tattoos in the workplace: your right to bear arms

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Your Right to Bear Arms: Tattoos in the Workplace If we have the right to express ourselves freely, then people with tattoos should be able to work anywhere. When looking for a job, image is the first thing an employer looks at. What about qualifications and references? When do employers look at those? What is more important? “Devotees of body piercing and tattoos may hate to admit it, but they are often negatively judged by the public because of their body modifications”, and having these visible tattoos it makes it harder to find a suitable career (Bahadosingh). This is mainly because some employers “associate [tattoos] with convicts and miscreants” (Bahadosingh). Many business owners do not want to lose any customers because of an employee’s outer appearance. Especially in this economy they have to take all the business they can get. What about Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Rihanna, Johnny Depp? They have all committed to marking their skin permanently in ink, on very visible parts of their body. None of them are gang bangers, social deviants or prison inmates. Their face, their body, their image is their job and I don’t think that because Angelina has a tiger on her back makes anyone take her less serious as a professional. So if Hollywood can accept these people, why can’t all other employers? People with tattoos shouldn’t have to become an A-list movie star in order to be accepted in the workplace. Still, many employers believe that “tattoos and piercing give the impression of an individual that might not fit or be willing to conform to a corporate image or environment” (Bahadosingh). Russell Parrish, a young husband and father, has been trying to find steady work for the past 6 months. He is a college graduate with a great personality, but the only thing holding him back is that he decided to cover his neck, hands and torso with body art.

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