In today's world, people are finding new places to poke holes in their bodies and adorn them with jewelry. Along with that, they are placing pieces of art on every inch of skin. And I LOVE IT! I think that piercings and tattoos are a great way to express yourself and show the world who you really are. Plus they are a nice way of letting the world know that you are an edgy person! But in today's society, it is seen that having unique/obscure piercings or visible tattoos might be unprofessional. And it almost seems as if there is a debate going on about this. Now I personally only have two piercings, my earlobes and industrial bar, and no tattoos on my body. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have something to say about this.

Piercings and Tattoos in 2016

We are living in an age where these two things are becoming more and more visible on a person's body. It seems to be that we are moving away from what it used to be. Tattoos and piercings were a sign of rebelling and going against the norm. and was a fairly hot-button topic in families and homes. But nowadays some piercings and tattoos can’t be easily hidden which is becoming more common and is actually pretty neat. I mean, if you are going to pay a lot of money to have something placed on your body wouldn’t you want to show it off? Some of these tattoos and piercings cost hundreds of dollars and deserve to be shown off to the world. Lots of planning and effort go into getting a tattoo and piercing. So like I said why not be proud of them and show it off. Granted yes there are offensive tattoos and piercings that shouldn’t really be “flaunted”. But still, I see that they should be appreciated. These pieces of art leave some sort of mark on your body for the rest of your life. Might as well show them off.

Is it professional?

In my own opinion, I don’t how a tattoo or a piercing can be considered unprofessional. I see them as a piece of art and that they aren’t a nuisance. Now yes I understand that there are some piercings and tattoos that can possibly hinder a business. But I am talking about tattoos or piercings that are absolutely obscene and offensive. What we have to remember is that people with tattoos and piercings are not protected under employment rules. Meaning that it is all right for a business to discriminate against you for your tattoos or piercings. It just all really boils down to the business and how they feel about this stuff. In my eyes, though, this is unfair, but can also be understood. Yet there are companies that are more than willing to let someone who has tattoos or piercings work for them. Think about technology companies wishing to project a hip image or a sense of edginess accept individualism better than Fortune 500 companies and other large employers. Sometimes you just need to put a little effort in your job search to find someone who is willing to look past your tattoos or piercings.

At the end of the day, this topic will not be something that we don’t talk about or see dying out. It is something that has been a part of our lives for ages and will be for a long time. I mean there are more and more places on your body that you can get a piercing. Also, there are more tattoos being skillfully done every day. We just need to start learning to accept the fact that they aren’t going away.