Tattoo Acceptance: It all Starts with You

When I was young I had to promise my grandparents, the parents of my momma, that I would never get any tattoos or any piercings. Afraid that my grandaddy would really do what he said he would do to me, pull out the piercings and try to scrub the fresh tattoo off of my skin, I was terrified of if that would truly happen if one day I decided to get some body art applied. Being that my grandaddy was an owner of a large company, he filled my head with all the negative aspects or negative consequences that would happen as a result if I was to get a piercing or tattoo, whether it be immediately physical or in the long term detrimental to my job acceptance. On the other side of the spectrum, my Papaw, my dads father, had a portrait of my Mamaw, his wife, tattooed on the top portion of his arm. This man was the average Joe for his time. He was in the Navy, was a boxing champion, and ironically a detective at some point. He never spoke of looking down on anything except smoking cigarettes and a song named “Don't Rock the Jukebox.” Needless to say, these two men didn't care much for each other due to a clash of lifestyles. I grew up seeing this topic of acceptance towards tattoos in the workforce and society unfold with front row seats. I am so blessed to have had an opportunity to see both sides of the debate and that I actually paid attention to what was happening before I was nurtured into a specific way of thinking.

Its amazing what a little demographic change can do for someones views on something so simple as a personal choice to get tattooed.

Just the same as how parents directly assist in the development of racism within a child, or how stereotypes can be regarded and twisted as fact by a parent misinforming the child intentionally or not, this debate on tattoos throughout generations also creates an imprint on the American youth, causing a butterfly effect on all of our futures. Just as a supportive parent would teach their child to have a sense of individuality and have an acceptance of differences towards others, I believe to take steps forward towards making a change as to how companies view tattoos in regards towards joining their team, we should try to all attempt to remember this lesson from childhood and not judge a book by its cover.

Due to predisposed ideas about tattoos from past generations, the current workforce is not completely convinced that tattooed individuals would be the best option to fill positions that need to be filled. As I have spoken in the last speech, we know that the popular view of tattoos in the workforce is that of “unprofessional, unsanitary, and will distract from gaining productivity within the working environment.”

Although there is growing acceptance of tattoos within the business and religious community, 85% of employees surveyed found that they believe tattoos to be a barrier to getting hired. The problem with companies having this outlook towards individuals with tattoos, is that this rate of sorting out tattooed individuals, no matter their skill set or background, is cutting the possible hiring pool a third. This restricts the possibility that the person getting the job is actually the best for it, leaving you, the consumer, in the circumstance that you may not be getting the best service or care possible, or that we will have anyone worth hiring for the job at all.

As an example of the United States giving up on predisposed ideas of who and who should not be accepted into the predominantly one sided workforce, in World War II, women served as a third of the workforce in America by 1944. They helped in the production of tanks, ships, and weapons. If our country would have held on to the stigma that females deserved to be in the kitchen or with the children only, and that they should not be in the man's working environment, only goodness knows where we would be as a country. Would we have been able to win the war? Seeing the increase of women being the key players of that time for production of war goods and holding everyday jobs back at home since there was a shortage of men, I am inclined to believe that we wouldn't have been such a successful player. I think this example aligns with acceptance of tattooed individuals and shows the importance of acceptance of differences and letting go of stereotypes, because in the end, we are all one country, all one world, all mankind, and I do not think marks on someones skin, or gender for that matter, should be a make or break variable for ones ultimate ability to fulfill his or her full potential in society just because someone else was taught to look down upon it through the years.

By not having tattoo acceptance in the workforce, it only perpetuates the cycle of people not being exposed to it on a daily basis. “Appearance related bias infringes fundamental rights, compromises merit principles and reinforces debilitating stereotypes.” When I say merit principles, I specifically mean the first principle. “Recruitment should be from qualified individuals from appropriate sources in an endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of society, and selection and advancement should be determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills, after fair and open competition which assures that all receive equal opportunity." This merit principle is evident in two major human rights moments in our recent history, the civil rights Act as well as the “I have a dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. Both were speaking of an acceptance of diversity and to end hurtful prejudice. Instead of having race the major diversity issue, it has become much more than that. Diversity is not just about race, it is about what makes you unique. So is diversity the problem or our refusal to accept it, no matter the form.

Everyone is affected in this battle to increase the acceptance of tattoos because everyone is an individual. Everyone can understand the urge to be themselves and to express their creativity or emotions. Everyone can understand the fear of judgment that comes in this day and age, spawned by media or by old world views through their parents or grandparents.

Take for example Kat Von D's story. She grew up in a religious and strict conservative home. At a young age she had a fascination with the punk rock scene. When she became of age, she began getting permanent artwork applied all over her body.

“Four or five years ago going into a Dior store or, you know, you felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (laughs). People would stare, and it wasn’t because they were curious. Going to the mall was pretty hard... I consider myself to be a pretty smart person and you talk to people and they’re like, 'Wow! You actually have a brain!' Or, 'You’re actually kind of nice and pretty conservative!'

