Soccer Moms with Tattoos

It was quite a sight – dozens of girls the oldest being maybe 16, the youngest 6 – all lined up chatting, laughing, anxiously awaiting their turn – to get a tattoo. 

Now, granted, it was a theme park and the tattoos were not permanent.   But the reason this image stuck with me was because of a conversation I’d had the day before with an online retailer at the Shop.org conference.   We were discussing soccer mom stereotypes and she threw out a figure of the number of “soccer moms” who have tattoos.   The figure was large enough to truly astound me.

So I did some research. In a recent Harris Poll –

• 36% of 25-29 year olds have a tattoo
• 28% of 30-39 year olds have a tattoo
• The numbers are equally split between men and women

By my calculations, that means there are an awful lot of ‘soccer moms’ out there with tattoos. 

Here’s another interesting figure from the survey – 34% of tattooed adults feel sexier than before getting their tattoos.

Here’s one soccer mom’s story about how she changed her mind from finding tattoos offensive, to getting one herself, and how it affected her life.

I am probably the person that anyone would least suspect of having a tattoo: I am a very conventional soccer mom, 31, conservative in outlook and work at a bank. Up until a year ago, I was one of those people who looked down on people with tattoos. I considered tattoos as ugly, vulgar and in very bad taste; and the people who had them as unintelligent, coarse and unrefined. But that all changed last year when my husband and our two children went on vacation to Fort Lauderdale. 

Nowadays, not a day goes by without my taking a few minutes several times a day to look at my beautiful tattoo in the mirror. I love it and so does my husband. In fact he finds it such a turn on that our sex life has improved dramatically. He says it is exciting to know that his conventional, traditional wife has this wild side to her. As it is, the tattoo is discreetly placed so that only I and my husband get to enjoy it.( Although I have shown it to a few close friends, who were at first stunned but afterwards quite liked it - in fact my closest friend liked it so much that she went and got one done herself).

Now I'm not pushing tattoos here - don't have one myself and don't want one.  But....

Here’s the discussion I had with the online retailer – why don’t you see images on websites where the models have a tattoo?   I looked at all sorts of websites:

• a lot of swimwear sites since the more skin you see, the more likely to actually see the tattoo. 
• I went to surf shop sites and other sites popular with the 35 and under crowd
• I could only find one image (male or female) where the model had a tattoo.

The only image where I found tattoos – Harley Davidson.   But even there, it was only on one page talking about their riders.

Ok – in the case of Harley Davidson – it’s almost expected you’ll see people with tattoos.  But with the prevalence of tattoos – and if you found your audience was especially fond of tattoos and found them to be "hip" – why not include models and images on your website showing a woman with a tattoo – even just a subtle one.     For those wanting to “brand” their sites – this might go a long way towards saying “hey – we get that you like tattoos so we’re going to reflect that back to you by featuring at least one model who has a tattoo.”

My question to you is

• Would you be offended if you saw a website where a female model has a tattoo? 
• If you like tattoos, would it make you feel more of a brand affinity with that company to see a female model with a tattoo? 
• Or is the whole tattoo subject so polarizing it’s not worth taking the chance of turning people off by showing anyone with a tattoo?

Your thoughts?

Comments

[Mizuz Inkaholik]

I really liked reading this. What a great job you have done. If you get the time I would love it if you took a look at my modeling website..mizuzinkaholik.com see my view on beauty with art... Afterwards shoot me an e-mail we can discuss it.... =)
Keep up the great work...
p.s. I'm a model with over 85 hrs of ink, this amount of coverage is not for everyone. :-)
~Mizuz Inkaholik

[loves the sun]

I am an artist, a mother of 2 and I have 3 tattoos (I feel like I am at an AA meeting). I love my tattoos and I want more. I do not hide them. I feel it is a personal choice and with that said I feel that advertisers do not need to use models or women with tattoos to show that they accept it. It would distract the consumer from the product (unless the product was tattoo ink or something of that nature). My 2 cents.

[Geoff Digan]

I was on holiday with my six year old daughter and she asked me about tattoos. Normally in the past the only women you ever saw with tattoos were junkies or prostitutes. Now it has become a fashion and the norm.
People follow fashion.
I told my daughter that tattoos were the first sign of stupidity.
She replied " And two tattoos is the second sign of stupidity, right Dad?"Beautiful.

[Mizuz Inkaholik]

I would argue with you on the stupidity part since I have a college education and a business that my husband and I run... But, who am I to debate with someone as closed minded as that?! haha Too bad really, one day your daughter may have many tattoos and you may have to open your mind a little to see her creativity and intelligence.., Good Luck to you sir! :-)

[Brenda]

Bravo, Mizuz. Although I share your sentiments completely, I'm still saddened by the self-righteous attitude Geoff is directly teaching his daughter. Geoff, it says much less about tattoos than about your unwillingness to engage your daughter on issues of personal expression that require real thought. hard discussion, and a complete stock of evidence for your reasoning. Parenting is harder than that.

Excellent questions posed originally. Those are what led me here. I think models are intended to be somewhat generic depictions of people. Every tattoo sets one apart. Tattoos would reveal a part of the person's individuality not necessarily desireable for the product, unless you're a company which pays famous people to endorse you in their skin. I would exclude products targeted at those inked. It seems to me those of us with tattoos would recognize the above, though, of course, each person is inked for his or her own reasons.

