In an ever changing world where creativity seems to be at its peak, creative people are still being denied jobs every day.

Tattoos, piercings, colored hair, most employers don’t want their employees to have these due to possibly offending someone. When I was in middle school, it made sense to me for some reason. However, in 2016, as a senior at an art university I feel offended by this rule so many companies have in their dress code.

My colored hair, my dragonfly tattoo, it’s all a part of who I am. It’s how I visually express my creativity. As a matter of fact, dying my hair helped me take a giant step from my social anxiety problems. Through the past school year, everyone loved it. When I applied for jobs this summer, the managers loved it… but the company rules didn’t allow it. So in order to be able to pay the bills I had to strip away a piece of my personality, my personal breakthrough, and dye my hair to a natural color to the managers’ liking. Originally when I had dyed my hair, I thought I would be ready to re-dye it for a job. After doing so and looking at my reflection, it felt and looked like I stripped my personality just so that I could make a living.

Sure companies don’t want to potentially lose money due to driving away customers. But plenty of people have colored hair, tattoos, and piercings in this day and age. If someone’s offended by how their cashier looks while buying groceries, they can choose to hop in another line or even a self-checkout. It isn’t as if simple body modifications prevent one from doing their job properly. And the excuse “it’s a distraction” is ridiculous. People get used to the color and then they stop caring, and if they are distracted so much by someone’s hair, maybe they need to get their priorities straightened.

Now of course, there are a few companies that will hire creative people with these minor body modifications. And employers might be more lenient depending on region. But for the most part, finding a job that lets an employee display their creativity on their own body seems to be hard to come by.

One should never be ashamed or depressed because they had to hide their personality by dying their blue hair, or covering up tattoos, or taking out piercings.

It is 2016, isn’t it about time we started promoting self-expression?

Image:

http://images.cdn3.beautylish.com/11/08/24/ft_e4d9150b118b0866c6d8d3ebf2092b02.jpg