Tattoo report finds more women than men get inked
Women have overtaken men for the first time in the tattoo stakes with a new report finding we are fast becoming a nation that’s “inked”. Why did you get a tattoo — try our online poll.
Central Coast
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Women have overtaken men for the first time in the tattoo stakes with a new report finding we are fast becoming a nation that’s “inked”.
One-in-five or 20 per cent of the population has one or more tattoos, a record high according to a new survey by McCrindle Research.
This growth has been particularly evident among women, with 21 per cent of women having a tattoo compared with 19 per cent of men.
McCrindle Research spokeswoman Ashley Fell said culturally we did not mark or acknowledge life’s milestones, such as christenings, first pay cheques and even marriages, in the same way as previous generations.
“But there is still a yearning to mark these milestones,” she said.
Ms Fell said tattoos were a permanent way to mark these events in our lives.
She said it also coincided with the stigma around tattoos as signs of “rebellion” or anti-social behaviour giving way to tattoos now being seen as “normalised”.
She said sports stars and celebrities were a big factor in the “normalising” of tattoos, which was being fuelled by social media.
“Particularly Instagram because it’s such a visual medium,” Ms Fell said.
While 51 per cent of Australians with a tattoo got their first between the ages of 18 and 25 more than a third, or 36 per cent, got their first tattoo when they were 26 or older.
Ms Fell said the research showed Queensland had the highest rate of tattoos at 26 per cent of the population, followed by NSW and Victoria.
She said this indicated warmer climates and areas with a beach culture, “places where you can show them off”, had higher rates of tattoos than colder areas.
Women are getting their first tattoo later in life than men with 16 over the age of 36 when they first got their tattoo, compared with just nine per cent of men.
Ms Fell said a previous survey in 2016 found 51 per cent of people with ink had a picture or drawing followed by 21 per cent who had a symbol and 19 per cent who said their tattoo was a word or phrase.
Three-in-five inked Australians, or 61 per cent, have more than one tattoo, while the remaining 39 per cent have stuck with just the one — for now.
Almost a third, or 32 per cent have two to three tattoos and 14 per cent have more than six.
Women are also more likely than men to have just one tattoo at 42 per cent compared with 36 of men.
About a third of people with tattoos regret, to some extent, getting a tattoo and almost one-in-10 have started or looked into getting them removed.
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