BlogBreak

By Ron

July 17, 2006 09:01 AM | Link to this

That had to be the most sensitive metal detector on this planet. I have piercings that don’t trip the radar even at the airport. My question ties back to when the discussion was about tattooes. When have you as an individual gone too far for the corporate environment with your personal expression and body adornment? Every company should accept a certain amount of diversity in it’s people, but not everything and everyone will fit in. Many decisions are made on that “FIRST” impression. If you walk into an office of stuffed shirts with a body full of metal, you are likely to be shown the door. I believe in and have my own markings and piercings, but understand there is a time and place for everything.

By Metal Freak

July 17, 2006 10:05 AM | Link to this

I have 5 hoops in each ear, my eyebrow, nose and belly button all pierced too. Corporate America didn’t approve, so I decided to get a job for an independent web company. I have never been happier to work at a place that accepts individuals as they are. In fact, they encourage self expression!

By rebecca

July 17, 2006 10:28 AM | Link to this

Good topic! I am not “overly-pierced,” but I do stretch my ear piercings, much to the dislike of my husband and family. I am at a gauge 0 (about the diameter of a fat pen), and hope to go up at least one more gauge to 00. It has yet to affect me at work, as far as I know. But it is an important part of my identity.

The corporate workplace is becoming an increasingly diverse place, especially with the rising popularity of piercings, tattoos, hair coloring, etc. I am fotunate that I work in a corporate environment where others see me expressing my individuality and say, “Those crazy Marketing folks!” But I do wonder how far I can take it before it becomes more of a distraction at work.

I pierced my own nose when I was 14 with a safety pin - KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! - and stopped wearing jewelry in it when I stepped into the corporate world about 7 years ago. I have since longed to get it back. Do I just start wearing one again, and see if anyone says anything to me? I am also planning on getting my first tattoo soon, which will be visible if I wear a short-sleeved shirt. Will this keep me from wearing what I want, or will I be able to display it proudly without worrying that I’m hurting my career opportunities?

By JustAskin'

July 17, 2006 11:20 AM | Link to this

I have 10 piercings…ranging from head to toe and a tattoo. I work in the corporate world. The one’s that are visible I remove them, out of respect for myself. Many people in the corporate world are not forward thinkers. I choose to keep it on the safe side.

By Jo

July 17, 2006 11:30 AM | Link to this

How a person looks & dresses has no bearing on their abilities. I’m lucky in that I work for a small, indie company. I wear a navel ring, sport tattoos & have come into work with magenta hair & that is fine.

By Bethany

July 17, 2006 11:36 AM | Link to this

Wow! This is so timely for me. Almost two years ago, I switched jobs and I had to remove my nose piercing. This really, really bothered me…it wasn’t a large hoop or offensive in any way…it was a tiny diamond that was hardly noticeable, and when it was noticed, the comment was almost always, something along the lines of “How cute!”

I worked in newspaper and radio w/ the nose piercing, but I now work in a University setting. One would think that a University would be a pretty liberal/ open-minded place, but not so. For students, yes…for staff, no.

I am now looking to change jobs and I am wondering about putting it back in (actually re-piercing it!), but I wonder if it would hurt my chances of getting another job.

My husband says that is the price I have to pay to be a grown up, but I don’t think that has to be the case. Who ever said that grown ups can’t have piercings and still be responsible and productive?

By dorae

July 17, 2006 11:41 AM | Link to this

Most jobs have a dress code. If you want to work you just need to abide by the dress code. If they allow body decoration then wear it if they don’t hide it or take it off.
If you don’t like the dress code go somewhere else. They are writing your pay check and have a right to request that you confirm to their dress code.

