Discrimination in the Workplace

To get a sleeve or not to get a sleeve, that is the question.

It is common that people who have piercings, tattoos and different colored hair have a hard time getting jobs because of their appearance, EVEN if they are overqualified than the other candidate (who is blonde hair, blue eyes, no tattoos or piercings, etc.) This reminds me of Hitler. If you are not the “normal” or “standard” person, you are discriminated against. Why is it right to judge someone on their appearance and not on their job capabilities?

My aunt’s school

A while back, my aunt told me a story about two people applying for the same teaching position at her school. One person was a handsome male who was overqualified, friendly, funny and charming. The other was a pretty, blonde, quiet and nice female who was under-qualified. The woman was offered the job. Do you want to know why? The man who was applying for the position had sleeves of tattoos and came to the interview wearing a short-sleeve polo.

Now this story really has bothered me since I heard about it. Just because the man had tattoos on his arms doesn’t mean he should not have gotten that job – ESPECIALLY because he was overqualified for the position. This is total bullshit.

Restaurants

A few years ago I worked at a Ninety Nine before it closed down in 2010. I remember when I wanted to change my hair color and I asked my general manager if that would be okay. I told him I wanted to die it purple, and he was fine with it – until the day I came in with purple hair.

I am not sure if he thought I was just going to do streaks, or what he thought, but he was not happy and I was constantly being told that my managers did not like that I would be working at the host stand with purple hair. They didn’t tell me I had to change the color (since I did ask and got approval before I did it) – and even if they had told me I needed to change it back, I would have refused I (unless my manager wanted to pay for it).

Currently, I work at Applebee’s and one of my really good friends there is the epitome of a great girl. She is sweet, caring, thoughtful, a hard worker, a good friend, and someone who is just a genuine good person. However, everyone at work talks crap about her because they say she’s “weird”. My friend currently has blue hair, and has to wear a wig at work to cover it up. She also has piercings. When she isn’t working, she is in crazy clothes – typically Hot topic petticoats and fun and crazy shirts. She is so artistic she even makes and sews her own clothes as well. Why should this girl who is as sweet as pie, be judged because of her blue hair, piercings, and outgoing outfits? This really irks me.

My dilemma

I have debated over the years whether or not to get tattoos on my arms simply because I am worried about finding a job when I graduate from college this year. I have had red and purple hair before, I have tons of tattoos, and I have tons of piercings. I would love to have sleeves on both my arms. However, I have made sure all of my tattoos are in places that I can hide for when I go on job interviews. I have struggled all my life with wanting to look a certain way, but steering away from it because of the job market. I wish I could look the way I want to look.

I think it is absolute bullshit that I have to worry about where I get my tattoos. I almost have a 4.0 GPA, I am in two honors societies, I am the editor of the school paper, and am an extremely smart woman. However, who knows if I would get a job if I walked in to an interview, overqualified, but with sleeves of tattoos. I usually don’t care what other people think and just do what I want; however, the only reason I go back and forth with the idea of sleeves is because I want to be able to get a job in the future.

-What do you think?
-Should appearance matter in the work place?
-Should I start getting the sleeves I have always wanted?

Hopefully one day tattoos, piercings and hair color will not matter in the work place.