Women and Non-Binary Tattoo Artists Find a Lack of Diversity in the Field

Tattoos are one of the most popular trends among Americans, yet women and non-binary tattoo artists find a lack of diversity in the field. More than one-third of 18-29 year olds have tattoos, making them a popular form of self-expression for young adults.

More often than not, tattoo artists are cisgender white men. As of 2010, only one in six tattoo artists were women. However, in 2012, there were more tattooed women than men. Gender-diverse and minority tattoo artists can be hard to find, which at the very least, can make the tattoo industry a less welcoming place for women, queer people, and people of color.

The problems within the tattoo industry don’t end with representation issues. The culture within the industry can also be very toxic. Entering the industry as an artist has its own set of barriers, relevant to getting an apprenticeship and finding welcoming shops, which can limit diversity in the field.

It is valuable and important for the industry to be reflective of the communities it serves, especially since tattooing is rooted in self-expression. While the tattoo industry continues to be male-dominated, there is movement to change industry norms. Individual artists and popular shops have made it their mission to make space for new voices in tattooing, acting as trailblazers in changing the makeup of the field.

Gender-Diverse Shops

Jackalope Tattoo,a shop based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is made up entirely of gender-diverse artists. Shortly after they started tattooing in 2010, M was invited to join the team at Jackalope. “[The previous owner] inquired about me coming over to Jackalope. At the time, it was an all-women’s shop and I was not out as trans-non-binary,” they explain. “[The tattoo industry is] a very misogynistic type of industry and it was a lot worse even 10 years ago, so coming over seemed like a good spot for me to go.”

In 2017, after the prior owner showed interest in selling the shop, M became the owner of Jackalope. It was at this point that the shop began to shift from a women-run shop to a more gender diverse space.

“When I came out, two of my co-workers also came out shortly after and so it kind of just morphed into this other [version of the shop],” M reflects.

As Jackalope became more recognized as a gender-diverse shop, M and other artists built more of a community aligned with their mission. “Letting folks know that we were actually a marginalized gender shop and just changing that verbiage, it attracted a lot more artists that were aligned with our values and clientele,” M shares.

Today, Jackalope is a “community of 13 queer, non-binary, trans, or women-identified artists and staff.”

Jackalope is unique in that the shop focuses on diversity across many different spectrums, including race, gender, ability, and more. However, as a field that can promote toxic masculinity, there are many other tattoo shops that have dedicated themselves to encouraging more women to enter the field.

Noodle Vue is an independent tattoo artist in Minneapolis. She formerly worked at Sacred Siren, an all-women tattoo and piercing shop in Minneapolis. She explains that she saw women use more open body language and feel less self-conscious in shops where they were represented in the staff.

“In a shop where it’s all-female, [women clients] feel more safe, they feel more comfortable being heard when they walk in…[and] they don’t have to be self-conscious about guys judging them, so it helps a lot,” she voices.

On the importance of women and non-binary led spaces in tattooing, she reiterates that representation is vital for clients, in order to build better trust and relationships with their artists. “It creates a safe space for non-binary people because they’re getting tattooed by someone in their community and they feel like they can relate,” she states. “[It goes] back to feeling safe and not being judged by a person who doesn’t understand where [you’re] coming from.”

The Problem with Apprenticeships

BetsyK Evans started tattooing nearly five years ago and is currently an artist at Jackalope. Even now, she remembers the difficulties of breaking into the tattoo industry.

“You don’t get paid while you’re an apprentice and it’s a lot of time and you have to pay for all your equipment and materials,” Evans emphasizes. If you aren’t familiar with the process to become a tattoo artist, states often mandate that aspiring artists do apprenticeships with tattoo shops, to get hands-on experience and training before getting licensed themselves. However, there is no formal program to connect artists with shops. Therefore, for artists, getting an apprenticeship typically involves visiting shops with their art portfolio and hoping that the shop will take them on as an apprentice.

