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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About tattoos?

142 replies

Morethanalittlebitconfused · 18/08/2014 07:59

Before I start I need to say I am quite heavily tattooed myself - albeit in places they can be hidden

I've read an article on Facebook today calling for a law to be passed stating people who are tattooed cannot be discriminated against in the world of work. AIBU to disagree with it?

People commenting on the article, and the article itself, say it's unfair people with neck, face and hand tattoos get turned down from jobs due to 'their expression of their personality' and think it's out dated and draconian that people who are capable of working get turned away

So AIBU to think if you want a professional job you either cover up or don't get tattooed in the first place?

OP posts:
normalishdude · 19/08/2014 14:49

I don't think it is completely different.

itsbetterthanabox · 19/08/2014 15:04

How is it not completely different? One is not being trained in how to do a job which would be mean you physically could not do it. The other is looking slightly different to how others in the job do but still being as good at an qualified for the job. How do they compare?

normalishdude · 19/08/2014 15:17

Just get over it. I disagree with you.

itsbetterthanabox · 19/08/2014 15:48

Cool fair enough Normalishdude don't explain yourself on a debate forum just be rude Hmm.
You realise the point of the op was to discuss this very point. If you don't want to you don't have to participate Wink

Fixitagaintomorrow · 19/08/2014 16:47

Yanbu. I'm heavily tattooed but all can be covered. As lovely as it would be to live in a world where a person's appearance is completely irrelevant when it comes to employment we all know it's not so if you put a tattoo on your face you can't really act all hard done by when no-one wants to employ you like you didn't know it would affect your chances of getting a job.

I actually know someone who had a big skull tattooed on his neck purely so it was easier for him to stay on jsa.

FyreFly · 19/08/2014 17:24

I personally wouldn't send away a tattooed nurse in favour of a non-tattooed one. I do think tattoos look unprofessional / scruffy but that doesn't impact on their ability to do their job.

However, if I was interviewing people on behalf of the company I worked for, then I have to be aware that who I choose reflects on me and on the company, both in ability and in image / representation. Visible tattoos that can't be covered up would be a bit of a negative.

ChelsyHandy · 19/08/2014 18:05

Funnily enough, I do know a tattooed former nurse, and he is an arse. I wouldn't have said the two were connected though.

itsbetterthanabox · 19/08/2014 20:00

This is definitely a class thing.

ForalltheSaints · 19/08/2014 20:22

A law banning tattoos from being a reason for refusing a job, promotion or dismissal seems to me only something that will benefit the legal profession. It is a choice unlike your gender, skin colour, ethnic origin or whether or not you have a disability.

Having the debate and then deciding not to have a law could make people think twice about tattoos in areas visible when wearing normal work clothes.

ThatBloodyWoman · 19/08/2014 20:27

It shouldn't matter and those whose opinions of others abilities are coloured by their appearances are small minded.
But, we all know it happens-all the time.

FacebookWillEatItself · 19/08/2014 23:42

Unless my family and kids go out of fashion (!!) My tattoos won't. Every piece is about a deceased family member, my children, my parents etc.

Yes they will most certainly go out of fashion. That whole thing of getting commemorative tattoos of births, deaths and marriages and the names of family members written up and down your arm or across the back of your neck like a shopping list, with the odd sentimental quote alongside is about as fashionable as it's possible to be right now, and already to the point of ubiquitousness.

And one day soon it will be very passé and people will stop doing it. It will be like being stuck with flares while everyone else in in skinnies.

pinkyredrose · 20/08/2014 00:03

Facebook you don't even know what her tattoos are. Could you be any more judgmental?

FacebookWillEatItself · 20/08/2014 00:11

God yes, massively more. I am not a fan of tattoos, as you will have gathered. I think most of them look tacky and common at worst, and at best they look lovely and striking but only for a while, and then I truly believe you will (almost always) grow tired of them and regret them.

But there are things I am FAR more judgemental and angry about than tattoos. They do nothing more than make me raise a weary eyebrow.

ravenAK · 20/08/2014 00:15

But not all of us follow fashion, Facebook.

I've been a goth for nearly 30 years, for example. Every so often bits of the sort of thing I like to wear get co-opted by mainstream fashion, which is fine as I can then buy things like the top I'm currently wearing which is from New Look, but it's not important to me whether how I look is fashionable or not.

