“I feel like getting tattoos is a way to express yourself. I feel like your body’s a canvas and you can put whatever you want on it,” Ankeny High School senior Tristan Brotherton said.

Today, tattoos are becoming increasingly normalized with each generation, and Gen Z is no exception.

The art of tattooing has been around for thousands of years. The first examples ever found have been dated all the way back to ancient Egypt, where two mummies were discovered with tattoos somewhere from 3400-3000 BCE.

This same practice continued to pop up among other cultures around the world, ranging from Ancient Greeks, Polynesian Sailors, and even to Tahitian Islanders, where the word “Tatua” was developed, which meant to hit or strike. In ancient times, tattoos were utilized for many purposes, including symbolism for faith, status, protection from spirits, body decoration, belonging, and more.

Throughout history, the practice of tattooing has become more popularized, and in 1846, the first tattoo parlor in America was opened in New York City by Martin Hilderbrant, who was the first ever professional tattooer in the United States. Now, the practice has become far more normalized, and according to studies done by the Pew Research Center, almost a third of adult Americans have tattoos. At Ankeny High School, this demographic is already showing.

Tristan Brotherton always knew he wanted one, but it wasn’t until he found a sentimental reason that he decided to actually commit to it.

“I’d been thinking about getting one ever since I was 13,” Brotherton said. “I never really get to see my dad because he’s out of town for work for months at a time, so I thought it would be really nice to get a tattoo with him.”

Brotherton got the tattoo to signify his love and connection to his father, even if life didn’t always make it easy for them to build their relationship.

“So I got a tree, and on one side it’s got leaves and on the other side there’s no leaves, and birds are flying off. I got this tree because my dad has always been hunting this same plot of land since he was a kid all the way out in Keokuk, Iowa. There’s this tree that he says he’s always been drawn to and loved, and ever since I was a kid I can remember going there with him,” Brotherton said. “Since me and my dad don’t really connect that much but he does so much for me, I thought it would kinda be a sentimental way to show him that I love him and show him I’m always thinking about him, even though I kinda suck at showing that.”

Similar to Brotherton, AHS senior Sammy Bryan also has emotional familial links to her first piece of ink.

“The tattoo I got is for one of my younger sisters, and she has apraxia, and so I got the symbol for apraxia. I got it matching with my mom. I was thinking about what I wanted, and I was like, something for my sister would be cool, and so I was talking to my mom and dad about what would be a good tattoo to get. They had suggested a star for apraxia for my sister. But I was like, that’s too simple guys, and so we decided on getting the actual person with stars,” Bryan said.

Bryan also told us about the tattoo she plans to get in the future, with sentimental ties to her time here at AHS.

“I also want to get a Wizard of Oz tattoo, and I want to get that one because Wizard of Oz was my first musical. Doing Wizard of Oz is what really established my love for theater and is what made it become so important in my life,” Bryan said. “It also reminds me of Ms. B, and she’s had such a huge impact on my life.”

Mollie Blahunka is a language arts teacher at AHS and also acts as head of the drama department, leading and directing a majority of the school’s plays and musicals, many of which Sammy has taken part in.

“I feel like having it is not only just a symbol of theater and Ms. B, but also of my dedication and love for both of them,” Bryan said. “Tattoos represent what’s important to you… which makes you who you are.”

While many agree with Bryan in the fact that tattoos represent something meaningful, people get all types of tattoos for a variety of reasons. Pink Elephant tattoo artist, Kaylee DeMers, has tattooed hundreds across her 10+ years of experience and is familiar with this fact.

“Now that tattooing has been around for so long, there’s different generations of tattoos. So my parents’ era did the tribal tattoos and the tramp stamps with the lower back tattoos that were popular. Even to this day you get some people in that age group that come in, and they’re like, ‘Hey, I kind of want something like this, like a nautical star,’ something that was just popular back then,” said DeMers. “But then there’s a couple more generations or so below them because it’s all trends. You can kind of tell how old somebody is based on which tattoos they have.”

