Tattoos in the Workplace ~ The Stigma Finally Dies

As any tattoo enthusiast will tell you, there are, or have been in the past, certain places where you just know you're going to have to cover-up your body art. Places like, corporate offices, and certain family gatherings, where revealing your tattoo may be frowned upon.

Happily with the abundance of young people now sporting their own body art and custom tattoos, and being very proud to do so, the issue is seeing some light at the end of a very long tunnel involving persecution, bias, and judgment, especially in the workplace.

The following article touches nicely on the fact that with more and more companies being run by younger executives, the prevalence of not only tattoos but piercings and body art in general is leading a trend to rid ourselves of the stigma that different equals wrong.

The full article follows below.

Tattoo or Taboo?

The negative stigma on tattoos in the workplace may be dying out

By Jen Davis
November 17, 2010

Junior Taryn Blume got a tattoo of dog paws on her foot a few years ago and would only cover it up for a job interview, "depending on the shoes I was wearing," she said.

However, John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas thinks younger employers are less likely to stigmatize against untraditional appearances.

A Pew Center 2010 study found 15 percent of adults from the baby boomer generation have tattoos, compared to 38 percent of 18-29 year-olds. Out of that 38 percent, half of the 18-29 year-olds have two to five tattoos.

"I have four tattoos in places you can see if I'm wearing a t-shirt," said Jordan Smith, a junior on the football team. "I don't care if people see them and I don't think it will affect me getting a job because I can hide them if I really need to."

A tattoo on Jordan's arm reads "Love" or "Hate," depending on which side up you read it.

Senior basketball player Amanda Smith said she does care about where her two tattoos are, and made a point to place them in areas that would not be visible in work clothes. "I thought about placement a lot before I got them because I didn't want them to affect my job opportunities," she said.

Sarah Bolasevich, another Stonehill student, says that body art shouldn't be a concern of employers to begin with. "If people truly appreciate my mind, they won't care about my ink," she says.

Bolasevich has two tattoos, a bracelet that means "all will be well in the end" strung together with the word ‘hope' and her favorite Emily Dickinson poem on her rib cage, "just in case I forget that I stand for the service of others," she said.

Ryder Kern and Cameron Marston said that if you have a tattoo that you're happy you got, and that really means something to you, you shouldn't have to worry about hiding it.

"My tattoo is family oriented and I got it with my older brother, which was a bonding experience" Kern said. "I don't think that a tattoo anywhere other than my face would get in the way of being hired."

Marston, who has two tattoos, also has them in places that can easily be covered but doesn't worry about them in terms of his career plans.

Marston has one on his chest depicting a compass rose with an inspirational quote, and one on his ribs of his family crest and his grandmother's name.

"Both are very meaningful to me" he said.
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