When Amber Barlaan got her first tattoo, it was a tiny heart inked in a spot that can’t readily be seen by strangers.
Before heading to Tulane University this fall, however, the 18-year-old decided to add a tiger lily to her right shoulder. Barlaan, an incoming freshman, plans to become an orthopedic surgeon.
“My dad knows a bunch of orthopedic surgeons,” Barlaan says, watching as artist Mando Diaz designs her orange and brown lily, about 3 inches in diameter, on a piece of tracing paper at Platinum Tattoos & Body Piercing in San Antonio. “A bunch of them have tattoos, and it doesn’t seem like it would be a problem.”
Originally a preferred art form among sailors, soldiers, bikers and prison inmates, tattoos long ago made the transition from edgy expressions worn by rap artists, celebrities and athletes to fashion accessories on the bodies of Everyman and Everywoman.
Thirty-six percent of Americans ages 18 to 25 — and 40 percent ages 26 to 40 — have at least one tattoo, according to a 2006 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.
The lines between the sexes also have blurred.
In addition to discreetly placed flowers and cartoon characters, many women are opting for arm-length “sleeve” tattoos, full back pieces, and face and neck “tats” that once were the sole province of illustrated men.
Despite their growing popularity, however, tattoos often still carry a stigma that can lead to discrimination in the workplace.
David Shutt says he got the cold shoulder from several would-be employers before finally landing a job in the parts department at a trailer company in San Antonio.
Most of his tattoos, such as the phoenix and the scorpion on his biceps and the dragons and flames that cover his right arm, can be hidden under clothing.
It was the letters “T-H-U-G,” a high school nickname tattooed on the knuckles of Shutt’s right hand when he was in his late teens, that derailed most of his job interviews.
Images of a pair of playing cards, tattooed a couple of years ago on the back of the same hand, didn’t help any, either.
One of Shutt’s interviews, for a job as a party disc jockey, ended before it ever started.
“The guy really wanted to talk to me,” Shutt recalls. “But when I showed up for the interview, he said, ‘Oh, no, you can’t have visible tattoos.’
“Before anyone at any age gets a tattoo, they need to think long and hard what they’re going to get and where it’s going to be put, because people do discriminate against you,” Shutt says.
Fighting back isn’t easy
Discrimination against tattoos has led a Florida man to launch an advocacy group to help the tattooed fight for employment rights.
Russell Parrish, the former owner of a tattoo parlor, says he was turned down for more than two dozen jobs over a couple of months.
Last May, when a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel interviewed Parrish for a story, the 29-year-old was managing a small restaurant owned by his father-in-law.
“I want a career,” Parrish said then. “I want the same shot as everybody else.”
Employment law experts, however, say people such as Parrish and Shutt probably don’t have a legal leg to stand on.
“Discrimination laws cover specific classes of people,” says Dawn Finlayson, a lawyer. “Typically, things such as race, sex, age and religion are protected.”
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A plaintiff who got a tattoo for fundamental religious reasons might have a chance in court, but that probably wouldn’t include anyone who voluntarily got illustrations of crosses, images of Jesus, the Virgin of Guadalupe or other religious icons.
“Lifestyle choices would not be protected by the laws,” Finlayson says.
Corporate dress codes vary
Acceptance of tattooed personnel varies from company to company.
Though there is nothing in the Valero Energy Corp. employee dress code that mentions tattoos specifically, the policy for the company’s retail workers states that “apparel or grooming that distracts other employees or leaves a negative impression of Valero is not acceptable.”
The same holds true at the corporate office.
“The dress code around here is basically long-sleeve shirt and tie,” says Valero spokesman Bill Day. “Unless your tattoo is on your face or something, it’s not going to be visible anyway.”
On the other side of the spectrum, some companies have embraced visibly tattooed employees whose body art might help them project a hipper, more colorful atmosphere.
Whole Foods Market, based in Austin, Texas, allows its individual “store team leaders” to write their own dress codes. One store, for instance, allows employees to have tattoos, as long as the images aren’t offensive.
“We don’t want just your regular, run-of-the-mill, ‘paper-or-plastic’ people,” says Suzy Holleron, the store’s marketing specialist. “We want people with character and charisma.”