Across DeMers’ years of tattooing, she’s seen her fair share of goofy tattoos and has grown accustomed to helping customers decide exactly what they want to get, and where they want to get it.

“Some people just get, you know, like kind of dumb tattoos, but for other people they really really have to mean something,” DeMers said. “Some people don’t care at all what they tattoo. I’ve had one person ask me for a Confederate flag, and I convinced him to do an American flag instead, gosh.”

Now more than ever, younger people are getting tattoos, and DeMers sees a lot of first-time tattooers who require slightly more guidance and education in their decisions.

“I think that there’s a lot of people that haven’t done their research. And I have a lot of people that will come in and they’ll be like, I want to get my first tattoo and I want it right on my neck, or I want it on the bottom of my foot. As the artist, it’s your responsibility to be like, ‘Hey, this is how it’s gonna heal, or these are things that you know I should warn you about,’” said Demers. “I never tell anybody no, I’m never gonna tell anybody they can’t have what they want tattooed. I just tell them if it’s gonna be something crazy, like, on their throat or something, I’d be like, ‘Hey maybe think about your jobs in the future. Like, is that going to be okay if you’re trying to be a lawyer?’”

DeMers communicates with her clients so well because she is truly passionate about her art and seeks to give customers the best experience and product she can. DeMers’ dedication has taught her much about the process, even down to the smallest details and strategies to most effectively perform her services.

“It’s graphic design for the most part. You’ve got to make sure that you know the skin and how it heals. Not everybody’s skin is the same either. People have really tough skin where I feel like I’m just like, going and going, and then I wipe it away and there’s barely a scratch, and other people have really bad, delicate skin,” DeMers said.

Despite having to adapt to different skin types and having to deal with silly tattoos, over her years of experience, she’s still maintained her love for tattooing.

“I always knew I wanted to tattoo, not tattoo, but I always knew I wanted to do art,” DeMers said. “I actually got into it in kind of a weird way. I was going to school in Iowa City, and I was actually at the studio arts building, and I responded to a flyer for somebody who was like, ‘Hey, looking for an apprentice.’ Either way, you kinda get with somebody who’s been tattooing for a long time that’s able to teach you, and then they take you under their wing.”

Another large reason DeMers has stuck with her career is the opportunities that tattoos and the art of tattooing have brought to her and even her family’s lives. DeMers’ profession has allowed her to meet thousands of different people and explore the importance of tattoos.

“You talk to all walks of life. You get doctors, military, lower class too, but I mean everybody gets tattoos these days,” DeMers said. “What’s funny is my husband also used to tattoo with me, but he talks about how he used to get tattoos because people wouldn’t talk to him. Now that he’s got tattoos, people feel more comfortable talking to him and, like asking him about himself, and he’s like, ‘Oh, times have really changed. We’re not scary tattoo people anymore.’”

Society’s changing views on tattooing is something that DeMers has experienced during her time tattooing. Nowadays, the practice is not only more widely accepted but also more developed and advertised for all age groups and all types of people.

“More and more people are getting them, and you see them more and more obviously in the media. You see really bad ones too, like Ariana Grande’s hand tattoos. But if people make good, educated decisions, I think it’s a good thing,” DeMers said.

Over thousands of years, amidst an evolving world and culture, some things remain the same. The art of tattooing is something that will always be important and will always mean something. Whether you’re getting a Scooby-Doo tattoo on your ankle or your spouse’s name on your neck, if it makes you happy and you don’t mind yourself (and others) seeing it every day, go get it.

Tattoos allow us to display symbols and representations of what shapes us into the people we become. Many people are concerned when they go in about the permanence of tattoos, but the permanence is what shows the importance of the symbol. It is a physical representation of how the people who get tattoos carry those things with them every day of their lives. Tattooing is a form of graphic design, and the way it allows people to display representations of themselves on the outside should be respected as the sentimental and culturally significant art it is.

“I don’t think that every tattoo has to necessarily have insane sentimental value around it. As long as you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters,” Brotherton said. “It’s about what it means to the individual, not everybody else.”

This story was originally published on The Talon on March 10, 2025.