By LHK

July 17, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this

I have a nose piercing, but I take the jewelry out every morning before work. I never asked my company if it would be okay to wear it; I took it out before my initial interview and figured that since they liked me all suited up and non-nose-ring-adorned, I would stay that way. I try to err on the side of caution when it comes to work-related things that are within my control. In the past, I had several temp jobs that gave me a lot of grief about my nose ring, and I felt so silly and young getting in arguments with people about a piece of jewelry. Oddly enough, when I did a 6-month stint at a conservative lobbying firm, they had no problem with me wearing a nose ring and sitting at the front desk… but at another company, sitting in a file closet and shuffling papers and folders all day was not a job I could do with a visible non-ear piercing.

By Prootwadl

July 17, 2006 12:03 PM | Link to this

My wife has 13 earrings (five hoops in one ear and eight in the other) and she works in a corporate setting, but they’re small hoops and not all that visible, and nobody at her workplace seems to mind. They were also not a factor in the positions she held before her current one.

Ear piercings aren’t quite so “in-your-face” (pun not intended) as other types of facial piercings, though.

By Erin

July 17, 2006 12:25 PM | Link to this

Has anyone done a long term study on people that have multiple piercing? Do they become self-destructive later in life? Or do they have constructive lives without complications? That would be an interesting study and would answer a lot of questions for employers.

By SW

July 17, 2006 12:44 PM | Link to this

I’m all for an indivdual freedom of self-expression, I went through the same thing decades ago in my long lost youth. I told my kids the same thing when it came to tattoo’s and piercings, how much do they mean to you, how much are you willing to sacrifice for your expressions. My daughter had a tongue stud and a nose ring after she graduated from college with her degree in hand. Her field is not as diverse as some of these postings and she was not able to find the type of work she studied hard for, to be able to use her degree she worked hard to get and where my money went. After a year or so of waiting tables and working as a clerk in a store that not only accepted her look, they even encouraged it, she tried conforming a little. She let the hardware go, she got a job and basically grew up some. Life is about compromises and changes, you can’t be the rebellious twenty-year old forever. She looks like corporate America now, but inside that head of hers, the rebel we all love and admire still lives, it’s just that she has learned to ‘play the game’ now and her checking account appreciates it. Your image is just not about you, it says a lot about he choices you made in your life. Some employers put more stock in those choices than others, I may not agree it, but…it’s life in the real world.

By Lola

July 17, 2006 12:58 PM | Link to this

There’s definitely a time and place for things. If you work a “real” job (i.e., corporate world), piercings and tattoos are not acceptable, and even in a very casual office like mine where people can wear shorts and sandals on a daily basis, anyone with a piercing would be immediately judged as too immature for the job, since it seems to only be young people with no real ife experience who have the desire to mutilate their bodies like that. If you work a job like serving drinks at Starbucks or selling books at Barnes and Noble, I’m sure having piercings and tattoos are no problem.

By singlemom

July 17, 2006 01:24 PM | Link to this

I personally think body piercings are gross and disgusting. My opinion. While I have no problems with pierced ears, I have a major problem with pierced tongues, lips, eyebrows, nipples, etc. While I understand “statements” and “individually” I have to wonder what goes through peoples minds when they get these body piercings. Why would anyone want an earing in their nipple?, or other private parts? I just don’t get it. You may call me old fashioned, and that is just fine with me. I don’t care for Tatoos either, especially on women. They just look tacky and trashy.

By lynn

July 17, 2006 01:51 PM | Link to this

I’m with you singlemom. Walk into an interview with me and have anything other than ear piercings (limited number too) I’m going to politely say “thank you, we’ll keep your resume on file” and then toss it in the trash.

By Rod

July 17, 2006 01:51 PM | Link to this

Now, as in the past, tattoos and unusual piercings (anything other than one per ear for a woman) is an underlying subcontious reflex to one’s lack of self-confidence or security in one’s self.

People get piercings and tattoos because they think they are unattractive as is and need some additional adornment - or they really have a need to get attention and will stop at no cost.

Anyone secure in themselves stays away from such things. So, yes - having tattoos and piercings in a work environment is bad. They tell others how inferior you truly are.

