Tattoos: Love Them or Hate Them?

It’s Valentine’s Day.  A day dedicated to love, to those we love, and things we love.  One thing I have a strong affinity to is the tattoo.  In fact, I have many friends, even HR friends, who have them.  But, it’s one of those things that can get you judged. And, while no one wakes up thinking they will judge other people by the way they look, a tattoo is a sure fire way to have people make assumptions about you.

Like anything, there are people who believe that skin art is just that….ART.  And of course there are those people who believe that anyone who would deface their own bodies must be horrible people.

The tattooed lady

In the corporate world, most organizations frown on visible tattoos.

We write policies that support this and have numerous reasons that having visible tattoos should not be allowed.  I’d like to take the other side today though and share some reasons that people embrace skin art.  I was watching a story on Ripley’s Believe It or Not and they highlighted a woman named Julia who had a rare skin condition called porphyria cutanea tarda, which causes skin blistering (and scarring) when exposed to sunlight.   She began with one tattoo to cover a scar and eventually found it as a way to cover her body scars and make her beautiful again.  This is only one of the positive reasons people choose to get a tattoo.

Why do people choose tattoos:

1. To cover scars
2. As memorials to loved ones
3. It makes the person happy
4. It reminds them of good memories
5. It represents a transition in life

There are certain jobs where tattooing, piercings, or other artistic expression tend to be a distraction.  It is becoming a more widely-accepted practice though.  I wonder how many years will go by before it’s considered mainstream and acceptable in all work places.

What do you think?  Do you love tattoos or do you think they are inappropriate?  And, if you have one, feel free to share a picture in the comments.