Female tattoo artists have long been an overshadowed minority in a male-dominated industry, but times may be changing.

That’s good news for 21-year-old Trish Pace, the only female tattoo artist in Bowling Green, Ky., who recently completed a two-year apprenticeship at Topper’s Fineline Tattoos. Two other female apprentices are close behind, one of whom is training in her shop.

Tattoos are increasingly popular among 18 to 25 year olds, according to a 2007 Pew Research Center study. About half the people in that age group have received a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color, or received a body piercing in a place other than their earlobes. Of those, 36 percent say they had tattoos.

The male and female clientele for tattoo artists is evenly split, according to a Harris Interactive Poll in 2008.

Statistics on the number of female tattoo artists in the United States are scant, but one of the largest female tattoo artist expos in the world — now in its 15th year — showcases nearly 50 artists each January. And female artists featured in high-profile television shows such as “LA Ink” have normalized the presence of female artists in the public conscience.

They owe their success to artists like Judy Parker, of San Diego, who has inked for more than 30 years, when the male establishment was even more deeply entrenched.

Despite the progress, many challenges remain. Apprentice Shatana Wallace at Topper’s lived down stereotypes before she started working in the shop, when, at 15, she became a mother. Then there’s Pepper Phelps, owner of Age of Reason Tattoo in Bowling Green. She neither has tattoos nor inks them, making her an outcast of the tattoo culture.

And for Trish Pace, brushing off rude comments from male customers who scoff at the idea of being tattooed by a woman is fact of daily life. Without focus and determination, she would have given up long ago.

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