[Soccer Moms]

I can't believe I ran into this when doing research about soccer moms...
Well, what I can say I found is that women with tatoos tend to give an aura of being more outgoing and fun.
That might explain why most of them of them on my website have tatoos...

[rockchickny]

The statistics are growing and more people in young adulthood are getting tattoos now more than ever. You don't see models with tattoos because there's this things called photoshop and airbrushing in the 21st century ;)
-----
www.mymomstattoo.com

[Dennis Wakeley]

It's crazy how popular tattoos are now a days... pretty cool actually :D

[Kim Marcellino]

I would LOVE to see more models flashing tattoos!
The esthetic is beautiful and tattoed women come from EVERY walk of life.
It would help break the stereotypes about tattooed women to see us represented in the mainstream.

[herefast123]

http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/gateway/m505.htm gateway m505 battery,

[herefast123]

http://www.batteryfast.com/ibm/02k7055-battery.php Laptop Battery 02K6928 02K7055 for IBM Thinkpad R32 R40 laptop battery,
http://www.batteryfast.com/mitac/8050-battery.php Battery For Packard Bell EasyNote BP-8050(P) 40006487 laptop battery,
http://www.batteryfast.com/mitac/8060-battery.php Mitac MiNote 8060 Li-Ion Replacement Battery laptop battery,

[JGK]

To all who see tattoo's as vulgar, open up your close minded glob of a brain. Tat's have been around for thousands of years, GET OVER IT! It's art, a way to show your personality, it's called self expression!

I am a model and YES the reason you don't see us with tat's is because we have to cover it up with THICK makeup for photos and then they photoshop it out.

We aren't selling the tat we are selling the product, as someone above wrote.

[keyhole-mouse]

In reply to Geoff Digan- I got a tattoo when I was 18 of a symbol expressing strength of will. I have since gone on to do PhD in moral philosophy at a very prestigious university. My thesis revolves around the role of strength of will in discharging obligations. The important point is, I had no idea at 18 that strength of will would come to interest me so much- I just thought it was a cool tattoo. I now believe that I was expressing a part of my individuality that subconsciously concerned me very much, and even that getting the tattoo helped my begin to express my intuitions about morality. I see my teenage act in following fashion as being unwittingly intelligent.

[Amy]

People like Geoff make me wonder how someone can be so closed minded. I hope your daughter learns to think for herself and not let her ignorant father brain wash her. Anyways, I graduated from a university with a 3.9 GPA, work for a very large corporation, have a lovely husband, and plan to own my own business one day. I guess I'm "stupid" though, because I am the proud owner of beautiful sleeve tattoos.

[Frank Mitchell]

How much do you think Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is worth? Over a hundred million pounds? Now, if someone were to paint an indelible moustache on Mona Lisa, how much would she be worth then? I wouldn't give five dollars for her! And the same goes for any beautiful woman with flawless skin: If she gets a tattoo she's got herself a blemish. She'll have turned herself into just another wall or billboard, which is where paintings belong!

[krystal]

oh man some peoples opinions are out there!!!! i think tattoos are awesome and sexy but so is an unmarked body. i do think it would be cool if there were inked up models displayed, theyre a minority. maybe some day eh?

[Tattoo Websites]

Awesome post. We have some soccer moms on staff with some pretty sweet tattoos.

I'm posting a link to this on the new tattoo social networking website http://www.tattooson.com .

[Frank Mitchell]

A woman can look like a million dollars. Then give her a 200 dollar tattoo and she’ll look like 200 dollars. That’s why many people think tattooed women look cheap.

[K.]

hahahah i find all of this hilarious. How can so many people comment about tattoos when they don't even understand the history or the scene. I have two full sleeves, a bachelors in computer science, working on my masters, employeed at a very large company, a mother of two amazing children. So am i what you consider cheap and dumb??

[Frank Mitchell]

K, until fairly recently, only bikers, military men and cheap hookers had tattoos in our society. Mainline citizens started getting them as a sign of rebellion and because they wanted to be thought of as “different” to everyone else. So people getting tattoos have to be prepared to be talked about. That’s what you really want, isn’t it? So you have to take the rough with the smooth.

[Holly Buchanan]

K and Frank,

I'm not ominopent and can't see into people's heads as to why the get tattoos.

What I can tell you, from my own interviews with women with tattoos, is that the reasons for getting a tattoo seem to vary.

Many of the women I talked to said they did it because the tattoo represented something to them - it was personal, and in some cases, private. they put the tattoo where almost no one but themselves would see it.

I'm sure others do it to be rebellious, some may want to be thought of as different.

Our society certainly has some strong judgements about tattoos.

But I've found every person seems to have their own individual reason.

thanks for the great discussion!

[generic viagra]

Are women still Soccer Moms?
Is this still a fashionable term or is there a more up-to-date one we should be using?

[A.]

Wow you weren't kidding you were very narrow minded. That's sad.

[Cool Tattoo Designs]

6 years old and wanting a tattoo? Even a temporary one is just a bit too scary.

Great blog by the way

[Frank Mitchell]

A tattooed woman has turned herself into an “art object”, but I prefer women who look like women to women who look like objects.