By Corinna Wu
Watch a couple of episodes of the reality television show Miami Ink and you realize that tattooing has shed its outlaw image. People from all walks of life come into the show’s featured tattoo studio wanting to get designs etched into their skin.
Many women are taking the plunge, and tattooing has almost become a rite of passage for young people. According to a Pew Research Center survey released in January 2007, 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds and 40 percent of 26- to 40-year-olds have at least one tattoo. By contrast, only 10 percent of people age 41 to 60 do. And women are nearly even with the men: 16 percent of men and 15 percent of women report having one or more.