I was talking to a member of the public about the event, which she was interested in bringing her grandchildren to, when suddenly she grabbed both of my hands, moved closer to my face, and said "Please, please, PLEASE take those THINGS [piercings] out of your lip. You're a pretty girl, but they absolutely ruin your face." I laughed and said that since I loved them and felt more confident with them I was going to keep them, but thanked her for the "pretty" compliment. I was a little surprised that a person would think it acceptable to say that to someone who they've never met before, but I thought that she'd leave it at that so I carried on explaining more about the event. She interrupted me, saying "Honestly, why? Why do you feel the need to have those on your face? I suppose the one on your nose isn't as bad... At least you're not covered in tattoos too." I took this opportunity to take my cardigan off and show her the tattoos on my arm and back, as well as the piercing on the back of my neck, and followed it up by saying "And I love these, too!"
"I just think that people like you must be deprived of something. You must come from a broken home, or have missed out on something in your childhood - or are you a prisoner?" I didn't really know how to respond but kept my happy "work" face on and just laughed along. She continued - "Honestly, only prisoners get tattoos and piercings."
It got me thinking. A person's criminal status or family background does not necessarily influence their decision to modify their body - I can't speak for everyone, but I know that the reasons I got my tattoos and piercings have nothing to do with those things. I get body modifications because I like them; aesthetically I find them attractive, I enjoy designing tattoos for myself that have some form of personal significance, and I love seeing how I look with different piercings. It's my body, after all, and if I made any decisions I later grew to regret then the only person it would affect is myself. My modifications are not offensive - even though people often treat them as if they are.
Many employers still discriminate against applicants with body modifications - with most of those who do claiming that it is to "keep their workplace professional." But what is it about having tattoos and piercings that suddenly makes me incapable of maintaining a professional image and performing outstandingly at work? If the modification is offensive then maybe the employer has a point - otherwise, I believe that they're just trying to find an excuse for their own ignorance. People always say to me: "What if your perfect employer has a policy against tattoos?" Often I don't know how to answer that question, since I just - very optimistically - believe that soon, tattoos in the workplace will be accepted as the generation who deem tattoos to be for "prisoners only" fades out into retirement. But really, if a potentional employer discriminates against me solely due to the fact that I have tattoos and piercings, then there is no way I would consider that person to be my "perfect" anything. I am not interested in working for a company that would be unwilling to employ me due to my body modifications, as they are a part of my personality and if an employer can't accept that then they are, essentially, rejecting part of me.
As a student, I currently have two casual job roles that are both based within my university - I tour prospective students around the campus and answer their questions about student life at Lancaster, and I also act as an administration assistant in some of the offices on an "as and when they need me" basis. My piercings have never been questioned, my tattoos have only ever been complimented or ignored, and to me, that is how it should be. If someone doesn't personally like my modifications - and they are perfectly entitled to their own opinion - then that's absolutely fine, but if they were to discriminate against me because of my mods then really that's only a bad reflection upon them, not me.
If you judge or discriminate against people because of their appearance, modified or otherwise, then I honestly have no respect for you whatsoever. As I said above, you're entitled to your opinion, but it's a fact that the presence of modifications in a person doesn't change who they are or what they are capable of. And if you think otherwise, then my opinion is that you really need to re-evaluate yourself.
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