<p>I never said it could be compared in the sense that they’re a protected class, I’m just saying that seeing a guy with tattoos and automatically assuming he’s in a motorcycle gang is no better than seeing a black guy coming down the street and crossing to the other side. In both cases you’ve seen a person, and based on his appearance, chosen to listen to your prejudices instead of reason.</p>
<p>my high school principal had a tattoo on her leg, didn’t get her fired…</p>
<p>But… but the science shows she’s more likely to be a suicidal hypersexual drug user! How could they hire such a strumpet?!</p>
<p>Well, for one, that study included adolescents.</p>
<p>There are several factors involved with this that would skew the results. An adolescent getting a tattoo, for instance, would be more “risky” and “impulsive” than an adult getting one, because the adult has had more time to think about the image, its significance, consequences of getting a tattoo, etc. Furthermore, adolescents are often barred from getting tattoos, from tattoo parlors because they are under 18, and from their parents because they believe the kid hasn’t had enough time to think about it yet. So, many of these kids likely got their tattoos illegally or had parents that were not as concerned as other parents might be, for a variety of reasons. So it may not be the desire for a TATTOO that is correlated with antisocial behavior, but the desire for a tattoo at a young age+ability to get a tattoo at a young age that is correlated with antisocial behavior.</p>
<p>I have two eyebrow piercings and am a female. Some people are not going to have a problem with it and are going to be like a lot of people on this thread. Some people are going to be more conservative and think the piercing is correlated with antisocial behavior or wonder why I didn’t take it out and assume I’m not very professional because of it. Whether or not your piercing or tattoo keeps you from a job depends 100% on who is interviewing you for the position and what their personal beliefs about tattoos/piercings are. I have never been denied a position - even at a job where it was actually in the employee handbook that men could not have dyed hair and no one could have piercings besides women, and then it was 1 on each ear lobe only. In the handbook. Not denied the job. </p>
<p>But am I naive enough to think that just because /I/ know tattoos and piercings are not indicative of professionalism/intelligence that other people also know or believe these things? No way. I may eventually take them out but for now I’m just a student first and I’ll enjoy the piercings while I have the chance :p</p>
<p>The idea that “smart people” don’t get tattoos is outdated and ridiculous. It’s anecdotal, but I know so many people with tattoos that are doing jjjust fine. My friend who just started med school. My friend who is applying to the top law schools in this country. An old classmate who worked in a top neuroscience lab at Hopkins, Etc, etc, etc. If there’s really this overwhelming anti-tattoo bias in the workforce/academia, they haven’t seen it.</p>
<p>There are plenty of successful/educated people with tattoos–I think they just tend to get them in places that they can easily cover if they need/want to. If you really believe tattoos are preventing people from getting good jobs, you either don’t know many successful people, or they’re all just covering them up around you. </p>
<p>I already have a tattoo (and a nose piercing) and plan on another once I’m in to grad schools… unless grad schools reject me for checking ‘yes’ on that tattoo/piercing box on applications… or for getting fired by my current boss for my tattoo-correlated incompetence!</p>
<p>@transfer- </p>
<p>That’s a dumb study for a few reasons. Primarily, it is illegal in most (all?) states for people under 18 to get a tattoo without parental consent. If they’re getting a tattoo, it’s impulsive and most likely illegal. I’m guessing THIS is a more logical reason that they’re more involved in “risky” behaviors. The tattoo is merely a byproduct of that personality, not vice versa.</p>
<p>^hah, you said that so much more succinctly than I did, but glad we agree ;)</p>
<p>Whether or not there ARE smart and successful people with tattoos/piercings or whether or not there’s lack of WIDESPREAD bias, etc., doesn’t really mean it’s not possible that you could be getting interviewed by someone who is old and conservative or who was raised by old conservatives and has either blatant or subconscious bias going on. I think to say “ugh, this is so outdated! I shall march into my Goldman Sachs interview with 1,000 tattoos and 87 piercings” is naive in a lot of ways. </p>
<p>Even if there’s no LOGICAL reason why an interviewer would think negatively of you, that’s not to say some bias or discomfort may still exist with “alternative” statements. That is, after all, why they’re called “alternative.”</p>
<p>^Lol, I’ve actually had this tab opened since yesterday so the last post was transfer’s. I didn’t realize anyone else had responded until I posted.</p>
<p>i have my nose pierced, first and second holes and my cartilage. ;D i want my third holes and tragus or another cartilage piercing hehe i don’t think they work against you but idk</p>
<p>Here’s the bottom line: </p>
<p>-If you have a piercing, make sure that it is easily removed if it violates some uniform code.