I do have a large tattoo, which I like, & would like to turn into a full sleeve, & which is a cover up of a smaller tattoo which I also liked when I had it done at 18, but which had faded a bit 20 years later.

I don't like face/hand tattoos much, although a very conventional teaching colleague of mine had her eyebrows tattooed on recently & that is quite tempting...

Anyway, the premise in the OP is unworkable, I'd say. Although I don't have a huge amount of time for people who make ill-informed judgments about other people's appearance, I don't think it'd be practical to legislate against it.

Pipbin · 20/08/2014 00:33

About 20 years ago I used to work in a jewellers. We used to get lots of older ladies come in to buy clip on earring. One lady told me that women of her generation saw peirced ears as something 'gypsies did'.
Back then having a tattoo was shocking, having a visible one was unheard of outside of people who were 'outside society'.
What is acceptable changes all the time.

I personally don't have any tattoos, I don't see the point in them myself. I don't care if people do have them. However, if you have a tattoo on your face then you are in no position to bitch about not getting a job any more than you would if you turned up to the interview in grey joggers and a hoodie.

itsbetterthanabox · 20/08/2014 01:35

Facebook I don't actually know anyone that regrets their tattoos. That includes people in their fifties and sixties. I think people just don't care. It's not a big deal you just see it as part of your skin and take no notice.
They don't have to look bad after time either. New inks and tattooing techniques along with good aftercare and sun protection mean tattoos don't spread and fade like they used to. They also can be touched up every I decade or so to look like new.
Your attitude is very classist. So what if something is fashion based or if it's something we won't always be doing why do you care? It does not affect how someone performs their job. Saying they are 'common' is offensive and shows your bigotry which is much more off putting that body art.

Greenwayslide · 20/08/2014 01:38

Anyone getting a face tattoo should surely know the consequences. It's quite clearly a choice, what's next complaints about being turned down for wearing tshirts and flip flops.

Downamongtherednecks · 20/08/2014 02:32

I agree with the poster who talked about the fact that it is only in the UK that tattoos are generally more acceptable now. They still are not acceptable in whole swathes of the world - so you may be limiting your career choices by being unable to represent your company's international image. My DH and I both do "international" jobs and have been posted abroad several times -- it would have been dreadful to lose those opportunities because one of us had been tattooed. How would you apply a domestic UK law about tattoo discrimination to a global company?

Pipbin · 20/08/2014 08:31

I went to Japan a while ago. They have large shared baths in the guest houses there. They are very offended and upset by tattoos and it is advised that people with tattoos don't go in them.
Like is said above, would a company with many Japanese clients hire someone with a tattoo that couldn't be covered?

chubbyhez · 20/08/2014 08:58

That's sad to hear as Japan has a rich history of tattooing

Bunbaker · 20/08/2014 09:04

"Facebook I don't actually know anyone that regrets their tattoos."

I do. One of my friends spent £££ and underwent a lot of discomfort to get one lasered off a couple of years ago.

FacebookWillEatItself · 20/08/2014 09:11

quite a bit of regret on this thread

and here

In fact there are so many threads with people saying they regret their tattoo that it' will take too many time to link them all.

And lots of people saying that their designs have dated as well.

FacebookWillEatItself · 20/08/2014 09:13

The thing is, people get so defensive about them that even if they do regret them they are often reluctant to admit it.

I know of one mumsnetter who has argued vehemently for tattooing on some threads and has admitted to deeply regretting hers on another.

Original poster
Morethanalittlebitconfused · 20/08/2014 09:14

In japan tattoos are associated with gang culture because over there only gang members traditionally got tattooed

OP posts:
Heyho111 · 20/08/2014 09:30

The problem with tattoos is the picture. Often they are angry - skulls etc. they are the in fashion eg let's have stars on my neck (that was last year) Celtic band on arm (5yrs ago) tattooed lower back ( 6yrsago)
Angry tattoos are imposing whether they are intended that way or not. Fashionable ones make the person look like they follow the crowd and not that intelligent.
Individual tattoos are better. But because they are permanent they are making a statement. The problem is that people interpret the statement differently. One friend has a vine pattern on his leg. Just a picture he liked. Went on hol to sth Africa and get some people shouting at him. Turned out the tattoo was v similar to an anti black symbol that is used there. He was mortified.
If your working with or for people you will be making some people uncomfortable and that's counter productive. I have a tattoo but I can cover it up for that reason.