Tattoo artists see an increase in customers who are women
BY DOUG HARLOW Staff Writer
SKOWHEGAN -- Tattoo artist Bobby "Honest Bob" Pagliaroli says he's been in the business of body art long enough to know a trend when he sees one: Women are getting tattoos these days more than ever before.
And the designs are bigger, more colorful and with more elaborate designs, says Pagliaroli, 28, resident artist for tattoos and piercings at Skowvegas Tattoos.
Most of his customers these days are women, he says.
"It's like 85 percent," Pagliaroli said. "Why? It makes you feel cooler. A new tattoo definitely make you feel cool. Since I've been tattooing, it's always been more women than men getting tattoos, definitely. It's more acceptable, maybe that's what it's come down to."
It's not like it was "back in the day" when a woman having a tattoo was strictly for biker girls, adds Skowvegas owner Christina Hughes.
"It's not like the cliché anymore where a lot of people felt you're this bad person getting a tattoo and you're not going to heaven," Hughes said. "It's totally not like that now; now it's become more of a lifestyle thing, showing something that you're proud of -- 60-year-old people are getting their first tattoo.
"They get their children's names on them, portraits, things that you can take with you forever. It's a memory that's permanently on your body. You're finding yourself. You want to standout from the rest."
So, is it empowering for a woman to get body art?
Maybe.
"I think women weren't allowed to do everything men were," said Ashleigh Howell, 24, of Bangor, who has five purple stars cascading in a green background along her lower back. "Women couldn't always do what men could do, so when women get a tattoo they get their kids' names, personal stuff; it's more an emotional, personal thing.
"Women are doing a lot more things nowadays in the 21st century -- we do everything men do. I think it is empowering. You paid for it, you made that money, now you're going in, getting a tattoo that'll be there forever. You picked it out and it's something that you want; for me it is, anyway."
The cost of getting a tattoo can get pricey, Pagliaroli said.
"I get a hundred bucks an hour," he said. "A half-sleeve'll cost maybe $500-$800. I do it black and gray first, then put the color over the top; it makes the color not look cartoon."
Spencer Wright, at The Wright Tattoo in Augusta, said his business is about 50 percent men, 50 percent women, but he is seeing more women these days than in years past.
"It's definitely more women now than it was 10 years ago," Wright said. "Everybody, male or female, likes artwork on their body. It's definitely more of an art form now.
"Women used to get just the smaller work, now I'm getting women that are actually doing back pieces and sleeves and huge leg pieces; it was the men getting the big work, but now women are getting just as big of work and multiple settings -- getting the big stuff."
Mike Gibson at Redneck Tattoos on Main Street in Waterville said he, too, is doing more tattoos on women since he started more than 20 years ago.
"I'm doing one right now," Gibson said in a telephone interview, the buzz of the tattoo gun audible in the background. "It's a geisha girl, kind of resting up against an Asian dragon with wings -- kind of just sleeping with the dragon. It's on her breast. It's a custom piece."
Gibson said he doesn't use black outline, but applies full color to make it look more like an oil painting than a tattoo.
"I'd say at least 50 percent of my clientele or a little bit more are women," he said. "They get them for different reasons; just to beautify themselves. They get their lower back tattoos and now the nickname for it is the 'tramp stamp,' which I really don't like; I think it's degrading.
"Mainly a lot of them have got to do with memorials, their kids or something, but they get them for themselves. They're stepping out of the box nowadays; they're going a lot larger, a lot more colorful -- whole legs, sleeves, arm -- large."
Wendy Shelton, 32, of Winterport, sports, among other tattoos, the devil on her left leg and thigh and an angel with the five Chinese elements on her right leg and thigh.
"It's a way to express yourself," Shelton said. "This is me -- I have a good side, a bad side -- the balance of life, good and evil -- and the five elements kind of go with the whole way of life."
Cynthia Graf, 23, of Skowhegan, has a large seascape tattooed on her back -- fish, coral, a floating sting ray, sea horses and turtles. Graf will compete soon at a tattoo convention in Bangor with Pagliaroli.
"My dad and everybody in my family have always had tattoos and it was just something that caught my interest, too," Graf said. "I've always loved the ocean so that's what I wanted."
Tattooartist.com reports that the medical journal "Physician Assistant," which circulates to doctors' offices throughout the country, recently alerted its readers that: "Tattoos were most common among motorcyclists, criminals, gang members, and individuals with psychiatric problems . . . however, these stereotypical associations have changed over the past 20 years . . . tattooing in women has quadrupled, and it is estimated that almost half of the tattoos now being done are on women."
Pagliaroli agrees, saying the stereotypes have fallen by the wayside.
