Office Professionals and Tattoos

There was a day when the only people who sported tattoos were considered outsiders; people who had rejected mainstream society and its confining rules and regulations. Tattoos, of any sort, were a symbol of the renegade—the biker, the rock-and-roller, the cultural pirate. Times, however, change, and nothing underscores this more than the role tattoos play in society, including the workplace. For many younger office professionals, tattoos are commonplace, and chances are more twenty-somethings in your office have tattoos than those who don’t.

This article elaborates on how tattoos have gained a foothold in our cultural landscape, “In the last ten to fifteen years, however, body art has enjoyed a renaissance that makes it no longer “fringe” but something else. Between 8 and 24 percent of respondents in national surveys in North America and Europe report having at least one tattoo. Because getting a tattoo is now safer and cheaper, you might choose to wear a rose on your ankle just because it’s pretty. Tattoos show up on celebrities, in advertising campaigns, on action figures, and even on Barbie.”

It’s been a slow evolution. Tattoos didn’t just suddenly gain acceptance at the office. They slowly emerged from beneath long sleeve shirts, the backs of necks, ankles and abdomens and even the backs of ears. But now they are seemingly everywhere, signifying how not just workplaces, but people have changed their definition of professionalism.

Do you have a tattoo, or are tattoos frowned upon at your workplace, and if so, how do you feel about it? Do you think the proliferation of tattoos are a sign that work attire and personal presentation are changing for the better or worse?

Photo courtesy of mytat_2s.