With tattoos and piercings adorning more and more bodies, a University of Calgary student is out to discover whether negative perceptions of body art have dwindled.
"More and more people have them so they should be more accepted, but I'm finding that people are still feeling the stigma," Cayla Martin told CTV Calgary. Martin, who sports a lip ring of her own, has launched a study which examines how body art is perceived by others.
Though the graduate student's investigation will focus on women, it raises questions about whether tattoos and other art affect a person's public image. While body art sometimes conjures up negative stereotypes, the owner of a Calgary tattoo parlour said it's becoming more widely accepted.
"I tattoo anybody…It's definitely very mainstream now," said Steve Peace of Immaculate Concept Tattoo & Piercing. Approximately 15 to 20 per cent of North Americans were tattooed in 2003, according to the book Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art.
In the book, author Michael Atkinson points out that previous estimates for that number were as low as four to six per cent. Fifteen years ago, Peace's business was one of only eight tattoo parlours in Calgary. Now, he estimates there are more than 100 shops like his in the city.
"Back then, you know, they'd joke about sailors and bikers and all that kind of stuff," he said. "I tattoo more receptionists than I do bikers."Employers who look down on body art may need to become more accepting as times change, said a representative from a Calgary-based employment agency.
It's slowly becoming more mainstream," said Chris Jackson of Roneta Professional Search. "As the newer generation, the newer professionals come up, they are going to have more tattoos and piercings."
Body art has gained in popularity among Canadian youth, a 2001 Health Canada survey found. At the time of the study, 23 per cent of teens aged between 12 and 19 had a piercing and eight per cent had a tattoo.
The study found a greater number of Canadian teens desired tattoos than actually had them (21 per cent to 8 per cent). It also revealed that tattoos were more frequent among the 18 to 19 age group.
"This combination suggests that tattooing is a trend that is still growing," said a passage in the study, perhaps prophetically. Martin's research is expected to be completed next year.