Are tattoos still taboo in the career world?

I want to get a tattoo down my forearm, but later on down the road im going to be trying to get a career you know...so im wondering will haveing a visable tattoo cost me from getting a job...or is it somewhat exceptatble in today's world? Btw my career will be dealing with golf courses, specifically turf management. thanks

i guess it depends on the setting. i would think that with a golf course, since it's supposed to have that "high class" appearance it might be a problem. because as one of my bosses stated once: "tattoos are a lowgrade thing that the clients don't need to see". if you can cover it, you're golden. although, i don't see why we have to cover our tattoos. i was getting along fine at my job (a store owned by Oakley) until the dress code was recently changed to white button up shirts and white polo shirts. the short sleeve polo isn't long enough to cover up my tattoo, and the button up shirts you can apparently see my tattoo through. so i've to wear a bandage on my tattoo in addition to having it covered by clothing. one of our sister stores is required to wear short sleeve yellow polo shirts -- no long sleeve option. one of the associates there had full sleeves and subsequently his employment was terminated. (he's filing a suit for discriminiation, good luck to him). know what's funny? every client asks, "did you just get a tattoo?" or "why are you covering your tattoo?" when they notice the bandages, then they ask to see it. i think upper management and corporate america are scared of the public's opinion. they don't realize that 90% of the puplic doesn't care or they have a love/fascination with tattoos.

As with most things in life, that completely depends on who you are as a person and the quality and subject of the tattoo. If you get a crappy tattoo, then it will not leave a good impression, though it you are a hard worker you may overcome some of the bias. Bad tattoos do kinda imply that people are lazy so while I dont like any sorta discrimination, we all know that first (and lasting) impressions mean a lot so you get what you deserve with tattoos. That said, if you have kick ass high quality tattoos and are a smart energetic honest talented hard worker, then people are likely to remember the good work you do and your tattoos in a positive light. In short, talented custom tattoo artists tattoo works of art on professionals from all walks of life and their tattoos dont hinder their ambitions one bit, if anything they drive them onward and upwards.

I'd like to add that when talented professionals rock the bad ass visible tattoos the wearer indeed does an active part in pushing the community up in the culture. So if your a professional, you cant consider yourself a *bad ass* professional till you get your visible tattoos... Just make sure they are done by one of the best.... :-)

couldn't agree more with the last post (actually both of them). obviously if you have a terrible looking skull or depressing image on your arm its not going to go over well. as with everything in life, choose wisely and make sure what you choose has a significant meaning and not just "hey it looks cool". maybe go out to a few places where you would consider working and talk to people, do some homework and see if its acceptable in your field. but also consider you might change career paths and might not always be doing what you originally set out doing. in short, be smart. like the old saying: measure twice, cut once.

If someone is against tattoos all together,will they know the difference between a good tattoo and a bad tattoo?

Joey you hit that right on the head....if a boss discriminates because a person is tattooed do you really think he/she is gonna know the difference or even care, between a good tattoo and a bad one?...I think not... Gabe by what you are saying then Anil Gupta isn't a bad ass professional?...Gotta disagree there man. And how a bout English Johnny? He is a damn fine tattoo artist and I believe he is a client of yours....not 100% on that ...but nevertheless he is GOOD...and has no visible tattoos...

Did I say good at what you do? I guess I mean *very* good. Yes, people can tell the difference, even dumb ones. Thats the wonderful thing about talented custom tattoo artists, they can create visual eye candy that truly open people minds, even sour closed minded ones. They usually say things like "wow, I never thought a tattoo could look that good, its.. almost... art! (Eventually they admit it is art)". True art moves peoples souls, so yes you can convert tattoo hating people into reluctant tolerators of art if your sporting work from truely talented artists. In fact, if your getting truely groundbreaking tattoos then I'd dare say they will help you stand apart from the rest and could be used to your advantage. I dunno, its real easy to tell people with a clear conscience that there are large parts of the professional world that wont shun you even though it might not be the most responsible thing to do. but I do feel I can say this because our studio and TattooNOW's artist clients include tattooed professionals from all walks of life. Before I dove into the tattoo world full time I was a professional freelance programmer, and the birds on my hand and neck didnt stop me from working for some very very corporate clients... Honda, Epcot Center, Polo Ralph Lauren, etc, etc. Basically, if your really good at what you do, good enough to call yourself a professional (which is a term thats generally reserved for doctors and lawyer types, not one that can be used lightly), then having a high quality professional tattoo shouldn't slow you down any... as far as anil gupta... assuming the strictest definition of professional I think theres no doubt he is one. But, as far as being an official card carrying member of the bad ass club, having no highly visible tattoos disqualifies him I think, though, he puts out so many bad ass tattoos be might get the title honorarily. He might have to settle for insanely talented professional. Or maybe bad ass really has nothing to do with the tattoos, but having the kahunas to do what you want with your body despite what you think "professionals" want you to do with it. Lastly, if you are kick ass at what you do, then you could use quality visible tattoos as a bull shit detector, after all, if someone discriminates against great art despite your obvious skills then thats a very good sign they dont deserve to have you working for em...

Two last points, Anil doenst get visible tattoos (like english johnny and Jesse smith the few artists with few tattoos I know) not because it isnt accepted in their profession, but because they dont want them. They arent scared, they just dont want the,... We talking about other professions where visible tattoos arent the norm... What I dont like to see is people who want to do something with their bodies but are too afraid of the ramifications from their profession. I would hope more people could be confident in their abilities and pick the best artists they can to push the art up and into their culture. I would dare say the *kick ass* golf professional might put a crazy golf course scene on their forearm (or a classic long lawn shot scene) or a realistic portrait of a club and go out and bust ass and use his art to help project creative talent energy and blah biddity blah. aww, crap forgot the second thing. ah well...

Ah, I remember. Secondly, and most importantly, what are you thinking about getting on your forearm???

Good points Gabe and I have to say that I pretty much agree...well kinda...now whares that interview man?...LOL!