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By infmom, August 27, 2008 12:58 pm

Tattoos and other body art are becoming more popular all the time–just look at all the tattoo related showson TV these days. Even the National Geographic has gotten into the act. But the fact that something is popular doesn’t necessarily mean that it has widespread acceptance.

In what ways are multicolored people reminded that body art is still outside the mainstream? As I see it, there are three common objections.

Dress codes

I used to laugh when a friend who worked as a fundraiser for a fundamentalist college told me he would never ever EVER dare wear anything but a white shirt to work. The people he worked for wouldn’t tolerate anything else. And whether it was strictly true or not, he believed that the potential donors he went to see wouldn’t tolerate anything else either, and if his clothing offended them he could kiss their money goodbye. That was years ago, but it’s still pretty much the rule that employers have dress codes and employees are expected to follow them.

So, it’s practical to have your tattoos applied to areas that can be covered up by clothing. Not quite so easy to conceal piercings, unless they’re in intimate areas. There’s a market out there for clear or flesh colored spacers that can be inserted to keep a piercing open, but from my reading I gather they’re not entirely satisfactory. (Nor, despite what I saw at one previous job, is a bandage over a pierced ear going to fool anyone).

Conscious or unconscious aversion

Historically speaking, tattoos have been favored by the “upper crust.” All kinds of royalty had body art a hundred years ago. (Heck, Prince Charles was in the Navy, do you suppose he’s got ink where the sun don’t shine?) But, sad to say, most people don’t know diddly-squat about history, and their main exposure to tattoos often comes from gangbangers, bikers, sailors, soldiers, and other kinds of People We’re Not. Thus, tattooing gained an unfortunate reputation as being the provenance of People We’re Not, and anyone with a tattoo is therefore eyed with suspicion. (My father didn’t want me to get my ears pierced when I was 16, claiming it “looked cheap.” I’m glad I never found out what he thought of my tattoos.) The fact that this anti-ink prejudice exists is something multicolored people have to understand and deal with, no matter how irrational the basis.

Age and its issues

“What will happen when you get old and it sags?” It’s true that our skin changes shape as we get older. And it’s a common assumption that wherever the tattoo goes, the skin will sag, wrinkle, change color, and otherwise distort and deface the tattoo, so why even bother? Of course, the fact that humanity has a long tradition of art that gets better with age, despite the ravages of time upon the medium (the Mona Lisa ain’t what she used to be, and neither are the Lascaux cave paintings) doesn’t seem to apply to body art. It’s gonna sag! Don’t do it!

Of course, the idea that we can enjoy the ink till gravity takes its toll doesn’t seem to mean anything to the sag fanatics. And the fact that there are plenty of areas that don’t sag doesn’t change people’s minds, either.

What’s your story?

What kinds of objections and challenges have you faced? Did your family raise a fuss about your tattoos? Were you called too young or too old? Does your employer have even an inkling you’re covering up inking?

photo credit: Cassi Saari

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By infmom, June 30, 2008 4:24 pm

In my previous post on firefighters’ tattoos I touched briefly on the issue of employee dress codes.

A hundred years ago, tattoos were quite the in thing amongst the upper crust. All kinds of aristocrats had ink in various places and there was no social stigma involved. On the contrary, it was something enjoyed by the sophisticated creme de la creme.

Over time, however, the tattoo became associated in the public psyche with sailors, circus performers, bikers, hippies, gang members, convicts and other supposedly undesirable elements, and despite the increased popularity of tattooing today, and the numbers of “mainstream” people who are getting inked, the stigma of bad associations gone by still lingers.

Thus, many employers (who tend to be conservative) want nothing to do with people who have visible tattoos (or piercings other than the occasional earring or two). Image is everything in many workplaces, and heaven forbid the nice lady who takes your bank deposit, or the guy who deals with your investment, or the people who fight fires or arrest crooks, have any visible ink. Not that anyone can prove that being tattooed affects their performance in any way. It just doesn’t LOOK good.

Have we really become a nation of Fernandos? (Billy Crystal’s character who thought it was better to look good than to feel good) Do we care so much about appearance that we don’t care about substance or performance? Is this, or is this not, the 21st century?

Have your employer told you “no visible ink”? I’ve never worked in a place where that was the rule, thank goodness, although my tattoos are easily covered when necessary. But it seems like more and more workplaces are getting more and more strict. Or am I imagining things?

If you’d like to read more about celebrity tattoos, do take a look at The Vanishing Tattoo web site, which is a gold mine of information and inspiration.

photo credit: Indiana Stan

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By infmom, June 24, 2008 9:11 am

On the front page of today’s Los Angeles Daily News, there was a story about the new policy at the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Firefighters’ tattoos must be covered up at all times. Apparently, the LAFD brass thinks that tattoos are… unprofessional? Not the proper image that the department wants to project?

Tattoos must be covered in the firehouse as well, and according to the story they even have to be covered up while the firefighters are sleeping. Yeah, sure, the general public is keeping an eye on THAT.

This is the same fire department that recently paid out over a million bucks to settle a complaint about a practical joke. It seems to me that they’ve got their priorities way, way wrong. If I call the fire department, I don’t care what the firefighters look like while they’re dealing with the blaze. If they’re out doing presentations to school kids or in some other situation where image is king, OK, no problem, cover the ink. But it just seems to me that there are a lot more serious things the department ought to be putting on its worry list.

photo credit: kilt medic

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By infmom, February 17, 2007 12:00 pm

Once you’ve decided on your design, and taken the various inks and colors into consideration (you did do that, right?) then it’s time to give some thought to the placement of the tattoo.

Many people figure they want it where they want it and if someone else objects, tough. I can understand that. And I’m as much an admirer of full sleeves and hand tattoos as anyone. But unfortunately the entire rest of the world isn’t like that.

Many employers still have dress code that forbids open display of body art. Yeah, stick in the mud, yadda yadda yadda… but they do.

Tattoos are permanent, or in the ideal world they should be. So why put limits on your future by putting something permanent in some area of your body that you can’t easily cover up? You’ve got plenty of skin that you can put clothing over if necessary, so why not start with those areas and think about the more visible places later?

I’ve even run into problems covering up the seven-star swoosh over my right collarbone. Most open-collared shirts reveal one or two stars, and a V-neck or scoop-neck shirt shows off most of the design. You can bet when I’ve gone on job interviews I’ve buttoned everything up just to be safe. It might well be that the interviewers would have liked the design, but I didn’t take any chances. Job interviews are stressful enough without worrying if you’re inflaming someone else’s prejudices.

Of course, once I was hired and had settled in and people had gotten used to me, then I felt a bit more at ease about letting a star or two show. Then I’ve been asked if the design was “real” (why no, I drew it on myself with colored markers just this morning) and people have asked to see the rest of it. Like most multicolored people I’m happy to show off my ink. But in any new situation involving employment and acceptance by one’s work environment it was better to start off slow.

So–think design. Think ink. Think placement. Getting a tattoo is something that requires more thinking than you think. Or words to that effect.

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