Tattoos: Grounds for discrimination?
TAMPA - You could call it his body of art. Every line, every design on his body says something about Russell Parrish’s life…. “My first tattoo was after my father died,” he told FOX 13. He was 15. Over the past 14 years, he amassed quite a collection…. With a wife and dreams of kids on the way, he wants a career. He’s looked at theme parks in Kissimmee, home improvement stores down the street in his hometown of Lake Wales, even straight-laced coat and tie jobs. Everywhere he went, he said, “I got a door shut in my face.”…. Russell says in the last two months he’s applied for over 100 jobs. In almost half of them, he says he was denied because of his tattoos. He says that’s discrimination.
OK, if y’all can stop laughing, I’m going to explain why Mr. Parrish, though I sympathize with his plight, is full of crap. I understand the concept of freedom of expression, and I also understand why some people view the human body as a canvas on which to express their artistic vision. What Russell doesn’t seem to grasp, though, is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction (I think I saw that on a bumper sticker once….). If you’re going to use your body as a canvas with which to display your originality and individuality, you need to understand that there are people- the vast majority, as a matter of fact- who will be repulsed by your “art”.
Personally, I’m intensely indifferent about the whole thing, but if I were a hiring manager, and someone sat down for an interview me looking like a Maori tribesman…well, let’s just say it would be a short interview. This has nothing to do with any personal prejudices on my part. If I’m hiring people to represent my company to customers, I don’t want customers wondering if they’re doing business with cannibals. That may seem ignorant and prejudicial, but it’s also reality. Strangely enough, people hire people they like, and also people who can present the image of their company that they want to put out there. Like it or not, image, while not everything, counts for a lot.
Russell Parrish is not being discriminated against. He made choices, and now he’s having to deal with the consequences of those choices. That may suck, but it’s the same reality all of us have to deal with. Most people- rightly or wrongly- don’t like tattoos, and they don’t want to hire or do business with someone who looks like he’s giving vent to his inner Maori high priest.
I’m not saying that Parrish needs to instantly become a conformist, but if you’re going to turn your body into the walking, talking equivalent of cave art, you can’t claim to be surprised when your “art” isn’t universally well-received.
‘Course, there is one place Parrish might want to think about applying- a tattoo parlor. At least he’d be among kindred spirits…..
