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文身会让你失去工作么?

时间:2015-06-03 22:40:11

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(单词翻译)

Could a Tattoo1 Cost You a Job? 文身会让你失去工作么?

In the 1960s U.S., a tattoo was usually a sign of anti-social or illegal activity. Few people had them. Today, at least one in five Americans has a tattoo, including sports stars, actors and young professionals.

But some people say tattoos2 still have no place at work. Many well-known companies have “no visible tattoo” policies.

However, some industries are not so strict when it comes to tattoos. And some are changing to reflect a more “tat-friendly” culture.

During any workday commute3 in Washington, D.C., you will see people dressed in different kinds of business clothes -- suits, brown khaki pants and collared shirts, modest dresses and skirts. D.C. has a large government workforce4 along with many politicians and lawyers. As a result, most people dress in a conservative way.

On a crowded subway train one morning, a young woman stands out. She is wearing shorts and a tank top. However, it is not her clothes that make her look different from her fellow commuters. It’s her arm.

She has a large, brightly colored tattoo of a beautiful woman with long dark hair, wearing a red scarf and jewels. The tattoo covers the top of her left arm.

Erin DeRosa, Hair Stylist in Washington, D.C.Erin DeRosa, Hair Stylist in Washington, D.C.

Her name is Erin DeRosa. She is a 26-year-old hair stylist. Ms. DeRosa says her college friends warned her to not get such large tattoos. They told her the tattoos -- or “tats” for short -- would make it hard for her to get a job.

Not so, says Ms. DeRosa. She says the hair industry puts importance on creativity and individuality.

So, showing her tattoos actually helps her career. She says that her clients do not get “freaked out” or are not upset by her tattoos. She says that her salon5 is a modern one, suggesting that perhaps in a more conservative salon, customers might be freaked out by her tattoos.

Her mother, however, is a different story. Her mother does not like tattoos.

Ms. DeRosa says when her mom came to DC for a visit she had to wear long sleeves the entire time.

Creative industries vs. traditional industries

Erin DeRosa belongs to a creative industry that accepts tattoos in the workplace. Fashion, graphic6 design and technology industries are also lax, or not strict, about workers having tattoos. But industries such as medical and financial are more traditional about workers’ appearance.

These observations are from Natasha Olinger, a human resource, or hiring, specialist. Ms. Olinger has been an HR specialist in Washington, D.C. for the past decade.

“So, I think the ... the industries that are more lax now are the tech and creative industries. But the ones that are still kind of strict are the medical professions, the legal professions and banks.”

The stricter industries, explains Ms. Olinger, are mostly what she calls, “customer-facing.” People in medicine, law and finance must deal with the public face-to-face. If an employee represents a company, that company usually has a right to say how their employees should look. 

Many jobs in the technology industry are not customer-facing. They are back-end jobs and have little face-to-face time with customers. So, appearance is not as important.  

The tech industry is where a woman named Melissa Thomas has worked for the past 20 years. Ms. Thomas is a 47-year-old self-employed technology expert. She mainly works with the federal government supporting its software needs.

Ms. Thomas got a small tattoo when she was in her 20s, even though her father opposed the idea. But when Ms. Thomas turned 40, she decided7 it was time to get the tattoos she has always wanted – a lot of them.

Ms. Thomas explains she chose tattoo designs that are important to her in some way. She says she loves Japanese culture. So, one of her arms has a full sleeve of brightly colored Japanese-looking tattoos. A bright blue fish swimming upstream shows determination, something in which she believes.

Ms. Thomas says she loves water. So, a waterfall flows down her arm. Washington, D.C. is known for cherry blossoms. So, she chose some cherry blossom tattoos to celebrate the city where her son was born.

Her other arm is a work-in-progress. She says the tattoos are incomplete because her favorite artist started taking drugs again. She did not want drugs connected to her body art so she stopped going to him. This is actually one of the common opinions people have about tattoos – that the people who have them take drugs.   

Ms. Thomas was thoughtful, not only about the content, but also the location of her tattoos. She explains that she stopped the tattoos at her wrists so she can hide them, all of them, when she needs to or wants to. Speaking at a crowded private swimming pool near Washington, D.C., Ms. Thomas shows her tattoos proudly.

“For me, because I respect my clients, there are situations where I call it buttoning down. For the professional part of it, I stopped at my wrists, knowing that I could button down and I’d be fine.”

Ms. Thomas is realistic about the effect her tattoos can have on others and on her career. The word she uses is “na?ve,” or innocently unaware8, to describe people with tattoos who think any work situation will accept their body art.  

