Tattoos and Piercings in academia and beyond

[StrayCatalyst]

Shock and recoil? To me, that would depend on the type of tattoo. I know one moron who has an eye with fish hooks tattooed on his forehead - kind of an "I pledge allegiance to lifelong unemployment" thing. That, I would count as self hatred, perhaps, or a way to spare people the effort of talking to him to realize he's an idiot.

But most body modification has more class than that - and many of the people posting here are talking about math and physics related skin art. Jim, you may be overgeneralizing.

I have some friends who have no body mods at all - not so much as a pierced ear. To me, it's just a choice - and the type of art a person chooses, and where they want it, also makes an enormous difference.

I got my tattoo to see if I could sit through it - I have a crippling needle phobia, so it was a very unpleasant process, but I can look down at it and see that I was stronger than my fears. Brands are much faster, and heal more cleanly - more painful, less frightening. Pierces are painful and frightening - but the pain and the fear are gone in minutes, and the jewelry is there until removed.

 

[cjl]

Shock and recoil? To me, that would depend on the type of tattoo. I know one moron who has an eye with fish hooks tattooed on his forehead - kind of an "I pledge allegiance to lifelong unemployment" thing. That, I would count as self hatred, perhaps, or a way to spare people the effort of talking to him to realize he's an idiot.

Sure, but that's a judgment based on the content of the specific tattoo, rather than a sweeping generalization about body art/tattoos/piercings in general.

 

[turbo]

My recently-deceased friend was very heavily tattooed. He was a pharmacist and always worked in air-conditioned comfort, so covering up with long-sleeved shirts was no problem. He was very close friends with probably the best tattoo artist in the Eastern US, and N.B. did a lot of intricate work on him.

I have no tattoos, BTW, though I was tempted when N.B. visited our town to work out some issues. I thought it would be nice to have the profile of a sparrow-hawk's head on my shoulder. Nothing too fancy.

 

[Lavabug]

You are a stunningly pretty young lady. Drop the gargoyle act.

... those are my thoughts.


old jim

I concur, as a guy probably less than half jim's age, so I don't think it's an age gap thing. Especially since I probably share some of your musical tastes.

I am a male with very long hair (I take very good care of it) and even that is "pushing it" at some of the low-end retail jobs I've had. Actually got turned down for a job at a cinema once because of it, despite being the only one on the hiring table who didn't have tattoos, piercings, and probably a few run-ins with the law.

In my case I don't think anyone really cares in academia since I've seen plenty of academics with hair as long as mine and even longer, but obviously they are tenured and can do whatever they want. I can get away with a ponytail.

But I would be surprised if you managed to get away with piercings like those for any kind of white collar job.

 

[HayleySarg]

I actually do get away with it.

I currently work as a data analyst and miner/researcher/slave at a wireless real-estate company. They know my work is quality, and have said "we'll use your brain until you out-educate your payscale here"

I definitely get away with it. When the CEO comes in though for the day, I took them out. My friend has been here for 7 years and leaves her vertical labret piercings in, however. I have a little over a year here, so I'm not quite as comfortable. I had blue hair when I was hired, but no piercings. When I asked if it would be okay to get a facial piercing, my boss gave it the okay.

Actually, I had never heard anyone say something negative regarding piercings or tattoos with any sort of serious reasoning before this thread. At least, not to my face. I knew it existed, so I was curious.

I'm in a pretty conservative area too.

Cheers

 

[MarneMath]

Of course there are some companies and certain environments where that is perfectly ok to do. On the other side of things there are companies were wearing certain 'non-professional' clothing will bring unneeded negativity. My current job is rather strict sense it is a government agency. My previous job was extremely strict and it was private. Image was very important to the firm, and looking like you made millions and owned a private jet mattered a lot. The key idea to take away is that you will limit yourself the more extreme you want to get. That's a choice you will have to make it.

For the record, wearing your piercings at my office would get you fired. We have people who have them, but to wear them at work is considered unprofessional. If you want to make a statement, make it on your own time.

 

[Swegner99]

Why do people associate professionalism with tattoos? I can't speak about piercings because I have none, but I am heavily tattooed. Full sleeve on my left arm, bright and colorful, half sleeve on my right arm, my chest and half of my back. I am working class and proud of it, but I am also a professional. I am the parts manager at a Ford dealership. I have meetings with the owner weekly, I have been to regional meetings and shook hands with CEO's from Ford Motor Co. Not one person has looked down on it negatively, I get more questions then anything else. I compare it socially to technology, a lot of "old timers" got passed up by technology, assuming the same thing applies to these kind of social situations maybe?

 

[Evo]

Why do people associate professionalism with tattoos? I can't speak about piercings because I have none, but I am heavily tattooed. Full sleeve on my left arm, bright and colorful, half sleeve on my right arm, my chest and half of my back. I am working class and proud of it, but I am also a professional. I am the parts manager at a Ford dealership. I have meetings with the owner weekly, I have been to regional meetings and shook hands with CEO's from Ford Motor Co. Not one person has looked down on it negatively, I get more questions then anything else. I compare it socially to technology, a lot of "old timers" got passed up by technology, assuming the same thing applies to these kind of social situations maybe?

