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Tattoos were once a way for individuals to stand out from the crowd. Today, those with body art are the crowd.

We've suspected this for some time, given that seemingly every athlete and musician we see on TV is sporting some kind of body art.

Even more eye-opening are the tattoos we see while running around town. We cannot count how many ankles, shoulders, forearms and backs we've seen adorned with everything from flora to fauna, religious figures to cartoons, names to phrases.

When The Associated Press reported Sunday that tattoos are mainstream, we found ourselves nodding in agreement. Other Tucsonans did as well.

"It's gone past being a trend. It's a way of life for a lot of people," said Ed Slocum, who runs the Tattoo Artistry shop Downtown. "We get all kinds of people coming in for tattoos, including lawyers, doctors, policemen and firefighters.

"We even had an 85-year-old woman come in one time. She got a butterfly on her ankle."

That adventurous senior citizen is not alone. The AP story cited a study by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology that found 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed.

Clearly, there's a lot of permanent ink being applied to American bodies. And the trend, which started in the early '90s, is expected to continue as this young group of people gets more body art and influence others to do the same.

"I don't see it slowing down at all," said Slocum. "The act of getting a tattoo is addictive. People don't get just one."

Tina Pai, a cosmetic dermatologist with Skin Spectrum, a dermatology practice on the Northwest Side, said today's youths view tattoos the way older generations viewed ear piercing. In other words, it's no big deal.

As more members of our community are getting tattoos, more are also choosing to get rid of them.

"We've definitely seen progressively more and more people coming to get tattoos removed," Pai said. "We've seen about a 20 to 30 percent increase in tattoo removals in six years."

Getting rid of a tattoo, however, is a lot harder — and more expensive — than getting one in the first place.

While Slocum charges his customers $100 to $150 per session to apply a tattoo, Skin Spectrum charges $250 and up for each session to remove a tattoo. Pai said the average number of visits needed to remove a tattoo is six, and very large or intricate artwork can involve up to a dozen sessions.

For the most part, however, Americans seem happy with their tattoos. It's certainly a thriving business. The Yellow Pages lists 18 tattoo parlors operating in the Tucson area.

Getting a tattoo should be a serious, long-thought decision. It's hard to say what the tattoo trend says about our community. People may feel more compelled to make personal statements by adorning their bodies with permanent art. Perhaps today's youths are more rebellious or simply trying to fit in by getting tattoos like their friends.

The fact that tattoos are so common means they no longer draw the same attention they used to. We no longer view someone with a tattoo as "artsy," "rebellious" or "trouble."

Many members of our community are apparently finding some sort of fulfillment through tattoos. But if they are trying to stand out, well, there are so many people like them that we simply don't notice anymore.

A tattoo may be today's gray flannel suit of a few decades ago — the ultimate symbol of conformity.