“I think that’s somewhat na?ve, I do, because we’re still in a time where if you weren’t working at a tattoo shop, if you weren’t working in a salon, if maybe you were going for a job in the financial district or at one of our banking9 centers in this country you probably wouldn’t get the job if you had a t-shirt on and you were tattooed10. Right? But you would get the job if you were dressed appropriate and you kept it (tattoos) to yourself.” 

Melissa Thomas picked her tattoos carefully. They all relate to something in her life.Melissa Thomas picked her tattoos carefully. They all relate to something in her life.

Can a tattoo cost you a job?

In 2011, the career advice website, CareerBuilder.com, conducted a survey. They hired the company Harris Interactive11 to poll nearly 3,000 hiring managers across the U.S. These managers were asked to list the factors that kept them from promoting their employees. The top three were piercings, bad breath and visible tattoos.

As HR expert Natasha Olinger points out, employers do not have to care about an employee’s right to express oneself through body art.

“Yeah, so right now there is no federal law or anything against tattoo discrimination. It’s considered an employee’s First Amendment12 right to get one and an employer’s right to say, ‘Yeah, we don’t care about your self-expression.’ ”

Are employers becoming more tolerant?

On the other hand, deciding not to hire people with tattoos may increasingly cost employers workers. Surveys show that more and more young people have tattoos – or, “ink.” In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, in the U.S. nearly four in ten Millennials, people aged13 18 – 29, have at least one tattoo.

Ms. Olinger says employers are finding that if they want to attract young talent they may have to become more tolerant of tattoos.

“I think in general employers are realizing that it’s dangerous to value appearance over professional skill, especially with kind of the younger crowd of employees. And I think they are just getting more and more tolerant of tattoos, which I think, is a good thing.”

Hiring people with tattoos may soon become an issue of staying relevant, or having a meaningful connection to the current way of doing things, says Ms. Olinger.

“Organizations across the board are finding that they need to embrace all forms of diversity including tattoos if they want to stay relevant.”

There are some industries where tattoos have become the norm. It is difficult to find professional basketball players in the U.S. without tattoos. But in many other industries the appearance of the employee is important. Tattoos represent personal expression and individuality. This may not go along with the company’s image that the employees are to represent.

One organization that is not becoming more lax with tattoos is the U.S. military. Soldiers getting tattoos is quite common. But in 2014, the U.S. Army angered many of its young soldiers when it banned tattoos below the knee and elbow.  

The new policy also affected14 some young people who sought to join the Army. The U.S. Army Recruiting Command told VOA that since April 1, 2014 more than 3,100 people have been disqualified from entering the Army because of their tattoos.

On the other hand, in 2014 Starbucks announced that its employees could show their body art – to a point. Employees are still not allowed to have tattoos on the neck and face, according to the company’s guidelines.

Words in This Story

khaki – n. a brown-colored cloth made usually of cotton or wool and used especially for military uniforms : khakis are basic work pants

conservative – adj. not liking15 or accepting changes or new ideas

creative – adj. having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas; creativity is the noun

individuality – n. the quality that makes one person or thing different from all others

lax – adj. not careful enough; not strict enough

customer-facing – adj. dealing16 directly with customers

tolerant – adj. willing to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own

na?ve – adj. having or showing a lack of experience or knowledge; innocent or simple

relevant – adj. having a meaningful connection to the current way of doing things

across the board – phrase  applying to all


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tattoo LIDzk     
n.纹身,(皮肤上的)刺花纹;vt.刺花纹于
参考例句:
  • I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
  • He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。
2 tattoos 659c44f7a230de11d35d5532707cf1f5     
n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 );归营鼓;军队夜间表演操;连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青,文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 );连续有节奏地敲击;作连续有节奏的敲击
参考例句:
  • His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
  • His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 commute BXTyi     
vi.乘车上下班;vt.减(刑);折合;n.上下班交通
参考例句:
  • I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
  • Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。
4 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
5 salon VjTz2Z     
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室
参考例句:
  • Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗?
  • You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。
6 graphic Aedz7     
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的
参考例句:
  • The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
  • Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 unaware Pl6w0     
a.不知道的,未意识到的
参考例句:
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
9 banking aySz20     
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
参考例句:
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
10 tattooed a00df80bebe7b2aaa7fba8fd4562deaf     
v.刺青,文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 );连续有节奏地敲击;作连续有节奏的敲击
参考例句:
  • He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
11 interactive KqZzFY     
adj.相互作用的,互相影响的,(电脑)交互的
参考例句:
  • The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
  • This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。
12 amendment Mx8zY     
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案
参考例句:
  • The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
  • The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
13 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
14 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
15 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
16 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

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