纹身与工作

　　Ink blots

　　污点般的纹身

　　Body art is growing more popular, though few employers are keen

　　人体艺术越来越流行，尽管很少有招聘方喜欢

　　IN THE North Star tattoo parlour in downtown Manhattan, Brittany shows off her ink: a Banksy-inspired tableau covering both feet. Now a student at New York University, she hopes to be a lawyer one day. “That's why I got the tattoo on my feet,” she says. “It's easy to hide.”

　　在位于曼哈顿市区的北极星纹身店，Brittany炫耀她双脚上以Banksy为灵感创作的纹身。她现为纽约大学的一名学生，她希望有朝一日成为一名律师。她说：“这就是为什么我把纹身纹在脚上，因为这样比较容易隐藏。”

　　Once the preserve of prisoners, sailors and circus freaks, tattoos have become a benign rite of passage for many Americans. One in five adults has one, and two in five thirty-somethings. These days women with tattoos outnumber men. But what happens when these people look for work? Alas, not everyone is as savvy as Brittany.

　　曾经是囚犯、水手和马戏团小丑专属的纹身，现如今已经变成许多美国人通过的良性仪式。每五个成年人就有一个人有纹身，三十多岁的年轻中则是每五人中有两个。女性纹身的人数已超过了男性。但这些人找工作的时候会怎么样？恩…不是每个人都像Brittany一样精明的。

　　纹身与工作.jpg

　　Though increasingly mainstream, tattoos still signal a certain rebelliousness that works against jobseekers, says Andrew Timming of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. In a forthcoming study, Mr Timming and colleagues asked participants to assess job candidates based on their pictures, some of which were altered to add a neck tattoo. Inked candidates consistently ranked lower, despite being equally qualified. In a separate study Mr Timming found that many service-sector managers were squeamish about conspicuous ink, particularly when filling jobs that involve dealing with customers.

　　圣安德鲁大学（位于苏格兰）的Timming说，尽管纹身越来越主流，但仍旧是叛逆的标志，是求职者的敌人。在一项即将发表的研究中，Timming和他的同事要求参与者根据照片评估应聘者，其中一些照片上在脖子的位置添加了纹身。尽管自身条件相同，但有纹身的应聘者一直排名较低。在另一项研究中，Timming发现，许多服务部门管理者对明显的纹身接受不能，特别是在招聘需要与客户打交道的职位时尤甚。

　　Designs of flowers or butterflies were deemed comparatively acceptable. And some workplaces are more open-minded: a prison-services manager explained that having tattoos made it easier to bond with inmates. Firms with a younger clientele are also more tattoo-friendly. But by and large the more visible the tattoo, the more “unsavoury” a candidate seemed—even if the boss had one.

　　相对来说，花或者蝴蝶的纹身设计是可以接受的。一些工作场所更加开放，监狱管理者解释说，他的纹身使他更容易与囚犯建立联系。面向年轻顾客的公司对纹身接受度也更高。即使老板自己有纹身，但总体而言，纹身越明显，应聘者越是“不讨喜”。

　　Such prejudice may seem anachronistic, but it is not unfounded. Empirical studies have long linked tattoos with deviant behaviour. People with inked skin are more likely to carry weapons, use illegal drugs and get arrested. The association is stronger for bigger tattoos, or when there are several, says Jerome Koch, a sociologist at Texas Tech University.

　　这种偏见似乎有些落伍，但并非没有根据。实证研究长期将纹身与异常行为联系在一起。有纹身的人更有可能携带枪支，使用非法药物，或者被逮捕。德州理工大学一名为Jerome Koch的社会学家表示，纹身越大或者有好几个时，这种联系越强。

　　This may help explain the army's recent decision to reinstate old grooming standards. These restrict the size and number of tattoos, ban ink from the neck, head and hands, and bar body art that might be seen as racist, sexist or otherwise inappropriate. The change is intended to promote discipline and professionalism. But it is making it harder to recruit to the army, says Major Tyler Stewart, who handles recruitment in Arizona. His battalion is turning away 50 tattooed people a week.

　　这有助于解释近来军队恢复旧仪容标准的决定。标准限制了纹身的大小和数量，禁止脖子、头和手上的纹身，以及可能被视为种族歧视、性别歧视或其他不好方面的人体艺术。标准的改变旨在加强纪律和职业精神。负责亚利桑那州招兵工作的Major Tyler Stewart表示，新标准这使得招兵更难了。他所在的营一周里清退了50名有纹身的士兵。

　　Some aspiring soldiers and other jobseekers are solving the problem by getting their ink removed. Tattoo-removal has surged 440% in the past decade, according to IBISWorld, a market-research firm. At the North Star, where Brittany's friend is getting a question-mark inked on her wrist, the prospect of such buyer's remorse seems remote. “I don't think it will help her job prospects,” observes Brittany, “but hopefully it won't hurt, either.”

　　一些有抱负的士兵和求职者通过洗掉纹身来解决问题。根据一名为IBISWorld的市场调研公司的调查显示，在过去十年中，洗纹身服务增长了440%。在北极星，Brittany的朋友正在它手腕上纹“问题标记”，对纹身的后悔似乎离她还很遥远。Brittany观察着说，“我认为纹身不会对她的工作产生帮助，但希望纹身也不会毁掉她的工作。”