The Nashville Feed

Not so long ago, tattoos enjoyed acceptance only in certain limited social circles: primarily bikers, longshoremen, and skanky strippers. At that same time, piercing was only suitable for earlobes, and even that was confined to a single gender.

But sometime in the mid 1980s, a cultural shift took place. Maybe it was Axl Rose’s well-inked arms. Maybe it was a punk scene that was just beginning to poke its head above the underground water. Maybe it was simple youthful rebellion. Whatever the reason, tattooing and piercing established strong roots in the counter-culture of the time. Throughout the 1990s, both became progressively more accepted by mainstream twenty somethings. Generation X was painted and poked more than any generation before them.

Today’s youth are taking full advantage of that groundwork laid by Generation X.
Another beneficiary is Icon Tattoo and Piercing (Myspace) in Nashville and Murfreesboro, TN.

I spent an evening at the Icon shop on Broadway in Nashville. Like most typical Friday nights at a tattoo store, it was a bit atypical.

he tattoo schedule was tight with appointments. This is evidently the case every Friday and Saturday night. In fact, Shannon Wages, a tattoo apprentice and henna artist, recommends that people avoid shops that have room for walk-ins on weekend nights. An open schedule suggests that their work is not sought after and therefore not well regarded.

In a back booth Korey LeMay straddled a chair while Tim Bobeck needled black ink into her lower back. Korey was well acquainted with the procedure. She’d already had large colorful flowers stained into her abdomen. Friday she was balancing the cheery plant life with a dark cemetery scene, complete with gargoyles and twisted trees.

Korey was so undisturbed by the whole process that she occupied herself with a billiards game on her phone without even a flinch.
Next door, Angel Price put a cartoonish ladybug and a reference to a bible verse on the foot of Laura Caudill. Angel had whipped up the design minutes earlier to match an existing ladybug on Laura’s foot.

Why ladybugs?

“I’m not sure. I really don’t know,” said Laura.

This is not the faux reality of Miami Ink where every client must audition and provide a good story behind their tattoo. Reality is much more random and impulsive.

This sort of reality can occasionally lead to regret, particularly in the arena of lifelong commitments like tattoos. Shannon, the apprentice, admits to regretting a tattoo or two. Like the other employees, Shannon has several visible tattoos. It’s impossible to guess which ones she might prefer to be without.

Icon does take some measures to reduce remorse. They do not tattoo or pierce anyone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They absolutely will not tattoo anyone younger than 18. They also do not put “jobstoppers” on people outside of the industry. Jobstoppers are tattoos on the face, head, hands, or easily visible portions of the neck. Despite gaining some mainstream acceptance, jobstoppers is still an appropriate label for such conspicuous ink.

Next to Angel’s booth 19-year old Stephanie lay face up on a table while Matt Connoly Wolf painted an image into her right hip. Her artwork was placed where it will only be seen when she is daring enough to wear a bikini or other revealing outfit.

All of the clients in the early evening were women. The obvious feminine influence on the setting continued throughout the night. More women than men came in for both tattoos and piercings. Icon’s staff is also predominantly female. Shannon believes that this creates a more hospitable atmosphere in the shop.
But it isn’t all girls. Tim Bobeck did work on the arms of two young men throughout the night. One received a simple black design on his forearm, but a 21-year old gentleman named Cobb is working on a full sleeve.
“When I came in, I just wanted one tattoo,” Cobb said.

And now?

“I come in whenever I have money,” he replied.

Tim spent a great deal of time hunched over Cobb’s right arm. Both stepped outside occasionally for a smoke break.

In the waiting room Ned, 19, and his father, Hank, not 19, researched albums of the artists’ work. They both intended to have their historical family crest put on their back shoulder during a future appointment. This would be the first tattoo for both of them. Their efforts to involve their grandfather were not successful.

Apparently the senior generation is still holding onto a negative perception of tattoos.

Icon is one of the most respected tattoo shops in Nashville, but the real action Friday night was happening in the piercing room.

Icon employs three piercers. Friday was Betty Ann’s show. Betty Ann’s last name is also elementary slang for a bodily function, so she preferred not to have it published in this article.

Betty Ann is a smoking hot recent blonde with colorful tattoos poking out of the hems of her clothing. She isn’t as pierced as one might expect, but there is a glint of jewelry in each dimpled cheek.

Piercings move much quicker than tattoos. This allows Betty Ann to work without the confines (or guarantees) of scheduled appointments. Still, throughout the night, people came to Betty Ann and asked her to poke holes in their bodies.

Icon requires that a parent or legal guardian accompany a customer under 18 seeking any piercing, even ears. And they do check ids.

Most parents are more than happy to correspond with Icon’s regulations. A dad held his daughter’s hand during a navel piercing. A woman brought in her son for an industrial (a bar that runs through two points of the upper ear rim).

A pink clad blond woman in her early twenties, possibly straight out of cheerleading camp, received a navel piercing. When she returned to the waiting area she became light headed and asked to sit down. Minutes later she was dumping a stomach full of vomit onto the floor.

The female hospitality of the place quickly kicked in. A staff member ran across the street to buy her a 7up while Betty Ann cleaned up the mess according to biohazard regulations. She later assured me that it was the first time her work had induced a vomit in four years of piercing.

Later, Frazier Dyson, a young man with tossled black hair and a crew of friends received a nose piercing. Moments afterward all color dropped from his face. After a few minutes of rest, deep breathing, and support from friends he felt well enough to stand and leave under his own power. There would be no more vomiting that night.

All other piercings went by without incident. Navel and nose bedazzling were the most common requests Friday. I saw no genital piercings; although both Shannon and Betty Ann assured me that these are quite popular, particularly in the spring.

The night’s customers were much more Generation Y than Generation X. While this evidence is far from scientific, it seems to suggest that body art is maintaining and maybe even gaining social acceptance within the culture.

It may be some time before we can expect to see bank tellers and insurance agents displaying flaming skulls on their forearms, but we may soon see them with eyebrow and tongue jewelry. And we shouldn’t be surprised if there already is a lifetime inking somewhere under that pressed business suit.

The baby boomers are beginning their transition into retirement, leaving the positions of power to Generation X. As the X’ers gain more influence on society, we can expect them to bring with them their values. One such value is that a little body modification is common enough to go overlooked.

The staff at Icon has already seen evidence that society is moving in this direction. Just two years ago, Betty Ann was occasionally uncomfortable to go to the grocery store. She often did not want to deal with the disapproving stares.

Today people seldom take notice of her as she wanders unharassed through the aisles of Kroger.
Shannon had given office work a brief attempt. She found the environment surprisingly open to her tattoos and piercings. The monotony of the mundane office world quickly drove her to suicidal thoughts, however. She quickly traded it in for the free expression and passionate atmosphere of Icon Tattoo and Piercing.

With so many people in Generations X and Y pierced and tattooed, it will potentially become the social norm. We will likely continue to lose the airwaves to corporations, the government will continue to stifle our ability to scream our disgust with it, political correctness will limit how we speak, but we will at least maintain the right to put our individual expressions on our own bodies.

Author's addendum 6/19/07: Shannon Wages, the tattoo apprentice and henna artist, has asked me to clarify a point that she had made in the original article. While she points to Icon’s full schedule as a mark of the respect that their work has garnered, she also recognizes that there are several reasons why other shops may have open slots on weekend nights. Perhaps the shop employs an artist specifically to respond to walk-ins and last minute appointments. Maybe the shop is new to a location and the word of mouth hasn’t gotten around yet. One must also recognize that any business that is based on the disposable income of its customers is going to experience slow phases as well as busy ones.

-Benn Stebleton
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