By Kimberley McLeod

WASHINGTON – Rachel Sullivan* walks into the bumblebee yellow cubicle and almost instinctively removes her shirt. She has done this before. Eight times before. She reveals a stomach fully adorned with a dragon slinking across her slightly defined abs, purple flowers and a ying yang ball.
The petite 41-year-old single mother of two lies down in her sports bra for the final touches, the length of her body taking up the majority of the crammed tattoo workstation. Her straight blonde hair is tucked neatly under a blue baseball cap; her arms are folded behind her head.

"I think there's a stereotype that goes along with folks that are tattooed or body pierced, and I don't necessarily fit that stereotype," says Sullivan as the soft hum of the needle begins.
The Baltimore resident is a healthcare professional at a Catholic hospital, where women are prohibited from wearing open-toed shoes and are required to wear stockings. Sullivan is an example of the changing face (arm, chest and in this case, stomach) of individuals who choose to get inked. According to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of people ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of 26- to 40-year-olds have at least one tattoo. Many of these now include professionals and parents—average people who don't necessarily have a criminal record, ride a motorcycle or fit any other assumption traditionally associated with tattoos.

Sullivan, who is also a tribal belly dancer, was conscious of her stretch marks from pregnancy. She chose to have the tattoo on her stomach to confront this insecurity. "The tattoo adds to the overall costume and adds to the dancing as well. You can see the movements better because of the art," she pauses as the needle traces and retraces the scales and petals on her ribs. "It's a bit sensitive there," she says with a tight smile and gritted teeth. "I like that this is my secret."

After much searching, Sullivan selected Eric Doyle of Jinx Proof Tattoos in Washington, D.C. because his artwork appealed to her the most. The two communicated via email for several months. Sullivan sent photographs of her stomach and descriptions of the key elements she wanted him to capture in the customized piece. He emailed her various drafts and revisions, tailoring them to meet her needs.
Doyle finds that his older clients, like Sullivan, tend to put more thought into their tattoos and be more mentally and financially prepared.

Jinx notes on its website that a tattoo the size of the palm of your hand can cost between $150 and $250, depending on the amount of detail and also the area of the body. Doyle is a walking canvas and has full tattoo sleeves on both arms and tattoos across his throat and the back of his hands.  He admits that he made poor decisions about tattoos in his twenties and is having two lightened—a service that Jinx provides for customers experiencing buyer's remorse, like Geet Chawla, a Georgetown University exchange student from King's College London.

In 2005, the American Society of Dermatological Surgery reported that of all the people they treat with laser and light therapy, only six percent are getting a tattoo removed. Laser removal can range from $150 - $500 per sitting (the number and cost of sittings depends on the size and color of the ink). Chawla has three tattoos and is planning on getting all three of them removed when she returns home in the summer. None of them are highly visible. The 20-year-old War Studies and Philosophy major got her name in Punjabi on her lower back, an Egyptian eye between her shoulder blades, and her ex fiancé's name in Punjabi on her pelvic bone.
"I want a fresh start because I had a really bad experience with him [her ex fiancé]. All of them were done while I was with him," says Chawla. Her judgment was impaired on two occasions—once by what she says was "infatuation" and later by the influence of alcohol.

Although she wants to become an independent writer, Chawla is mindful of where she will get future tattoos. "If I have to work for a corporation, I just think it's going to hinder my chances if tattoos are on display." She adds, however, that piercings and tattoos are irrelevant and say nothing about a person's qualifications. "It's like saying you need to have brown hair to work here. If you're going to get something that's going to be on your body for the rest of your life, you want to be able to have full reign over where it's going to go."
Doyle is not so sympathetic. "There's a certain sort of conduct even in the most relaxed workplace. I wouldn't think you'd walk around in your underwear and fart," he says. "People get so touchy when it comes to their appearance, like it's some kind of right to look a certain way no matter what. I just don't buy it. "
Neither does Mike Schaub, Executive Director of the Career Education Center at Georgetown University.   He tells students to observe the employees' style of dress and personal articles in offices or cubicles when applying for a job. "During a job interview, the candidate is interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing the candidate," says Schaub.

Some employers are becoming less stringent to attract a younger pool of applicants. Others, however, are tossing out general policies and getting very specific about what is acceptable. While tattoos are examples of employee self-expression, they typically are not considered as forms of religious or racial expression and, as a result, are not protected under federal discrimination laws."This is the world we live in. You can get higher up in life and then try to affect some change. But if you resign yourself to being an outcast in society, you can't do anything other than be just that," Doyle says. "You have to compromise," adds the tattoo artist. "It's a silly attitude to think that life is just you getting everything you want like it's your right."

Back at his station, the buzzing, laughter and Sarah Palin jokes come to an end. Sullivan crouches over to get a peak at the finished product before Doyle conceals it with gauze. Her eyes slowly scan the more boldly defined lines and vivid hues on her stomach. She smiles.
Though close friends have questioned whether she is having a mid-life crisis, her 9-year-old is still skeptical, and fellow Match.comers list tattoos as a turn off, she got exactly what she wanted.

*Rachel did not disclose her actual last name.