Body Art

TATTOOS, PIERCINGS, BODY ART AND SMALL BUSINESS TO HIRE OR NOT HIRE? D. Lynn Hoffman, Metropolitan State College of Denver Elizabeth McVicker, Metropolitan State College of Denver Nina Radojevick-Kelley, Metropolitan State College of Denver ABSTRACT This paper examines the current issue of body art, its emergence in popularity, its role in current culture, and employers’ reactions. Is this a fad or an emerging culture that should be protected? The key questions are what are the rights of employees to “self expression” and what are employers’ rights to discriminate? The conclusion provides some guidelines for both. INTRODUCTION From childhood to maturity we are taught to distinguish between pleasant objects that might taste, smell, or feel good and dangerous ones. As we mature these cumulative decisions build a complex system of discrimination enabling adults to function effectively. While some discriminators are derived from personal experience, some are provided by our culture (Hofstede, 1997). Items used to enhance or distinguish personal appearance always have been and always will be prevalent. Archeologists have found ancient mummies with body art, earrings and piercings (Endo, 2007). The Baby Boomers as well as Generation Xers and Generation Yers have used self expression in different ways (Brooks, 2006; Generation X and the Millennials, 2005). Appearance discrimination has probably always existed from ancient cultures to today’s. Several countries report various forms of appearance discrimination including: New Zealand (Patterson, 2007), Australia (Davis, 2008), Canada (Tattoos, peircings seen to hinder job search: poll, 2007),

Small Business Institute® National Proceedings  Vol. 33, No. 1   Winter, 2009 

England (Davidson, 2008), Scotland (Horne, 2008), Ireland (More than skin deep, 2007), and the United States (Harper, 2008). The Popularity of Body Art Ancient cultures used tattoos and body piercings. The mummified remains of a 5,000 B.C. Iceman had...