Help my petition? (Tattoos in the workplace).

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Replies

  • teacupowl
    teacupowl Posts: 104
    I will definitely sign! I feel like tattoos are a beautiful representation of individual art and style. I've never agree with the stigma behind them. Just because they used to be associated with gangs and prison in the past doesn't mean they should always be seen that way. Obviously, the people who get tattoos now are not the same as they were 60 years ago. We shouldn't cling to an antiquated way of thought.

    And it is discrimination. Judging a person based on how they look is always discrimination. Whether you're black, Asian, transgender, flamboyantly gay, obese, anorexic, pink-haired, or covered in tattoos, no one should be judged solely on their appearance.
  • Drenched_N_Motivation
    Drenched_N_Motivation Posts: 1,004 Member
    ...and to the dude you are talking to...tattoos aren't scary. No scarier than a faux hawk, or cuffed sleeves on the muscles...

    they arent scary to me but to a lot of older conservative people, they are

    I dont make the rules or peoples attitudes but lets stay real
    To a lot of older conservative people, black men or large men with a lot of muscles are scary. Should they not be allowed on the police force?

    is that the same thing? tats have a stigma of prison with older people. blacks and muscles dont
    They do to some older people. I have a tattoo and my grandmother didn't think I got it from a stint in prison. But if she sees a black man walking down the street, she tends to think he's involved in drugs or gangs, and black women tend to be prostitutes in her mind. And while muscles may not make one think of prison, prison usually makes one think of muscles (since they don't do much else, they usually do a lot of working out).



    Jesus, you're grandma sounds like a friggin riot!
  • KharismaticKayteh
    KharismaticKayteh Posts: 322 Member
    Thank you everyone for your support (or your honesty in your opposition), but I will no longer be replying to this post. This post is not about debating any opinions, but simply asking a favor. If you're up for it, thanks! If not, I'm not hurt over it.

    If you want to keep debating over it, then whatever, I can't make you leave. Have a stellar night~!
  • vade43113
    vade43113 Posts: 836 Member
    No, I'm not sure whether it's in the main post, but it is in a few posts replying to others. I'm not sure if you realize this, but the point of a petition is to show said decision maker that people back this up. Whether I speak to the chief of police, the mayor, or anyone else, I don't want them to think I'm only one opinion.

    No, they could give you the reason behind the change... then you can bring that information to the population of your city, and have a list of people's signatures who control there seat of power, not just some random people on the web, with no true way of telling if they aren't you with 1000+ email addresses
  • Pimpmonkey
    Pimpmonkey Posts: 566
    Signed. Cannot make public or link to facebook because I cannot officially "affiliate with a policy or potential policy change that would affect my profession" :smile:
  • Drenched_N_Motivation
    Drenched_N_Motivation Posts: 1,004 Member

    If you want to keep debating over it, then whatever, I can't make you leave. Have a stellar night~!

    You could delete the thread and post the link on your homepage instead. But what do I know, i'm just a gnome.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    **** yeah. just signed.
    P.S. I freakin love change.org! so cool that you started a petition on there!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    And it is discrimination. Judging a person based on how they look is always discrimination. Whether you're black, Asian, transgender, flamboyantly gay, obese, anorexic, pink-haired, or covered in tattoos, no one should be judged solely on their appearance.
    It is discrimination, but it's not illegal. Tattooed people are not a protected class.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    What happens is I print off the list of signatures to show him whenever I meet with him to discuss the issue.
    Your boyfriend should grow up and take care of his own business. If you do this I guarantee they will NEVER hire him.
    As each person signs, an email is sent to him and some of his staff to put some pressure on some other people as well (and some who I know for a fact regret the tattoo policy, so they will be encouraged by the emails).
    I'm sorry, you're planning on having thousands of emails spamming this guy's inbox? And his staff too, who have no part in the decision? You REALLY have no idea how life works, do you?
    Even if some of the people don't live in his county, the matter is that people know this discrimination is wrong.
    I'm sure he'll be very impressed.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Dress codes are dress codes. I could do my job just as well in a mini skirt and tank top, but I would get in trouble if I showed up like that.

