So, I suppose it comes as a surprise, even to myself, that I support the idea of regulating the body art industry. To be honest, I thought every serious professional would feel the same way and it wasn’t until recently, when I discovered that a friend of mine who has been very outspoken on issues of safety for over 20 years, informed me that she doesn’t support any law that seeks to place certain demands or restrictions on the industry. That got me thinking, and I asked her why.
Her view is that lawmakers – who really know nothing about the body art business – shouldn’t be given the authority to tell tattoo and piercing artists what they can and can’t do. She has faith in her fellow artists to do the right thing – to regulate themselves and hold themselves to a higher standard, for the good of their clients and the entire industry. She also feels that the focus should be on teaching the public what kind of service and standards they should expect when getting a tattoo or piercing.
And for the most part, I agree with her. True professionals don’t need the law to tell them what to do; they never have. In a 1970 article about Lyle Tuttle in Rolling Stone Magazine, journalist Amie Hill said this in regards to her visit to Tuttle’s studio:
“Far from being the sinister, greasy hole that popular fiction associates with tattooing, Tuttle’s establishment is almost disappointingly clean and well-lighted.”
That was almost forty years ago, when the concept of regulating and inspecting tattoo establishments was new and not nearly as stringent as today. Those who recognized tattoos as an art form sought to protect the future of the job they held so dear.
Does Paul Booth need someone telling him how to clean and sterilize his equipment? Does Meghan Hoogland need a law to tell her to wear gloves? Do Bob Tyrell or Guy Aitchison need a written reminder not to smoke while tattooing or re-use ink? No – of course not! Even if no such laws were in place, these artist would continue to raise the bar of body art safety to ensure the continuation and reputation of their livelihood.
But the problem is that the industry does not distinguish between Paul Booth and “that guy down the street” tattooing minors out of his kitchen. The law can’t specify that Meghan Hoogland is exempt from the law because they know she’ll set and meet her own standards. The laws are actually there to restrict the actions of the scratchers, which is a bit of a catch-22. Scratchers are quiet and they lurk in the shadows, so their illegal practices usually fly under the radar of health inspectors and those trying to enforce safety standards. So, does the law actually prevent the existence of scratchers?
Admittedly, no. The law against robbery doesn’t prevent the existence of thieves, either. But a thief couldn’t be prosecuted without a specific law stating that it’s illegal to steal. It works the same way with body art regulations – once a scratcher is discovered, the only way they can be punished for their actions is if there is a specific law that states what they were doing was wrong. So, the stricter the laws, the less likely it is for scratchers to find loopholes that get them around the system without having to face repercussions for their actions.
As far as teaching the public the standards they should expect, I absolutely agree which is why I’ve been doing exactly that for over ten years now. But even in that length of time, I know there are thousands – maybe millions – of people I still haven’t reached with my message. Until I can say that every person on this planet knows not to give their business to a scratcher and to demand those higher standards from every artist, I’m afraid that it is necessary to regulate the industry as a whole.
If humans were mature and responsible enough to regulate themselves, we wouldn’t need any laws. I, personally, wouldn’t want to go to a doctor or dentist if they weren’t being held accountable by the law to keep me safe. Tattooing and body piercing include similarly invasive and risky procedures that need to be governed by certain rules. And this shouldn’t pose any inconvenience to the true professionals as they are probably already acting above and beyond those laws on their own.
