Why is This Still Such a Taboo?

Story by Meara Bonnell, Reporter

Tattoos: one of the most talked-about and hated things of the past century. Hundreds of Americans, young and old have them, yet they are still considered unprofessional. Arguments have flared up, fights have broken out, and people have been fired because of them.

There are very few jobs that allow tattoos and piercings, and even less that allow visible body modification. Amazon, Starbucks, and Journeys are among the small handful of companies that allow them at all.
A poll taken by Fox news states that “96 percent of American adults wouldn’t change current shopping habits if a business had staff with tattoos or piercings, provided they receive the same quality and pricing.” If the majority of American citizens don’t care if a staff member is tattooed, there isn’t any reason companies should be able to discriminate against people with body mods.

Sophomore Marcus Cooper doesn’t have any piercings or tattoos, but he does have several thoughts on the stigma against body modification in the workplace and at school.
“I don’t see how they affect the workplace,” he said, “I believe people have the freedom to accessorize their body in any way they please.”

There are many people with tattoos in high school, and an estimated 40 percent of Millennials have a tattoo, according to a Pew Research Center report. Sophomore Anna Hollister has several piercings, and would be open to getting tattoos in the future. She doesn’t believe they would stop her from achieving her goals.
Stating, “I think I should be who I set myself to be and my goals are to make me be the person who I am today,” Hollister said.

Tattoos shouldn’t be considered bad or dangerous. They are art, no matter what the design is. Employers should think about someone’s personality rather than their outward appearance. Someone with no tattoos could be a much worse employee than someone covered in pictures of dragons and mermaids.

It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, just if you can do the job properly and treat customers and coworkers with respect. The taboo of tattoos and piercings is an old argument, one that should have been sorted long before now.
If a person is rude and inconsiderate, do you instantly assume that they have tattoos? If you see someone walking down the street with full sleeves, do you think they steal on their free time, or do you know that they save people from fires as their job?

Because even though there are some people with tattoos that are bad people, there are also people without any mods that are horrible people. Get to know someone before assuming something about them.