Tattoos do not make you unprofessional, ignorance does

Imagine two young, eager potential employees sitting in the office of their dream job applying for the new opening.   Student A interned at a well known company both his junior and senior year of college.  He was involved in many extra curricular activities and had a 3.5 GPA.  Student B never interned while in college but worked a part time job at a local restaurant.   He was not involved in any activities outside of class and finished with a 2.9 GPA.  Student B gets the job.  Why you may ask...that makes no sense, right? We were all totally cheering for Student A.

Student A lost the job because he had a tattoo sleeve on his left arm.


(Before we continue you should know one thing.  I currently have no tattoos.)


Now, this was a totally hypothetical situation, but when you stop and think about it - it happens every single day.  Tattoos are an art form that have been around since the Neolithic Age.  For those of you who aren't history nerds that roughly 10,200 B.C. For some, back then, it was thought to possibly be a healing mechanism.  Maybe to others it was a form of art or self expression as it is today.

Take a long hard look at the following people and tell me what they have in common...

Geoff Ramsey - Internet/Video Game voice actor, Co-Founder of Youtube sensation Rooster Teeth

Andrew Jackson - 7th President of the United States of America

Angelina Jolie - Award winning Actress and Filmmaker

Johnny Depp - Actor, filmmaker, producer and musician

Lebron James - Professional basketball player.  Two NBA 

championships (& counting...am I right? ;) and Olympic Gold Medalist 

Winston Churchill - United Kingdom Prime Minister. Greatest wartime leader of 

the 20th Century

Answer:  They are all more successful and talented than you'll ever be.  And they had/have tattoos.  

In many different jobs today, one can be fired or simply not hired because of the way they look.  Yes, we have laws banning prejudice in the workplace in regards to race, sex, and physical ailments. We are not allowed to deny someone a job because of the way they look.  EXCEPT, employers found the loophole - there is no law protecting your job if you have a tattoo.  

Many employers state simply that having a tattoo makes you and their company look unprofessional. Excuse me but last time I checked most people don't have "KILLER" tattooed across their knuckles or "I hate (place anything offensive here)" or "(Place curse word here)" tattooed on them.  Yes, if their tattoo says or looks actually offensive that is a different story.  But we are talking about regular people here tattooed with regular words or regular non-offensive pictures.  Who gave you the God-given right to call another man unprofessional based on his appearance?  I personally think the quick judgement is unprofessional myself.  

Let's just reinforce one thing... 

Things that SHOULD BE CONSIDERED unprofessional in a workplace: 

-Dating your supervisor

-Not paying over time

-Not giving an employee their pay

-Wearing sweatpants to the office

-Swearing/cursing/yelling at your employees/peers

Things that SHOULD NOT be considered unprofessional in a workplace:

-Professional body modifications such as ink on a skin

Tattoos do not deem you unworthy to perform any task assigned at any job.  Tattoos do not make you trashy. Tattoos do not make you a piece of trash. Tattoos do not make you a convict. Tattoos do not make you a bad person.  Tattoos do not make you unprofessional, ignorance does.

I'm sorry if a eloquently done flower on a shoulder offends you, but your judgement offends me.