2008 Woodie Awards
Tattoos and piercings: branding for the young (and young at heart)
Katie Rath
Issue date: 3/27/07 Section: Features
One commonality that strongly characterizes our generation is body modification by way of tattoos and skin piercing. Since I am fully fascinated with the concept that every other twenty-something-year-old has changed their body with ink or metal, I further investigated.
After calling the three main tattoo parlors in Sylva, I finally reached the owner of No Regret parlor. He agreed to sit down and let me pick his brain for a while. When I pulled into the parking lot, another car pulled in beside me. Out stepped two women- one I figured to be in high school, and I guessed the other was her mother. They reached the door ahead of me. I quickly learned from the young woman that she was going to get her navel pieced that evening.
As we sat down on the couches, I ventured to ask her a few questions about her decision to get a belly button ring. Her name is Ciara Byars, and she is a 17-year-old senior at Smoky Mountain High School. I quickly learned that she is no stranger to tattoos and piercings; she first got her nose pierced at age 15, and then a butterfly tattoo and a tongue piercing followed.
North Carolina state law explains minors can get piercings with parental consent before the age of 18, but no person can tattoo a minor, regardless of parental consent. Because Ciara had a tattoo at the age of 17, I knew she didn't get the ink in NC. The other woman, Teresa Byars, who was indeed her mother, told me she was fine with her daughter getting these things done. She added that as long as her daughter was tasteful about any tattoos and piercings, it ultimately didn't matter to her.
When I learned of Ciara's age, I was further intrigued at the desire young people have to get tattoos and piercings. Soon after she went back to the room, Dave Hammett, the owner of No Regret, walked in. Visibly having tattoos, piercings and gauged ears, I had no idea what kind of opinion he would give me about the industry in which he was involved.
Hammett has been tattooing for over seven years, but he expressed how much the tattooing business has picked up in the past two or three years. To defend this point, he offered two reasons. The first was the idea that tattooing is becoming more acceptable in today's society. He told me that he does work on just as many older men and women as he does younger students, a statistic he didn't expect when he decided to open his shop near WCU in January 2006.
After calling the three main tattoo parlors in Sylva, I finally reached the owner of No Regret parlor. He agreed to sit down and let me pick his brain for a while. When I pulled into the parking lot, another car pulled in beside me. Out stepped two women- one I figured to be in high school, and I guessed the other was her mother. They reached the door ahead of me. I quickly learned from the young woman that she was going to get her navel pieced that evening.
As we sat down on the couches, I ventured to ask her a few questions about her decision to get a belly button ring. Her name is Ciara Byars, and she is a 17-year-old senior at Smoky Mountain High School. I quickly learned that she is no stranger to tattoos and piercings; she first got her nose pierced at age 15, and then a butterfly tattoo and a tongue piercing followed.
North Carolina state law explains minors can get piercings with parental consent before the age of 18, but no person can tattoo a minor, regardless of parental consent. Because Ciara had a tattoo at the age of 17, I knew she didn't get the ink in NC. The other woman, Teresa Byars, who was indeed her mother, told me she was fine with her daughter getting these things done. She added that as long as her daughter was tasteful about any tattoos and piercings, it ultimately didn't matter to her.
When I learned of Ciara's age, I was further intrigued at the desire young people have to get tattoos and piercings. Soon after she went back to the room, Dave Hammett, the owner of No Regret, walked in. Visibly having tattoos, piercings and gauged ears, I had no idea what kind of opinion he would give me about the industry in which he was involved.
Hammett has been tattooing for over seven years, but he expressed how much the tattooing business has picked up in the past two or three years. To defend this point, he offered two reasons. The first was the idea that tattooing is becoming more acceptable in today's society. He told me that he does work on just as many older men and women as he does younger students, a statistic he didn't expect when he decided to open his shop near WCU in January 2006.
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