    There are other police departments with less stringent criteria. He should apply to those.
  • jnh17
    jnh17 Posts: 838 Member
    Interesting situation! I'm a teacher in SC and in my district, teachers are not allowed to have visible tattoos. They can't be seen at all, so that means covering them with a bandaid, makeup, etc. Student teachers at the nearby universities are told not to get them or get them so they can be covered up because they won't be hired with them. I don't see it as discrimination.

    In my situation, since I work with impressionable youth I can completely understand my district's position. In your spouse/bf's situation, he is working with the public as well. While he isn't working necessarily only with you tattoos do present a certain impression whether people want to believe that or not. Unfortunately, sometimes when rules are changed within an organization the previous employees are grandfathered in, meaning the new rules, don't apply to them b/c they are already employed. This is not discrimination- it's a procedural change. My suggestion to you and your bf is to either cover it with makeup, remove it, or find employment somewhere else. Good luck!

    The district I live in allows visible tattoos for teachers and I HATE it.

    People don't realize that it isn't that easy allowing tattoos that are "approved." Talk about discrimination. You approve one tattoo and not another? You're opening the door to lawsuits like crazy. Here in my office, I just had to give a presentation over dress code because we unknowingly hired a new person that had a tattoo on her chest. Um....hell no are we having customers coming being greeted by someone with a tattoo on her chest. BUT we also have someone with one on her foot so what do we do? Say "only tattoos from the waist up are allowed?" It's a slippery slope in this lawsuit-happy age.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Business, and public service are going to have to catch up with the times. LOL. Once the old regime is dead, the new folks can make the rules. Of course, that only applies to public service. In the real world where businesses live and die by their profit, they do whatever they have to do to survive. If they can't find non-tattooed desk girls as greeters, then, a tattooed one will do, and customers just have to get used to it.

    I see tats so often now that I can't believe they still have a negative connotation at all. I'm fairly tatted up, and getting more. I work in a large corporation in a pretty visibile position with lots of responsibility in a very conservative company. Some know, most don't. Does it matter? Not one bit. I hold a degree in Economics, an MBA, and I do my job well. What does having a tattoo have to do with any of that? Nothing.

    What is interesting about society is that you have personal lives and professional lives beginning to mesh together. Throughout all of history, it's always been possible to keep your personal life completely separate from your work life. But, with social media and our freedoms, I think those things are coming together and those worlds are colliding and can no longer be hidden. Interesting times.
  • sbernardy
    sbernardy Posts: 188
    Signed...

    I look at my body as an empty canvas waiting to hang an amazing painting... Everyone of my tattoos mean something special to me.. when people say why do you do that to your body.... I look at them and say don't you put pictures on your wall at home and that represents you.. well I took it one step further.. I add my art to my body!
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
    What happens is I print off the list of signatures to show him whenever I meet with him to discuss the issue.
    Your boyfriend should grow up and take care of his own business. If you do this I guarantee they will NEVER hire him.
    As each person signs, an email is sent to him and some of his staff to put some pressure on some other people as well (and some who I know for a fact regret the tattoo policy, so they will be encouraged by the emails).
    I'm sorry, you're planning on having thousands of emails spamming this guy's inbox? And his staff too, who have no part in the decision? You REALLY have no idea how life works, do you?
    Even if some of the people don't live in his county, the matter is that people know this discrimination is wrong.
    I'm sure he'll be very impressed.

    All of this.
  • digitalbill
    digitalbill Posts: 1,410 Member
    Interesting situation! I'm a teacher in SC and in my district, teachers are not allowed to have visible tattoos. They can't be seen at all, so that means covering them with a bandaid, makeup, etc. Student teachers at the nearby universities are told not to get them or get them so they can be covered up because they won't be hired with them. I don't see it as discrimination.

