This post was written by Ellis Fraser ‘26, Special Collections & University Archives Student Worker
Changing Campus Tattoo Culture
Around campus, in 2026, visible tattoos are becoming more common. Pew Research Center estimated in a 2023 survey that 41% of adults under 30 have at least one tattoo, and 24% of undergraduate degree holders have at least one tattoo. In 1997, Kelly Garrett wrote for The Bullet that the prevalence of visible tattoos across the Mary Washington Campus was already increasing. She interviewed students around campus about their perspectives on tattoos: whether they’d get one themselves and how they feel about their peers’ tattoos.
The Bullet student magazine and Static radio zine
In 1992, Mary Washington Student Jay Jay Dockeray drove with a friend to Woodford, VA in a 1964 VW van to get their first tattoos. The Bullet article, “Tattoos Not Just for Bikers and Lunatics Anymore,” documents stereotypes and assumptions about tattoos on the part of students, and how Dockeray’s experience of getting their own tattoo challenged their preconceptions.
Also in 1992, the UMW student radio designed their magazine Static around countercultural signifiers from the punk, grunge and metal scenes. Their style pulls from more signifiers than tattoos, depicting piercings, mohawks, transgressive gore and sexual themes in the comics, marking an expansion within campus culture of personal choices regarding appearance, social categories, and media consumption.
Dockeray’s documentation of their tattoo adventure juxtaposed the the artist’s professional approach and Board of Health license with his involvement in the biker scene. This article depicts emerging changes, not only in acceptance of counterculture into the mainstream, but a professionalization of the practice of tattooing. Tattoo licensing might have surprised a reader unfamiliar with the growing, but still obscure, culture of tattoos beyond obscure and niche scenes. Dockeray remarked on the contrast between the biker vibes of the studio and artist with professionalism. The artist states that he was only licensed to legally practice tattooing within the previous two years, a choice prompted by growing awareness of blood-borne illness in the wake of the AIDS crisis. The article features four student tattoos, with the names of the tattooed students made public. While the names are made public, at least two of the tattoos shown are small enough to hide in public.
Stigma and Change
Neither Static, nor Dockeray in The Bullet fully escape a stigma that surrounded tattoos. The fact that the title of The Bullet article makes an effort to dispel associations with “lunatics” is a sign of this stigma. Despite the rest of the title, there is still a clear connection between the author’s experience of the tattoo world with biker culture. The shop where they are tattooed is owned by a biker; the author and their friend pass by bikes and gear on their way into the house where the studio is located.
In Static, there are two student-drawn illustrations that feature tattoos in the October 1992 edition. Both illustrations are of counterculture girls with tattoos on their upper arms. The first illustration is of a Skinhead girl with a bandaid on one arm and a tattoo on the other kicking the frontman of the band Unrest in the rear. The second illustrated cartoon titled “This Week on Beverly Hills 90210” depicts a member of “the wrong crowd” wearing a pentagram shirt, holding a cigarette, and sporting tattoos on her upper arm. Despite the student radio zine’s utilization of punk, grunge and metal aesthetics for their illustrations, these are the only two depictions of tattoos in any of the magazines editions.
Finding photos and student names associated with tattoos in the Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) is very difficult until the 1990s, when alternative styles, music and body modification became more popular, challenging the stigma. My own tattoos are rarely a conversation starter around campus, and I can’t think of a class where I’ve been the only student with visible tattoos. Although the 90s marked a shift in writing about tattoos and the visibility of tattoos on campus, tattoo culture certainly existed on campus before that decade. Tattooed students might have been veterans who got tattoos during service, folks in alternative music scenes, bikers, and those memorializing loved ones. These students with tattoos were likely the examples of tattoo culture present on campus that unfortunately have not been documented. Maybe stigma or a lack of audience intrigue to encourage publication in the student newspaper caused these stories and photos to be lost. Digital access to the 1992 and 1996 The Bullet issues and the student radio magazines preserve an era of campus life intrigued but still shocked by representations and real tattoos. Maybe, there are photos hiding in the pages of student scrapbooks and other memorabilia and ephemera.
If you need some tattoo inspiration, check out SCUA’s open house on October 30th in Simpson 217 from 1:30pm to 4pm for bookish and library tattoos idea. High resolution scans can be made for your tattoo artist or check out our collection of temporary tattoos during the event.
Bibliography
- Dockeray, Jay Jay. “Tattoos Not Just for Bikers and Lunatics Anymore.” Bullet v. 66: no. 6, 1992-10-20. umw.access.preservica.com
- Garrett, Kelly. “Needles and Pain: Are Tattoos Worth It?” The Bullet. 03 April 1997. “Last Week on 90210.” Static. 1992. umw.access.preservica.com
- Schaeffer, Katherine; Dinesh, Shradha. “32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one.” Pew Research Center, 15 August 2023. Pew Research Center
