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Taylor Lindsay
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
September 27, 2016
Think Before You Ink
Introduction/Overview
Tattoos and piercings have become a part of pop culture. Today, it is more common to see
young adults with art inked on their skin. The new generation uses tattoos to express themselves
and interest, not thinking of the resulting consequences. Young adults graduate from college with
a degree, but still may struggle to find a job and an employer who accepts the ink peeking past
their sleeves. You may not have any tattoos and get the job, but after being hired the employer
may tell you to take out your body jewelry and never wear it to work. Tattoos and piercings are
controversial in career settings and can prevent you from being hired. I will be researching if
professional careers will start to accept tattoos and piercings due to their increase in popularity.
As the new generation emerges, it has become more common to see inked sleeves down
peoples arms and legs and gleaming studs not placed on the ear lobes. In 2014 Huffington Post
claims, Thirty-six percent of Americans from the age of eighteen to twenty-five have at least
one tattoo. That is more than one-third of American young adults. Most young adults between
these ages are in school and may have a part time job, but when they choose to enter their
professional careers problems can occur. Employers hire people with a neat, clean, and
professional image. Not surprisingly, sixty percent of professionals reported that visible tattoos
would have a negative impact on an applicants chance of being hired, and seventy-four percent
said the same thing about facial piercings, explained Garrett D. Kennedy, a writer for

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Labordish. In the past, there has been bias against individuals with tattoos perceiving them as
less intelligent, attractive, and more rebellious, but as businesses start to need new, fresh
employees, employers might have to accept tattoos and piercings.
To gain a better knowledge of my topic, I researched statistics about individuals with
tattoos and piercings and how it all became part of pop culture. I came across career websites
that had their opinions with this new movement, dress codes for professional jobs, and conflicts
that were taken all the way to court. I gained a lot of information from a website I visit often,
Huffington Post, and Work It Daily. I have mostly found bloggers and online magazine articles
and I feel that the crowd of people the articles are writing about are similar to the authors. The
authors seem fresh and educated, probably young adults as well. I have talked with my peers
about my topic and have learned that many of them are interested in what I may find. Some of
my peers are curious because they will soon be entering the professional work field covered in
tattoos, and others have chosen to indulge in ink and piercings knowing that they dont want to
take the professional career route anyway. After researching my topic and talking with people
about it, I feel more confident about how Im going to present my idea.
Tattoos and piercings are very controversial subjects and many factors influence the
opinions of them, especially age and when you were born. According to Huffington Post,
Twenty-five years ago tattoos were more common on prison inmates, individuals in motorcycle,
and street gangs. Young adults were raised perceiving tattoos and piercings as unpleasant and
now have gotten older, became parents, and have been in professional careers for a while. They
are the employers. Todays young adults have more free will and view their bodies as canvases.
You can get any piercing you want by the age of twelve with parent consent and dont need
consent for a piercing or tattoo by the age of eighteen. They feel misunderstood and

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discriminated against when told they cant be hired because of their appearance. Work It Daily
explains that still, many traditional places favor a conservative look and have the right not to hire
an individual with a tattoo that they believe is offensive or inappropriate in the work place.
Amanda Haddaway, a writer of Work It Daily, continues to explain, Employers are prohibited
from discriminating on age, gender, disability, and national origin. However, there are no laws
that prohibit discrimination on visible tattoos and piercings.

Initial Inquiry Question

What significant factor will have to occur before tattoos and piercings will be nationally
accepted in professional careers?

My Interest in this Topic

My navel piercing was my seventh piercing when I turned sixteen. My aunt works for a
nice company in Greensboro and hires individuals, and when she found out about my additional
piercing she wasnt too happy. She lectured me on and off for a few weeks and told me how she
had turn down many well-qualified people because of their piercings and tattoos. Of course that
didnt stop me because I now have eighth piercing. I had been searching tattoo inspirations on
Pinterest and Tumblr a whole year before I planned on getting one for my eighteenth birthday.
My peers told me that once I got one I wouldnt be able to stop and they were right. I want a
couple more and still search ideas, but I often am weary about the size and placement of the
tattoo. I get this great idea and then Im like, No, I cant put it there. I need a job. Im
interested in the future of tattoos and piercings because it affects me and has affected people who
Im close with. Im interested in how the things I love about myself may collide with my career. I
know that even though tattoos and piercings have become more common, theyre still not

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accepted in the professional work place. I dont know if there are specific tattoos that are
overlooked and as the new generation progresses will tattoos and piercings be overlooked all
together.

Next Steps
I plan to gather more opinions and examine arguments from blogs and articles online. I
will research national companies online like banks and attorneys offices to find patterns in the
people they have hired. I will take advantage of the time we spend in the library to read through
magazines that are up to date with pop culture and whats going on today. I feel that magazines
and their websites will help me gather a lot of information. I want to talk to people one on one
and gain information from every perspective, weighing all the factors.