    In my situation, since I work with impressionable youth I can completely understand my district's position. In your spouse/bf's situation, he is working with the public as well. While he isn't working necessarily only with you tattoos do present a certain impression whether people want to believe that or not. Unfortunately, sometimes when rules are changed within an organization the previous employees are grandfathered in, meaning the new rules, don't apply to them b/c they are already employed. This is not discrimination- it's a procedural change. My suggestion to you and your bf is to either cover it with makeup, remove it, or find employment somewhere else. Good luck!
    That's the problem. None of them are given the *option* to cover it up, even if it's totally capable of being covered. I could understand if they wanted it hidden, but they don't want their new hires to have it *at all*.
    I am curious.
    You said that your boyfriend was the only one "Without Military experience" that passed the test.
    So, all the others are Vets?
    NONE of these former Military folks have ink?
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    signed it
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    i read some of the posts and they are so deluded. times are changing. these old folks will die and the young generations can finally live more and more free of hatred.

    i bet most of the haters are either conservative young people or middle aged people. elderly people end up mellowing out and realizing that they made life too hard on everyone else and that life is simpler.

    don't even let these fools get to you.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    i read some of the posts and they are so deluded. times are changing. these old folks will die and the young generations can finally live more and more free of hatred.

    i bet most of the haters are either conservative young people or middle aged people. elderly people end up mellowing out and realizing that they made life too hard on everyone else and that life is simpler.

    don't even let these fools get to you.

    Don't be so rude.
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
    I've seen cops with tattoos. Your town needs to get with it! Signed :)
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
    I'm just wondering how many more tattoos I need to be considered a person of color
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
    I did a speech about this in one of my classes. I had a friend who got fired because of a tattoo she had when she got hired. It was ridiculous. But anyway, I will sign and share one of my favorite photos with you!

    Please-dont-discriminate.jpg
  • amivox
    amivox Posts: 441 Member
    I signed it. Nobody should be able to dictate how someone chooses to alter their own body and discriminate against them because of it. Qualified is qualified, and as far as I am concerned, if someone is willing to put their body and life on the line to serve and protect, there is no reason they shouldn't be able to do so just because they have a tattoo.

    For the people who think that it is ok to discriminate, are you really going to deny help because your doctors, policemen, paramedics, or firefighters have a tattoo? The last thing I care about when I am in crisis is what the person saving my a** looks like. I have seen cops, servicemen/women, firefighters, paramedics, E.R. doctors and nurses, lawyers, dentists, etc with tattoos. It doesn't make them less qualified, and judging them based on the fact that they have tattoos is a bit ridiculous.
  • amivox
    amivox Posts: 441 Member
    You know who else chooses to modify their body in an unnatural way? People who get gender reassignment surgery. Should these people also be discriminated for altering their bodies in a way that a lot of people don't like?
    Yes.

    Wow, you are really an awful person to actually say that. Ugly on the inside is worse than ugly on the outside. It would do you good to remember that.
  • amivox
    amivox Posts: 441 Member
    ...and to the dude you are talking to...tattoos aren't scary. No scarier than a faux hawk, or cuffed sleeves on the muscles...

    they arent scary to me but to a lot of older conservative people, they are

    I dont make the rules or peoples attitudes but lets stay real
    To a lot of older conservative people, black men or large men with a lot of muscles are scary. Should they not be allowed on the police force?

    is that the same thing? tats have a stigma of prison with older people. blacks and muscles dont

    lol, WHAT?!? Old people (not ALL old people) ARE afraid of black men because they think they are criminals. That is THE EXACT reason that there is a stigma with old people in regards to muscular black people.

    My great grandmother seriously believes that black people are going to rob her or snatch her purse. I keep on telling her that she is being ridiculous, but she's my granny, so I try not to argue with her too much.

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