“I was very lucky in that I only had to go to, I think, three shops before I found an apprenticeship,” Evans reflects. However, she explains that the two other artists who were doing apprenticeships at the same shop had to go to a lot more. “One of them went to seven shops before they found one and one of them went to eleven and that’s very very normal.”

Vue also experienced barriers to getting an apprenticeship, especially considering that many shops are male-owned. “It's still a male-dominiated field so a lot of people didn’t really want to take me seriously,” she states. Because the tattoo industry lacks community and support for tattoo artists with diverse identities, it was harder for Vue to network and make connections in the field. “I feel like it was harder for me to get an apprenticeship because most…tattoo shop owners are male,” she asserts. “When I walk in, most of the time they deny me versus when a male walks in, [it's] easier for them to connect.”

In addition to how difficult it can be to secure an apprenticeship in the first place, the apprenticeship itself can also be a toxic experience.

M describes negative experiences with their apprenticeship, at a time when the tattoo industry was even less welcoming and diverse than it is now. “At the time when I started tattooing, the amount of folks that were not cisgender males, you could probably count it on both your hands,” they reflect. “It was like a hazing process. Coming in, it was really kind of scary, you kind of had to just put a shell on and keep your head down,” they explain.

For M, Jackalope was an escape from this toxic environment, which was the norm in the industry at the time. Now, as the owner of the tattoo shop themself, M is supporting and participating in the movement toward better industry practices. “The shops like that definitely exist [and] they’re not gone, but I think that people are being more vocal about how that kind of treatment and getting into the industry isn’t okay anymore.”

Toxic Masculinity in the Tattoo Industry

Jessica Elliott, known as Yolk in the tattoo world, also had obstacles to breaking into the tattoo industry. However, having grown up in a family of tattoo artists, her challenges differed from the other artists’ experiences. They are currently a tattoo artist at Jackalope.

“My brother and dad really wanted me to be almost perfect, they didn’t want me to mess up. They’re very traditional [and] very old school,” she shares. “I’ve had a lot of personal mental health issues and in tattooing, you can’t cry. [It’s very] leave your feelings at the door.”

They add that because of these norms in the industry that their family perpetuated, it was difficult to find their voice as an artist, being around a traditional tattoo environment and not being able to separate her personal and family life from work. “[It’s] kind of a hard spot to be in when you’re around your family and [not knowing] how to separate the two,” she asserts.

Along with gender diversity, shops like Jackalope are working to be more accessible for neurodivergent people. As someone who lives with bipolar disorder, autism, and ADHD, Elliott feels a sense of community at Jackalope. “It’s great to be at Jackalope because there’s a lot of other folk there who are just as neurodivergent…it’s a very supportive environment in that way,” she expresses.

Even after breaking into the industry, women and non-binary artists often continue to face challenges, especially in spaces that continue to be less diverse. “I definitely have experienced sexism in the workplace, especially from male artists I was working with or shop owners,” Evans states. “[Other artists] would make comments to me or to other female artists about [how] the only reason we were so successful is because we were girls and everybody just wants to be tattooed by a pretty girl.”

Ironically, women don’t tend to be the ones getting special treatment in the workplace. As Evans explains, it can be infuriating to feel like your experiences with gender bias are not being seen. “I think women in essentially any field can say that if you’re told that the only reason you’re successful is because you’re a woman, it can get pretty frustrating because there are definitely a lot of things that you deal with as a woman in any workplace that…not [everyone] has to deal with,” she emphasizes.

Being a Woman or Non-Binary Artist in the Workplace

It’s no secret that women and non-binary people face obstacles in the workplace, which is not exclusive to the tattoo industry. However, in a male-dominated field with a history of misogyny, gender minorities in the field often experience being singled out.

Elliott explains her experiences at a previous job, where they had witnessed a fellow non-binary artist being harassed. After that artist left the shop, the microaggressions and harassment started being targeted at her. “All the little things that I was doing [were] wrong, I could see somebody rolling their eyes across the room…[another artist would be] picking on me in front of my clients [and] making it uncomfortable for me, or picking on my client,” they reflect.