Not only is Kat Von D assisting in the debunking of stigma with her own personality in her daily life, but she also is one of the lead crusaders in the integration of tattoos in the regular American household through her show L.A. Ink.

“People that would never get tattoos were tuning in because they could kind of live through either us or a client. Believe it or not, grandmas and soccer moms come up to me and say, 'I love your show!'”

L.A. Ink has one main theme going on throughout the show, the human experience. With every tattoo comes a story, only intensifying the meaning behind each piece of artwork applied. I think shows like this only open doors to the true spirit behind the art of tattooing. I think, thanks to this show, the solution that will satisfy the needs is more attainable than ever.

I believe there are two solutions to this problem that are necessary to be delivered as a pair from both the inked and the not. First, tattooed individuals need to be proud of their ink and to not make an overly effort to conform by covering up with make-up or clothing. It is part of you, an expression of yourself that you literally have for the world to see. For people without tattoos, there needs to be a conscious effort to change the way you think of tattoos as an individual, less involving social norms declared by old standards and more about how this piece of permanent artwork is an expression of this individual, this human being, and should be respected even if the initial motive was misunderstood.

By making a effort to view tattoos in a positive manner, it can help shape the views across the nation. If you voice your approval of acceptance and why you feel the way you do, it helps open the eyes of another to see the world as you do. This solution satisfies the need towards working for tattoo acceptance by showing that a tattoos meaning goes beyond the surface of the skin, and is actually a reflection of a part of a persons personality.

I believe by increasing communication between individuals with and without tattoos, that people without tattoos will see that the artwork does not stand for the degree of knowledge, but rather a moment in time that was important enough that it will always be remembered by artwork on their skin.

If you believe in individuality and self expression, and having a diverse workforce with equal opportunity, then we as American citizens need to bond together to show corporate America that we accept tattooed people for who they really are, people, and that they deserve as much opportunity as anyone else.

1. Step 1: For tattooed individuals: welcome questions and be open. Do not be offended if someone does not understand your personal motives. Understand that you are on the forefront as being an example of tattooed individuals, make a good impression.

2. Step 2: For individuals without tattoos: set aside predisposed ideas and appreciate the artwork. Be curious but do not be insulting. Remember, tattoos are personal and are sometimes literal ways of wearing the heart on ones sleeve.

3. Step 3: If both step 1 and step 2 are done, step 3 will be very easy. If you are in a position of hiring someone with tattoos, and you feel comfortable with them as a human being despite “social norms” businesses try to create by having strict dress codes, you should go to your boss and explain the importance of diversity and try to get that individual on the team.

Even if this specific individual does not get hired, by you expressing how you feel about tattooed individuals in a positive light, it in turn helps open doors to acceptance within the workplace because you will be exposing this seemingly taboo practice in a positive way.

I believe by increasing communication and exposure, acceptance will grow, and when acceptance grows, the taboo appeal will slowly die away. If tattoos are integrated into the workforce and people have a positive and open attitude, I believe that would help increase the average Americans exposure in a positive tone, only opening more opportunity for tattooed individuals.

If zero action is taken towards integrating tattoos into the workforce, I believe that the hiring pool for future careers will be smaller because the rate of tattooed individuals has only been increasing. Not only that, but the stereotype will just forge ahead to corrupt more generations into thinking tattooed individuals are something to look down upon, or are of a lower class.

Tattoos are something that have been around since the beginning of man. Due to the rate of growth and consistency throughout the years, I can guarantee that they will not be going away any time soon. Tattoos acceptance within our culture has been growing faster than tattoo acceptance within our workforce. I believe that the only way to increase acceptance towards tattoos is for the individuals that believe in self expression and support individuality to voice exactly that.

Tattoos may not necessarily be the color of skin that individuals were born with, but tattoos are a part of an individual. Tattoos hold as a form of self expression. So, why not appreciate this aspect of our culture as mankind and bring it into the workforce? By rejecting the idea of having tattooed people in the workforce, its in turn is telling our society to reject tattooed people as respectable human beings. The only way to change the way our modern workforce feels towards respectability linked with tattoos, or at least lessening of the weight a tattoo applies towards whether or not your getting hired, is to change how we, the American people as a whole, react when tattoos are displayed in every day life. Companies create dress codes so that they can relate to the modern consumer and or the client to be more marketable, but how does this apply when the American public is steadily rising towards almost half of the citizens within our country sporting some type of body art? I believe that by upholding and perpetuating the view that tattoos are not welcome into the workplace affects us all, whether you have any tattoos or not, because the way that we as individuals feel affects the total result as how America is represented. Do we want our country to be seen as an unrealistic representation of whats truly inside or a beautiful melting pot of culture like we truly are? It all starts with you.