By amy

July 17, 2006 02:02 PM | Link to this

i had to laugh outright at Lola’s comment about only “young’uns with no real life experience” getting body mods (especially since “real” jobs are not only in the corporate world). i am a 30 year old corporate “player” who enjoys using my generous bonuses for body mod work that i simply couldn’t afford as a “young’un with no life experience.” i just don’t know many 20 year olds with $4-600 of disposable income for a quality tattoo or $200 for a quality piercing with appropriate jewelry.

(and by the way folks…”earring” is not a universal term for piercing jewelry. earrings go in the ears. hence the name. thanks!)

i suppose the sign of my maturity is that i accept that the close-minded individuals like Lola and singlemom just wouldn’t get it, and since it’s not particularly a good use of my time to field comments/questions and stares from them when i am trying to do my job, i prefer to keep my body mods under wraps, or under my conservative office attire. funnily enough, i am more aghast at the thought of people in my office wearing such inappropriate attire as shorts and sandals to work than i am about the office manager at my office who dresses very well but happens to have an exposed tattoo. i agree that you reach a point where the modifications become more of a distraction than an enhancement, but you won’t typically find these people working in a conformist setting anyway.

i know that there will always be people out there who feel threatened by anyone who challenges the status quo or their comfortable, pre-conceived notions of propriety. the trick is for us open-minded, creative people to learn to accept these folks and try to communicate/interact at their level so that everyone is comfortable. =]

By D. Diggler

July 17, 2006 02:38 PM | Link to this

Rod, you are a judgemental a*******hat, and I hope you don’t pass your arrogant bigotry onto any children you come into contact with..

You prudish missionary-only types wouldn’t understand the changes in sensations and utility that non-obvious piercings can provide. Sensuality need not only lead to procreative activities.

For the record, I don’t believe the image that anyone I would advise to project at a formal interview should include any sort of obvious body modifications if the job for which you are applying is such that needlework could provide a distraction in your daily work environment (your future co-workers have led insular lives), or if the job function involves interfacing with customers by any non-verbal or electonic means. I have a tattoo that is covered by any short sleeve shirt, and I had nipple piercing that had to be removed for (unrelated) surgery and never made its way back in. I had a tongue ring, but I had it pierced far enough back so that it wasn’t easily seen when I spoke. I found that typically if you can see someone’s tongue ring it is generally because they want you to, and they want to draw your attention to it. Not all people with piercings or tattoos are attention junkies with self-esteem issues. Feel free to draw your own conclusions. I had mine for 6 months before my parents (with whom I lived at the time) noticed it (this was 12 years ago).
Believe it or not, the tongue ring didn’t hurt. While you have a large number of nerve endings along the surface of the tongue, you don’t have any pain receptors inside. Biting your tongue while eating french fries hurts a whole lot more than getting your tongue pierced. the worst part is the aftercare - you have to rinse with listerine anytime you put anything besides water in your mouth for at least a week. It swells, and you don’t want to use a straw while it’s healing either.

I removed the tongue ring permanently when I happened on a career opportunity that I could take advantage of by making such a small change in the image I projected. I make about 4x what I made when I removed the piercing, but now that I have more than established my credibility with the company I could probably get away with the ring. Narrow minded clowns like Rod who look for a reason to judge/patronize/hate people that don’t look like themselves really burn me. Bigoted jerk.

By Noelle

July 17, 2006 02:47 PM | Link to this

Just because one company frowns on body modifications doesn’t mean most do. My company is “business professional” dress most of the year, but many employees have tattoos and/or piercings other than the standard earlobe kind.

And for the vast majority of people, body modification has nothing to do with a lack of anything. I have no piercings (not even my ears), but I do have a tattoo, and my self-confidence and self-esteem are just fine.

Yes, it’s true that someone with many obtrusive piercings or tattoos may have problems in a corporate environment, and some people do get body modifications out of low self-esteem or a need for attention. But just like most people can be social drinkers while a small minority become alcoholics, most people with body modifications have no problems (or, at least, no more than someone without them).