"They are everything from your mother to these girls," he said of the steady flow of female clientele at Skowvegas Tattoo. "We tattoo old ladies, everything; a lot of ladies come in after a divorce or something like that or after they break up because their husband wouldn't let them get a tattoo. And a lot of mid-life crisis, too; it's a big mid-life crisis thing, tattooing, for men, but for women too."
Doug Harlow -- 474-9534
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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Copyright ©2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
38 COMMENTS
bubbagump said...
I am a criminal and former gang member. I have a history of Psych issues and presently work in medicine and I do not have a tattoo. Therefor the article in the mag must be incorrect!
June 7, 2010 at 9:56 AM Report abuse
terry said...
i for one am turned off by a large tattoo on a woman. seeing a woman with a sleeve tattoo is not a pretty sight
June 7, 2010 at 11:54 AM Report abuse
Hipupchuck said...
Don't forget to mention more and more body piercings and tattoos on private parts too. I think all this is stupid.
June 7, 2010 at 12:17 PM Report abuse
watchout said...
I cannot in even my wildest imagine being close with a woman who has that stuff on her body..what a TURNOFF !
June 7, 2010 at 5:21 PM Report abuse
jim118 said...
Gawd,when is this stupid fad ever going to go away?!
June 7, 2010 at 8:42 PM Report abuse
gen81465 said...
I'm curious about bubbagump; if you are a criminal and former gang member with a history of psych problems, exactly what work do you do with "medicine"? I wonder exactly what medical institution decided to overlook your criminal past and mental issues.
June 8, 2010 at 3:45 AM Report abuse
atvclub said...
tattooed britany spears or clean skin taylor swift....which one do ya wanta bring home to a thankgiving dinner?
June 8, 2010 at 6:21 AM Report abuse
Dale6767 said...
The girl pictured is very pretty, tattoo or not. If some can't imagine being close with a person like her, then they're the one's with the problem. I personally don't care too much for large tattoos either, but try not to stereotype. It's a fad. They hype it up on TV. The young people will probably regret it later in life when the skin starts to sag, but it's their choice. Don't be so judgemental. And "atvclub", only one word comes to mind after reading your post...shallow.
June 8, 2010 at 6:22 AM Report abuse
Divinity said...
atvclub said... "two things kill my hard-on when i see a girl...FAT......and tattoos" - Which is why atvclub does grip exercises and keeps his hands clean while viewing his favorite sites online.
June 8, 2010 at 6:28 AM Report abuse
KO said...
atvclub: Britney Spears - once on Thanksgiving and twice on Christmas! My Mom & Dad would approve...
June 8, 2010 at 8:04 AM Report abuse
atvclub said...
the tattoo fad started ending in several years ago... "Newest fad in tattoos may be getting rid of them..November 29, 2003" ...http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/150465_tattoo29ww.html
June 8, 2010 at 10:52 AM Report abuse
jellybeenz said...
Humans have been decorating themselves with tattoos for over 5,000 years. What's the big deal?
June 8, 2010 at 12:25 PM Report abuse
atvclub said...
sailors hav worn bell bottoms for centuries but that did not stop the bell bottom fad from ending in the 70s
June 8, 2010 at 12:53 PM Report abuse
jellybeenz said...
"atvclub said... sailors hav worn bell bottoms for centuries but that did not stop the bell bottom fad from ending in the 70s" They're still around, but now they are referred to as "boot cut". ;-)
June 8, 2010 at 2:15 PM Report abuse
PhyllisY said...
Tattoos belong on prostitutes, sailors and cannibals. Period. If I see the slightest hint of a tattoo on interviewees at my company, they're off the list immediately.
June 8, 2010 at 2:56 PM Report abuse
Dale6767 said...
Phyllis, you sound like the kind of boss (if you really are one) nobody wants to work for anyway. More your loss than theirs I'd say. How did anyone as opinionated as you ever get into management to begin with????
June 8, 2010 at 3:12 PM Report abuse
Dale6767 said...
And I guess that means you'd discriminate against our proud naval presonnel too. Nice....
June 8, 2010 at 3:15 PM Report abuse
Dale6767 said...
Whoops, that should be "personnel". Guess I don't get the job either.
June 8, 2010 at 3:21 PM Report abuse
O_o said...
"which I really don't like; I think it's degrading." because it's true.
June 8, 2010 at 3:46 PM Report abuse
anticon said...
"seeing a woman with a sleeve tattoo is not a pretty sight"-----True only if it's a bad piece, but that applies just as much for men.
June 8, 2010 at 3:51 PM Report abuse
atvclub said...
guys hav a secret girls dont know about, guys like tattoos on girls because it makes look like easy lays & cheap to date
June 8, 2010 at 3:53 PM Report abuse
fairisfair said...
