A reclamation: How to pick the right tattoo in your 40s and beyond

By Kimberly Sheridan

Jenni Miller got her first tattoo at 45 years old, a few years after her mom died. Jules Knowlton got her first tattoo at 61 years old, after a rough divorce. Although tattoos were long relegated to rebellious youth, it’s not uncommon now for women to start getting them in midlife. Of course, tattoos are significantly more mainstream than when we were born. But also, in many ways, it makes perfect sense that we’d feel readier as we age and many of us enter into an era of reclaiming and reinventing ourselves as we become grown-ass ladies.

The reasons for getting tattoos are as varied as people but there are common recurring themes: marking big life events and transitions like divorce and recovery, overcoming the fear of parental disapproval or religious indoctrination or workplace stigmas, beautifying a body part you’re insecure about, honoring a loved one, and embracing cultural heritage or sexual identity.

I started getting tattoos when I was in my mid-twenties, worked the front desk at a NYC tattoo shop when I was 30, and have been immersed in the subculture for about 15 years. I wanted to speak with women who started later than me and hear their stories; I resonated with the reasons they held off on getting them and the reasons they eventually forged ahead.