I don’t have a problem if you don’t like body modifications; that’s your opinion, and you have every right to it. But just because you choose to have a piercing or tattoo doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you!

By flygirl

July 17, 2006 03:17 PM | Link to this

Rod, you can’t be serious. I have a few piercings (5 in ears and a navel piercing) and it’s not because I think I’m unattractive. Having been an evening wear model and doing commercials will probably vouch for that. And I’m definitely don’t have a lack of self-confidence. My career doesn’t allow for that.

I got my first “regular” ear piercing when I was a kid. The rest of mine commemorate some event in my life, high school graduation, college graduation, etc. Most people get tattoos for the same reasons.

When I went for my first “real job” interview before college graduation, I took out the extra ear piercings to play the game. Our company has a dress code for people who deal with customers, and I follow it while I’m at work. When I’m on my own time, that’s a different story.

Agreeing with Amy, those that get it, get it. If you’re not in that crowd, why do you care so much?

By Belle

July 17, 2006 03:33 PM | Link to this

I must agree with you Amy. I keep my tattoo under wraps…no one sees it.
My mother ran a hospital until about a year ago when she retired. He co-workers were shocked to find out that she had not 1 tattoo on her ankle but 2. She got her first at age 60! She wanted to experience it, did it, liked it so she got antoher one.
In some cases age may have something to do with it but it is so silly to make a blanket statement about everyone.

By Rebecca

July 17, 2006 04:07 PM | Link to this

Wow, I am astonished at the amount of judgemental people that have posted! I guess I am still shocked that people can be so hateful. It’s one thing to say that you don’t agree with piercings and tattoos; it’s another to say that people with body modifications are, to quote Rod, “inferior.” (Note to Rod - Get spell check!) There was a time that African-Americans, women, Jewish people, and many others were called “inferior,” as well - and in some cases, still are - but that doesn’t make it the truth.

Fortunately, many people that look a little different are able to get good jobs, a good education, and be successful and happy in life. And I would bet that the body modification phenomenon is something that the workplace will have to adjust to, because it’s not going away anytime soon.

By Ron

July 17, 2006 04:22 PM | Link to this

Way to go, Amy! I have to agree with you. You may be able to see a tad bit of ink on my arm on a casual Friday. Never will you see me in clothes that are two sizes too small and flip flops and have me call that proper business attire. It is all a matter of taste and personal expression. It is unfortunate that someone like Rod would think that a person like me who takes the route of adornment is lacking in self-confidence. Any person who truly understands would know that it is an art form. I, as an art collector, choose to adorn my body (which as bodies and looks go would probably even turn Rod’s poor head) with great art. My ink and piercings create an even better look and add to MY story rather than leave a blank canvas. It is what I do with it, who I share it with and most of all that I want it as a part of me. On the subject of work and how modifications play a part - they don’t. Again, this is my choice. As Rod would claim, that by simply having them I am an inferior employee. I am a Manager in a corporate environment and have been for the last 11 years. I guess that shoots a big “00 gauge piercing” hole in his theory.

By CD

July 17, 2006 04:24 PM | Link to this

Amy -

I find it interesting that a 30 year old would refer to herself as a “player”…….hummmmmmm

By Dave

July 17, 2006 04:53 PM | Link to this

Some of these posts are hysterical. I know a very high powered woman partner at a highly respected Atlanta firm who has a tattoo on her rear end and I would hire her to represent me in a heartbeat. Most people have no idea what others have going on under their clothes, nor do they need to know. I would bet that many would be surprised what they might find.

By Jo

July 17, 2006 04:54 PM | Link to this

RIGHT ON, Rebecca! You GO, girl! Need I say more?

By GenXDen

July 17, 2006 05:01 PM | Link to this

@ ROD. What kind of nim-ROD neo-facist are you? Do you not realize that there are MANY different cultures around the world that not only accept body art and piercing in their society, but actually mandate it as a right of passage? According to your ill-directed logic, these people are obviously lacking in self-worth! Not only that, but isn’t it the right of every person to decide how they wish to adorn their body? Who are you to say that it’s inappropriate? What a marooooon!