Tattoos on an attractive man or woman immediately make that person look like a cheap piece of garbage; regardless whether the tattoo is beautifully done. Why would anyone want to put toxic ink under their skin, only to have it become mottled thru the years? Bad idea, and if the person is overweight? Forget it....it's just ugly...
June 8, 2010 at 4:48 PM Report abuse
atvclub said...
fairisfair hahaaa! phyllis is right,there are less people at work with tattoos then 7 years ago when the economy was good. last hired,first fired
June 8, 2010 at 6:18 PM Report abuse
lalalalaurie said...
OMG...What small minded people!
June 8, 2010 at 6:28 PM Report abuse
atvclub said...
lalalalaurie,its actually small minded people who cannot conceptualize the cycles of time in relation to making personal decisions at the moment of time, and get a tattoo
June 8, 2010 at 7:10 PM Report abuse
Art said...
two words: tramp stamp Tattoos on a good looking gal are like buying a mansion then decorating the yard with plastic pink flamingos and those wooden bent over fat ladies!
June 9, 2010 at 9:24 AM Report abuse
Sam said...
Hiring managers have a very short time and very limited information to make a decision about whether someone would make a good employee or not. Assessing someone's judgment and maturity as inferior because they have a tattoo is an entirely legitimate piece of that decision making, especially if there are other qualified candidates without any tattoos.
June 9, 2010 at 9:50 AM Report abuse
Jeff19 said...
Phyllis, What about about grandparents? Those who served in WWII. You do realize that getting tattooed was incredibally common at that time, right? Virtually EVERY soldier who served in Europe got tattooes up and down their arms. So, you would equate vets who served our country, with prostitutes? I appreciate that, as I am a vet, who has 2 tattoes that I got while overseas. Glad to know that you think that I am the equivalent of a prostitute.
June 9, 2010 at 10:11 AM Report abuse
Jeff19 said...
I find that some of the comments here are just out of whack. You would not employ someone, because they have a tattoo? I have 2 friends who have tattooes that commemorate dead relatives. 1 of them had a brother who passed on in a woodchipper accident. She tattooed her brothers name in Chinese symbols on her lower back. PLEASE no stupid or insensitive comments about that. The maturity level of this board makes me feel the need to make that request. My other friends 3 year old daughter passed on due to cardiovascular issues that she had from birth. He tattooed his daughters name on his upper arm. You folks would not hire these folks, because they have tattooes?? Wow.
June 9, 2010 at 10:28 AM Report abuse
atvclub said...
2 brain surgeons want to operate your child, one has a tattoo the other does not. you get to chose one based only on that, which would would you chose?
June 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM Report abuse
98thret said...
Just tatoo STUPID on your forehead.
June 9, 2010 at 9:44 PM Report abuse
98thret said...
When I was paying for my daughters college she understood that a tatoo meant the end of the gravy train for her. Guess what? She's 28 and tat free. (as far as I know) A little leadership in the parenting department helps.
June 9, 2010 at 9:48 PM Report abuse
angelwings said...
You have to be kidding me.What a bunch of small minded people.You judge people because they like body art.I love tattoo,s on men and I am a women with a tramp stamp. what does being over weight have to do with having tattoo,s? I would put money on it this person who won,t hire because of tattoo,s has another side underground maybe S and M people who judge always have something to hide.
June 10, 2010 at 12:08 AM Report abuse
angelwings said...
You have to be kidding me.What a bunch of small minded people.You judge people because they like body art.I love tattoo,s on men and I am a women with a tramp stamp. what does being over weight have to do with having tattoo,s? I would put money on it this person who won,t hire because of tattoo,s has another side underground maybe S and M people who judge always have something to hide.
June 10, 2010 at 12:08 AM Report abuse
Bole said...
Who thought it would be the story of the week......all week.
June 12, 2010 at 10:24 AM Report abuse
acr said...
If you cannot hide it, you will never be taken seriously. What people think of as being so called "original" makes them look more the same. I am a woman who served 8 yrs in the military and still do not have a tattoo nor would I get one. Very low class on women if it is visible all the time. Nothing tackier than a bride with tattoos on her back.
June 12, 2010 at 10:16 PM Report abuse
goesaround said...
girls are so mean to each other... the next generation of teenage girls that are not even born yet will reject getting tattoos, symbolizing them as a sign of being 'old' as they mock females in their 30s,40s that got them
June 13, 2010 at 10:10 AM Report abuse
homesick4hom said...
I don't mind tatoos on women, as long as I don't have to look at them all the time. Yes, Yes I know it may make me sound small minded. I am a woman who has a small ink on my back. Unless I'm wearing something backless, you don't see it. I don't see how you can't hire someone whom has ink. That is discrimination in anyone's book.
June 21, 2010 at 7:47 AM Report abuse