Along with blatant harassment like Elliott describes, there are also inequities in the industry for gender minorities, one of which is relevant to parenthood.

Being a female tattoo artist, Evans recalls experiencing gender discrimination surrounding pregnancy at a shop she was previously employed at. “I do remember very specifically being told that if [becoming a mother] was something we were looking to do, [the owner] didn’t know what we were planning on…and it was always implied that by choosing that, you were probably going to be giving up your space in that shop,” Evans shares.

As a mom of twins now, Evans emphasizes the value of having a supportive workplace, both during pregnancy and postpartum. “I was able to take that time off and know I was going to come back to a job. Not only that, but I have a place that is not in front of everybody where I can sit and pump at work and that is not something that I take for granted in this industry,” she describes. “I don’t know if I would have been ready to have kids if I hadn’t moved shops.”

Change is Coming

There is still a long way to go to make the tattoo industry a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone. But with shops like Jackalope and an increasing number of gender diverse artists entering the field, the industry is headed in the right direction.

“As a shop community, we are trying to really take a different perspective on the way that we’re doing things,” M states. “We try to keep bright colors and lighter music and…[try] to encourage folks to not have to feel like they’re intimidated by walking in our door.”

It’s important to note that gender is not the only diversity that the tattoo field lacks. Black and Brown artists are also underrepresented in the industry. Additionally, there are misconceptions among artists that melanated skin can’t be tattooed in certain ways, which has caused further exclusion from the tattoo community.

“For the longest time, I was the only person of color and I’m mixed, so really, we are a very visibly white shop and that’s something we’re working really hard on,” M explains. “We’re trying to use the opportunity to grow and diversify our staff so that when our clientele is looking to come work with us, that they’re also seeing themselves represented in the artists, in both gender and race.”

Along with making efforts to bring on Black and Brown apprentices, Jackalope is making sure that their team is as educated and inclusive as possible. “We’re all working together to further educate ourselves. I’ve been putting artists through [anti-racism] training, and also working on trauma informed tattooing and pushing my artists to all have varying skin tones in their portfolios,” M explains.

Evans adds that it’s powerful to be a part of a movement towards change. “We’re trying to do more with our community and we’re also trying to improve ourselves,” she says. “[We’re] working to create something, to make an impact to change what the industry looks like and how it impacts people who want to participate in it.”

Building Community in a Male-Dominated Field

In entering and diversifying any male-dominated field, a major barrier is the lack of community. This is why even when identities are underrepresented in a field, it’s important to connect with colleagues you identify with, in order to build a system of support for yourself and encourage new voices to enter the industry.

Make Connections

“If you don’t feel like you fit in with the community you are working with…try to reach out to others who might come from your type of community, even if they’re far away, and just see if you can start a dialogue,” Evans recommends. Making connections is a great way to start building a support system to lean on. Especially in an industry where you are underrepresented, having people who understand your identity and experiences can be very helpful and reassuring.

Avoid Negative Energy

“Try not to be so focused on all the outside noise because it can be very very loud,” Elliott emphasizes. It can be hard to be one of the only people in the room and even more difficult to stand up against inequities. However, remember that your voice is important and not everyone will support change, even when it's for the good of your workplace or industry.

Don’t let negativity get you down and remember that you come first. As Elliott states, “I can’t help anybody if I’m not taking care of myself.”

Keep Working

At the end of the day, perseverance and determination will be a key part of your career, no matter what industry you’re in. “Just keep trying [and] get better at your craft, just to prove to yourself that you’re worth it and you can make it,” Vue voices.

“It takes a community of folks to be able to make those changes,” M reminds. “The more people that are trying to push for these changes, [the industry has] no choice eventually, but to change and to listen.”

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Hailey Dickinson (she/her) is a creator passionate about using writing and digital platforms to build community, make connections, and ignite positive social change. She is a Communications Major with a social media emphasis at the University of Minnesota and will graduate in December 2023.