They're going to be more understanding of a car parts manager having tatoos, they understand your position in the company, though they won't be inviting you to cocktails with them at the country club the next day. Look at management, I"ll bet they don't have any. Don't fool yourself that your tattoos weren't a sign that you weren't one of them. That's the way it is.

 

[MarneMath]

I think once you have the job, no one is going to really fire you for them because obviously they felt it wasn't an issue for the environment. However, that isn't really the point. The idea is how does it limit you getting the job in the first place. As stated before, yes there are a good number of places where you can work with a sleeve and be ok. I have a sleeve and it's ok, I just have to keep it covered up. However, there are tons of places out there where people will not provide you the offer because of how you look and the prejudice they have towards tattoos. Yes, I do believe that younger generation are coming around to tattoos, but even so, I don't think that a lot of younger generation would want to see their financial planner with heavily tattooed arms and hand, or their police chief that way. The point is to realize that if you decide to get yourself ink, you have to realize that there will exist jobs that are now closed to you and you have to be ok with that. If you don't want that, then don't get inked. Yes, it is unfair, maybe unreasonable, and maybe a generational gap, but the fact of that matter is that how the current reality is.

 

[Astronuc]

Personally, I don't care about one's appearance, just as long as one is proficient and technically competent. But then that's just me.

 

[Evo]

People that may have crossed the line.

 

[Evo]

and...

 

[Astronuc]

People that may have crossed the line.

Somehow I doubt that they are proficient and competent in the areas of interest.

 

[davenn]

People that may have crossed the line.

No kiddin' haha ... to coin an old phrase ... " what was your first clue?" ;)

I don't mind seeing a few tats on people, some the art is amazing showing an incredible ability of the tattoo artist!

When I was young and stupid ( now I'm just old and silly ;) ) I did a tat on my forearm that I lived to regret and for many years intended to remove it ... well about 4 months ago I decided to cover it with a more appropriate tat.
And to keep with one of my pastimes ... Stormchasing, I got this done...

and have been seriously considering getting an erupting volcano on my other forearm to
note my other passion of geology

come on Astronuc, we will take a trip to the piercer together, you can have your ear redone and I can get my ear done for the first time ;)

Dave

 

[Astronuc]

come on Astronuc, we will take a trip to the piercer together, you can have your ear redone and I can get my ear done for the first time ;)

Dave

Yeah - one of these days.

BTW - I have plenty of scars from sharp or hot objects and glass.

My early years were high impact.

 

[Dominance]

There's a book by Carl Zimmer titled "Science Ink" that goes into detail about scientists that have tattoos, or people who are aspiring to be scientists. It isn't worth the price (It's hardcover with fancy writing which means $$$), but if you get a chance to look through it, there are some really neat ideas. I think the book is trying to dispel some of the prejudice concerning tattoos in the scientific community. Although I can't say I've heard too many stories of people getting fired over tattoos or piercings, rather than sheer incompetence.

I don't have any problem with people having tattoos, so long as they realize there will be people who might not like them (depending on what they are, e.g., a rotting corpse on fire). Piercings seem like a hazard, but I can't think of a moment where they were actually a hazard, so I have no problem with them either.

I don't think a tattoo is indicative of a person's work ethic, so I have no reason to discriminate based on that notion.

 

[256bits]

I don't think a tattoo is indicative of a person's work ethic, so I have no reason to discriminate based on that notion.

That is a good point, since it probably is so true. One does not need a tattoo to have a crappy attitude at the workplace.

The problem that I find is that with the tattoo industry growing, and as more shops open up, the level of artist may be declining. A really good artist can command 90$ a hour or more and create some fabulous designs advise clients, and be proud of the creation. Others just create crap, churn it out only for the money, a dime a dozen.

Myself, I would see a person with a nicely done tattoo as having a discriminatory mind with a sense of making selective choices. A bad tattoo reflects upon me as someone who may be more impulsive and lacking judgement somewhat.

That goes without saying what excessive coverage makes me feel since I still am in some kind of quandary about what drives those people, not from a judgemental aspect but from a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the motivation behind it.




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[lisab]

I used to be a bit at tattoos and piercings, but not anymore. I live in a small college town so I see the spectrum of body art. It's normal to me now and it's becoming more accepted in society in general.

I have a tattoo, my husband has one, my daughter has one (in progress). For each of us, it was a symbolic gesture, with special meaning.

Mine is about realizing that a struggle I've had all my life is going to stay with me all my life. There is no real resolution to this struggle, and that's OK.

My husband's is to commemorate climbing Mt Rainier. He said it was the hardest thing he's ever done but he was successful.

My daughter's is an homage to Darwin, and a reminder to trust reason over magical thinking.

I've worked with plenty of untattooed, uninked people who are basically deadwood types and leave me wondering how they survived the last two waves of layoffs. In my experience, there is no correlation between the quality of a person's character or work ethic, and what is or is not on their skin.