By JD

July 18, 2006 08:28 AM | Link to this

I have 2 tattoos and I previously had my tongue pierced. I opted on removing my tongue ring once I received a promotion on my job where I was more in the public eye. I chosed to remove it due to the fact the type work I do required me to obtain the utmost respect from my clients. I didn’t want to be preceived as an irresponsible black female in the corporate world. I was not required to remove it but it was solely my choice since I have work at the same job for 5 years and I just removed it about 1 1/2 years ago. So I think it is the persons choice or if there is a dress code in place, either you abide by it or you look for employment else where.

By Capt

July 18, 2006 08:44 AM | Link to this

What kind of moron spells moron….marooooon

By GenXDen

July 18, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this

Hey Capt! It’s an old joke. The fact that you didn’t get it just shows the level at which you operate. You can check the spelling on this posting if you’d like…it’s all quite correct. Have a fantastic day! Signing off!

By Capt

July 18, 2006 09:03 AM | Link to this

Oh I get it GenX I was just wondering if you did. Speaking of the “level upon which I operate” try this on for size…(get it). I own my own company, employ 136 people that make a pretty decent living because of my ability to lead. I have a dress code that does exclude piercings except for one in each ear. If my employees want other piercings in places not visible to the public I have no problem with that. However, the success of my business is directly dependent on our ability to satisy the general public with our product and its presentation. Not one of my employees has chosen not to work with me because of our dress code.Most of my employees have been with me for over 12 years and I offer such benefits a paying one half of the tuition for their children to go to any public college in the State of Georgia. Sooooooo, don’t think because your body is full of holes that the good Lord did not bring you into this world with that you are unique…It seems to me you are just following the pack….now I am signing off and going to be productive instead of answering a lost cause such as yourself.

By GenXDen

July 18, 2006 11:03 AM | Link to this

@ Capt. I really don’t care how hard you blow your own horn. The fact of the matter is that you suffer from Rectal-Cranial Inversion and require the help of a Proctologist to straighten that out for you. You ASSUME that I have piercings. NO…WRONG! What I have is the decency to let other people make decisions about their body without having some God-complex dictate how they should look. I am just so sure that “your” company is just the proverbial wonderland you paint. Let’s face it, anyone can tout anything without it being the case.

By kellix

July 18, 2006 02:23 PM | Link to this

Facts are facts in the corperate world. I hate to say it, but I have friends who have tattoos if you saw him in a shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt he looks like he has no tattoos at all, take his shirt off and hes covered with them. If you want a high ranking job or better position, how you look is 90% of it. I have talked to managers and execs and they could have a drink with someone all day that had tatts but they wouldn’t dare hire them. If you work in a indie company or you win the lottery, you can wear whatever you want. But when your working on someones elses dime they expect to see something, and that something has no tattoos or piercings. Sucks growing up.

By Wow, did I do that?

July 19, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this

I have my nipples pierced. You can’t see them unless it’s freezing, and I happen to have a few additional bumps. I wanted to have my nose done because it would look adorable, but because of wanting to have a career instead of look cute, i opted not to. I dont want to go through the pain of a tat. I figured, if it’s behind a shirt, and a bra, no harm done, and I can enjoy them privately.

By Miss.Priss

July 21, 2006 09:17 AM | Link to this

Reading this article just shows the level of judgement in the “real” world.To Rod, I personally have 3 tatt’s(all visible) and 5 piercings and have had no issues because of them.I have worked as a model and as an accountant for a huge company here in Atlanta.To those that have said tatt’s and piercings are for “yunguns” my father (who is in his 50’s)actually got matching tatt’ s in memory of my step mom that lost her battle with cancer. For educational purposes,35% of women and 30% of men in our country have piercings and/or tattoos.