The Cultural History Of Tattoo Discrimination

In today’s society possible employers often frown upon their employees being tattooed, however tattoos should not define a person. Considering this, Spokeswomen Ferris Morrison of Bank of American states, “We have

Tattoos have been around for quite some time now, and they have always been a symbol of belonging, cultural expression or for religion. These days, individuals choose to tattoo themselves because it is part of their lifestyle or personal image. While continuing to grow in popularity and becoming a lifestyle, people are facing issues with having visible tattoos in the workforce. Although it is a form of free expression, employers have a right to enforce certain rules about tattoos in their company because they have a public image to uphold. How you present yourself to the public is solely important, which is why tattoos should not be allowed to be seen in the workplace, since it may appear offensive or unconservative.

Today in America there is less problems having tattoos in the work place. As tattoos proliferate, some employers’ are becoming more accepting of body ink peeking through work place attire but the level of acceptance varies depending the industry and the corporate cultural. The work force is more interested in your educational skills and skills for the job. Tattoo policies can vary from one office to the next the argument being that tattoos and certain hair do’s or certain garments can be a very big distraction to many coworkers and customers. Depending on how visible and how offensive the tattoo is. When it comes down to tattoos in the workplace it just really come

Tattoos are becoming very popular amongst the people of my generation, but now they seem to be creating more buzz than ever when it comes to today’s job market. Jon Kelly and Rachel Hennessey wrote articles covering this topic presenting the views of employers and their policies against tattoos. In both articles, they discuss how employers frown upon the art of employees inking. The biggest reason is because, some employers feel that tattoos deliver an unprofessional look to the customer and that can ruin the image built and portrayed by their prosperous companies.

Tattoos and piercings can be seen on many teens. There are several reasons why teenagers get them. Andres Martin explains these reasons in his article, “On Teenagers and Tattoos”. He provides information on how these teens fall under peer-pressured or ad influence towards a group affiliation. I believe that tattoos are acceptable because they help strengthen self-identity, help kids fit in with their friends, and reinforce memories.

Considered as a form of art for some people and unprofessional for others, tattoos are being seen as a familiar form of self-expression that many of the younger and older generations are getting nowadays. Tattoos are a form of body modification along with piercings, but the majority of people in the workplace will be forced to cover up their tattoos while people with piercings are sometimes allowed to keep them in, which causes a form of unnecessary discrimination. According to Garrett D. Kennedy, "Tattoos and body piercings have become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. — over 20% of adults are now tattooed. This number only will be increasing because 38% of millennials (born from 1981-1992) have tattoos, approximately half of whom have two or more, while 23% of millennials have body

People feel that there is no way that you can have job if you have tattoos. Some people will take people with tattoos less seriously if they have tattoos seeing them as childish or naïve. To back up these accusations, here is a quote: “No matter how much meaning they have for the owner, they are just not attractive nor professional looking. It does affect my decision-making process when hiring.” Emily Olson, who was a bus girl at a restaurant in Wisconsin, was great at her job. Her employer promised to give her a promotion when she turned eighteen, which would take her from a busser to a waitress where she could earn more money. On her eighteenth

People argue that tattoos should never be shown in a professional setting. Most places of employment even have a dress code that requires you to cover them while working. Employers, in some settings, say that tattoos would or could be offensive or obscene. It was hard to find any article that was against tattoos in the workplace. After a while of searching the internet and databases, I found an article titled “Tattoos in the Workplace: The Research Forbes Was Too Lazy To Do” by Annie Singer. Written on February 26, 2016 and updated February 26, 2017, Singer’s research found that “consumers showed a preference for non-tattooed front-line staff.” She also found that “visible tattoos had a predominantly negative effect on employment selection, driven by the hiring manager’s

This leaves possible employers in a situation requiring them to decide whether or not to allow tattoos. More and more employers are seeing past the typical views on tattoos and allowing their employees to

Seen as symbols of life accomplishments or beauty, tattoos have become a worldwide trend. Individuals have been getting tattoos for many centuries, with the earliest ones dating back to 5,200 years ago. It all started with their important role in rituals and tradition. As they slowly began to be associated with smoking and alcohol abuse (The Economist, “How a Tattoo Affects Your Job Perspectives”), the amount of people getting them increased. Today, 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo (“Tattoo Statistics”). Tattoos are permanent markings on the skin that increase the difficulty to get hired for a job and are against some religions, such as Islam, making them a trend that people should not follow.

The debate over tattoos in the workplace is growing in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. With the popularity of tattoos on the rise, many companies around the world are starting to put more constraints on body art; while others are becoming more open to the idea of exposed ink. The articles; “Tattoos, No Longer A Kiss Of Death In The Workplace” by, Rachel Hennessey a Forbes contributor, and; “Should anti-tattoo discrimination be illegal?” by Jon Kelly of BBC both thoroughly discuss tattoos and their impact on professionalism. The articles have many differences on how companies view tattooed employees however, there is a distinct similarity in tone throughout both articles when it comes to the acceptance of tattoos in the workplace.

The article states that there are many incidents which are about employees fired by their employers due to their visible tattoos. The incidents are not simply happened because of the employee’s tattoos, but as they refused to cover the tattoos while working. These incidents also derive many other issues like discrimination. Although the American employees are protected by the Title VII that is to protect them being suffered from discrimination based on race, sex, religion, however, the writer then refutes it does not ensure employees can enjoy the right to show their tattoos and piercings during working. This exposes the restrictive policy is poorly implementing in America as well. According to the article, the incidence of tattoos varied among

Not hiring someone due to the fact they have tattoos is the same as denying someone with a darker skin color a job based on their skin. The difference between the two is that skin color is genetic while tattoos are a choice. Yet, they are both forms of discrimination which should not happen. Even though this should not happen tattoo and piercing discrimination is only not allowed in the government, everywhere else they can be prejudice against showing these parts of their appearance. People who are biased in this type of way are just playing into stereotypes that categorize people instead of looking more at their

Tattoos today are recognized as totally different than what they were pictured as in the past. “Tattooing is recognized by government agencies as both an art form and a profession and tattoo-related art work is the subject of museum, gallery and educational institution art shows across the United States.” [ (Levins,

There are many employers that have the opinion that having visible tattoos is unacceptable for the professional work environment. Someone with a tattoo is seen as uneducated and possible dangerous. However, there is no solid evidence to support either of those beliefs. The stigma of sporting a visible tattoo has no validity. A person with tattoos is just as knowledgeable and capable of working as a non-tattooed person. Tattoos, whether visible or covered, do not change a person’s individual work ethic or how educated they are.