open the capsules and release the ink into the body to be safely absorbed, said Martin Schmieg, the company's president and chief executive officer.
A second ink, to be available in 2008, would rely on the same technology, except the capsules would dissolve on their own. Depending on the version, the tattoos would naturally vanish after six months, 12 months or 24 months.
"It will be like wearing a tattoo like it's jewelry, where you will be able to take it off. It will just fade on its own," Schmieg said.
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.
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Associated Press writer Chhayal Parikh contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
American Academy of Dermatology: http://www.aad.org/
FDA tattoo information: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tattoos.html
I thought about it but decided I already had too many
identifying scars.
Up NEXT:
Decorative Branding!
If you have to ask about the pain,
you aren't ready.
I'm different, just like everybody else.
I proudly sit among the 76%
No tatoos and only one set of pierced ear rings. Ya know, I like to change shoes once in a while, with tatoos it's the same day in and day out. Not to mention I'd prefer not to have a big black blob on me come my 80th birthday.
Unnngh!
IMO,nothing says to a potential employer "don't hire me" more clearly than a tattoo.
One of my gorgeous nieces has a boyfriend covered head to toe with tatoos, and every one of the kids in their "crowd" has at least one. She is the ONLY one with no tatoos. With a twinkle and a smile, she says that it make her stand out! God bless her!
The accused "Bikini Strangler
One time I saw a freaky heavy metal dude in a hamburger joint that had a tattoo around his throat. It was a dashed line labeled "cut here". I wondered at the time how he made a living. Trash hauling? Weed whacking? Warehouse lumper? No, scratch the warehouse work - that would put him in proximity to things of value. Good choice there, dude.
not sure if your request is tongue-in-cheek, so here goes...
got a tattoo (about 4"x4") on my back/shoulder blade area in college, hoping that patch of skin may not sag too much upon aging and is not visible unless I'm at the pool/beach. it is from my favorite book.
got a couple of piercings. my bellybutton, and 2 in one ear, 5 in the other, my hair conceals the top two while at work.
my older sister called one day, told me she had just gotten her hair cut and was in the mood to do "something else wild and crazy" (her other half was out of town for a bit), so we went and she had her bellybutton pierced. that was a bad piercing, they messed it up and it didn't heal for ages, imo, the ring they used was too small. she took it out during her 2nd pregnancy.
had my tongue pierced, yep, chipped a tooth, and took that out when I got a real job (a.k.a. left college). at one point in college, my friend and I considered an eyebrow piercing, but we were concerned about reports of hitting nerves, she was in ROTC, and I wouldn't be able to get a good job with that piercing.
As a (relatively) young person, I guess I'll just have to remain unique. And employable.
a Celtic knot on the small of her back
I have to assume most girls these days know what guys call these when they're not around. In my experience, it's accurate.
As a (relatively) young person, I guess I'll just have to remain unique. And employable.
Hey, man. Working at a record store is kind of a job. Or, from what I've seen on TV, you could work as a tattoo artist or chopper repair guy. :)
a Celtic knot on the small of her back
I have to assume most girls these days know what guys call these when they're not around. In my experience, it's accurate.
Tattoo on the small of her back = slut. We thank the girls for doing this, it makes them easier to pick out. Suggestive clothing can me misleading. A big 'ol tattoo above the butt-crack never lies.
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