Tattoo Discrimination in the Workplace Annotated Bibliography

Tattoo Discrimination in the Workplace - Annotated Bibliography Example These associations and stereotypes may, however, not be particularly useful as generation Y moves into the workplace – this generation has a more general relationship with tattoos and other body modifications (Hawkes, Senn & Thorn, 2004). Additionally, research shows that almost a quarter of individuals between 18 and 50 living in the U.S. have at least one tattoo (Kosut, 2000), meaning that employers that are restrictive on this front may be losing out on a significant proportion of the potential workforce. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current research on appearance in the workplace, with a particular focus on tattoos and other body modifications to uncover if and why tattoos are looked down upon in the professional workplace. Additionally, a focus will be held on what employers can do to become less discriminatory towards those with tattoos and why this move may be desirable or even essential. Overall, an analysis of workplace-related literature suggests that whilst tattoos and piercings are becoming more common overall, there is still a high degree of workplace discrimination with respect to body modification. The history of tattoos is an interesting one. The term â€Å"tattoo† refers to the use of indelible ink to insert a permanent (or sometimes semi-permanent) design into the dermis of the skin (Trautner & Kwan, 2010). This practice has several origins within several cultures, and can still be found amongst indigenous hunter-gatherer populations today (Trautner & Kwan, 2010). However, many believe that the origin of tattoos comes from either Polynesian tribes or Ancient Japanese culture (Trautner & Kwan, 2010), and many tattoos found in popular culture today draw their roots from these traditions.