-If you have a tattoo, make sure that it can be covered up if it violates some uniform code. </p>
<p>Other than that, I really can’t imagine a scenario where a tattoo or piercing would affect your employability. </p>
<p>Also, a poster on another thread about this made a really good point. If you do think that tattoos/piercings can affect you employability, then when you need help from someone, go to the person with tattoos and/or piercings. If their credentials outweigh whatever bias an employer has about those things, then think of how qualified they should be!</p>
<p>romani’s post (#30) sums it up well.</p>
<p>I have a tattoo on my shoulder. It has never worked against me because it isn’t visible when I’m in a professional setting (or just in class).</p>
<p>And since transfers believes anecdotes count as fact, I’ll provide one of my own.</p>
<p>My mother, a PhD and sometimes professor, has 4 tattoos. One is on her ankle and can sometimes be visible if she’s sitting and her pants lift up a little.</p>
<p>I have a small nose piercing, both my earlobes and one cartilage pierced (and I’m a woman). None of my employers (arts and crafts store, university administration) have ever cared.</p>
<p>Every woman on the staff that I’m currently working on (I’m an RA) has a nose piercing. Including our boss, who works in university administration. Our boss also has several tattoos (she just got a new one yesterday), but you can’t see any of them (unless her new one is in a really visible place; I haven’t seen it yet).</p>
<p>I never understand the “people with tattoos/body piercings have lower IQs” thing. How old are you, transfers, 60?</p>
<p>It’s a form of body art/modification. People get piercings & tattoos for cultural as well as personal reasons. Does the young girl who gets a nose piercing because in her culture it promotes fertility and good fortune have a lower IQ than someone whose nose isn’t pierced?</p>
<p>Please.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably more significantly, I would imagine that an adolescent getting a tattoo has a high likelihood of doing so due to gang involvement, which would completely explain the results. Remember, correlation =/= causation. And you should always look at research articles critically and find sources of bias.</p>
<p>Okay, to address some of idiotic quibbling about the two studies I posted, I’m posting two more. One is a study of college students, the other a study of Brazilian teenagers (who don’t face the same tattoo laws as in the U.S.).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Relationships</a> between body modifications and very high-risk behaviors in a college population - page 6 | College Student Journal](<a href=“http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_36/ai_89809971/pg_6/?tag=content;col1]Relationships”>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_36/ai_89809971/pg_6/?tag=content;col1)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[SpringerLink</a> - European Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 21, Number 7](<a href=“http://www.springerlink.com/content/h01n75q25n616578/]SpringerLink”>http://www.springerlink.com/content/h01n75q25n616578/)</p>
<p>As you can see, across the world and across age groups, tattoos are associated with undesirable behaviors. There are no hidden variables or sampling biases that can explain why this observation is being made in study after study.</p>
<p>^Sorry, I can’t take a study seriously that calls tattoos and piercings “another risky behavior”. As long as you get them done by professionals, tattoos and piercings are NOT really risky behaviors. The majority of little girls have had their ears pierced and this has been a common practice for decades at least. Tell me that getting your ears pierced is risky. </p>
<p>Also, I think that the sample pool is much too small to be an indication for all people of that age.
</p>
<p>I cannot see any specifics from the second study so I can’t comment on that one.</p>
<p>ETA:
Additionally, every child in the ESL classroom that I work in from India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have pierced ears. Does this automatically make them more likely to engage in risky behaviors?</p>
<p>I’ll still take my anecdotal evidence of how my friend with tats and piercings has a better life than mine over those studies, frankly.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Those studies show that there is a positive correlation between body modification and risky behavior in a samples of undergrads in a small midwestern school and in Brazilian adolescents, not that A) tattoos are associated with undesirable behaviors, a hypothesis not tested in these studies and B) that people who are hiring will discriminate against those with body modifications based on those modifications alone. </p>
<p>It would be reasonable to say, based on these studies, that a significant enough portion of those with a significant number of body modifications have a higher probability of engaging in high risk behavior. You are misinterpreting the studies, however, if you say that </p>
<p>A) the majority of people with body modifications will settle for, are only capable of, or will inevitably work in
B) that the majority of people in upper white-collar careers will react negatively to body modifications (as you stated in post #11)
C) that
and D) that
</p>
<p>You are making false inferences and confusing correlation and causation (which I will say regardless of how much I hate throwing this phrase around). Nowhere in these studies do they say that an employer will be less likely to hire someone because of a tattoo. Nowhere does it say that, in today’s day and age, people will discriminate based on the presence of tattoos. Just because you’re of that frame of mind doesn’t mean that the majority of people agree with you, as evidenced by the amount of opposition you’ve received just on this thread.</p>
<p>People with tattoos who are denied work are denied work because of their past histories and/or poor qualifications, not because of their tattoos. Not all people with tattoos have poor histories or poor qualifications. Just because a number of people with tattoos are also engaged in risky behavior does not mean that you can judge someone based solely on whether they have a tattoo (that’s called acting on too little information, which is definitely an undesirable trait in anyone seeking an upper white-collar position).</p>
<p>Aero ftw .</p>
<p>the only things that would ever bother me are gages, and maybe obnoxious tattoos on the face like lil wayne has :P</p>
<p>I have several tattoos and each means a great deal to me, as each one is for someone close to me who has passed away. While in some situations I understand the need to cover up (weddings, funerals, interviews, etc) if someone told me I couldn’t have them out on a regular basis (at school or a job for example) it would result in my immediate departure. Those tattoos are a part of me and the people I love. I find it insulting for someone to take such offense to ink.</p>
<p>Most of mine aren’t visible anyway (the two that are Buddhist mantra on the underside of my forearm on my right arm and a macedonian poem in the same spot on my left arm [granted, it is in a Ouroboros but that symbol is severely misinterpreted]).</p>