Tattoos and professional careers

Tattoos and professional careers

Introduction

Choosing a career is one of the most challenging choices that students have to make at least once in their lifetime. One move in the wrong direction may determine whether an individual will be successful in their endeavors or not. It is, therefore, important that people consider a lot of factors when choosing a career. One of the essential considerations in choosing whether to have a tattoo or not. Tattoos have become a thing of the modern age. While they might appear attractive, most people regret having a tattoo later in life, especially after realizing that they may present a bad image, especially about professionalism. This paper presents the complications and ambiguities that tattoos offer in the workplace. It proposes that future professionals should avoid tattooing because they are associated with stereotypes and subject to interpretations that may not blend well with the environment of work.

Discussion

First, there are a variety of jobs that require that people dress and appear professional even in the way they talk and interact with their peers. Tattoos are part and parcel of dressing since they are printed on the skin. The words and images that are embedded in the tattoos are highly diverse, and every one of them represents an idea or communicates some message to the public. Tattoos can communicate some of the deepest and sincere feelings about the people who have them on their bodies. They may be printed after losing a loved one or to portray a person’s religious or political views (Rima 707). Whether one has a tattoo or not is often a personal choice in addition to the place they want it printed. In as much this may be true, tattoos are subject to a variety of judgments and criticism as people who see them either love or hate them depending on their believes, attitudes, and upbringing. The workplace is, for instance, one of the places where tattoos may be acceptable or not. Employers often require that employees maintain a particular image at the workplace, and therefore requirements that guide the way employees dress at the workplace have been familiar not only in the United States but also across many countries of the world.

In countries where liberalism and democracy are advanced like the United States, there has been a growing resistance to have workers allowed to display their tattoos at the workplace publicly. Still, this argument is subject to a lot of contradictions, especially in relation to the right to expression, as found in the First Amendment. The amendment grants US citizens the right to express themselves freely, and it has not been clear whether tattoos should be fully protected under the amendment. This implies that the first amendment may either protect tattoos fully or partially, depending on the interpretation of the bench judging a case. It is therefore clear that employers may or may not enact workplace policies that require employees to cover their tattoos in case they are printed on open body parts.

Furthermore, covering tattoos should be considered a professional move because some tattoos may be considered offensive to other people at work (Williams, Jeremy and Candace 373). In cases where tattoos are offensive, they may not be acceptable at all. In order to avoid these contradictions, it is important for school-going children, adolescents, or adults to consider how complicated tattoos make workplace relationships complicated. Those with tattoos printed on open body parts will be required to cover them in one way or another when they start practicing as professionals.

Perhaps the most substantial reason why would-be professionals ought to avoid tattoos is the stereotypes about them. Historically, tattoos were associated with a variety of groups such as gang members, prisoners, bikers, and other groups of people that were considered to be unruly behavior (Zestcott et al. 08). Such groups are often regarded as deviant in mannerisms, and therefore, individuals with tattoos are commonly viewed as negative minded and therefore, most likely to be involved in criminal activities. This may present a lot of difficulties at the workplace because most organizations value adherence to workplace culture and the ability of workers to follow a set of rules and regulations as well as pursue specific goals and objectives that are essential to success and performance. Most people identify criminals with the presence of a tattoo, and it becomes challenging having the same identity at the workplace where issues of the image may influence performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, tattoos are a burden for professionals, and they need to be avoided at all costs, especially for those who wish to work with others in a joint workplace later in life. Tattoos are associated with crime and carry a variety of meanings that may be offensive to others in the workplace. Even though the first amendment may provide for the protection of freedom of expression, whether tattoos ought to be fully protected is a matter subject to interpretation. Employers may still require that workers cover their tattoos. Therefore, to avoid these problems, students must avoid tattoos at all. Most careers still consider them unacceptable.

Works cited

Rima, Wendy. “The Human Body: The Canvas for Tattoos; the Public Workplace: An Exhibit      for a New Form of Art.” Drake L. Rev. 66 (2018): 705.

Williams, D. J., Jeremy Thomas, and Candace Christensen. “You Need to Cover Your       Tattoos!”: Reconsidering Standards of Professional Appearance in Social Work.” Social         work 59.4 (2014): 373-375.

Zestcott, Colin A., et al. “What do you think about ink? An examination of implicit and explicit   attitudes toward tattooed individuals.” The Journal of social psychology 158.1 (2018): 7-     22.