Stigma
Stigma has been attached to people with tattoos in the workplace more in today's society which is one of the biggest reasons why the workplace is not accepting of tattoos. Stigma leads to stereotyping which is focused on people’s identities in today's world. The main stigma behind tattoos is that body art is seen as unprofessional, distracting, inappropriate and not classy. As stated previously, tattoos were only stereotypical for sailors, criminals, and people in the circus, but the stigma still exists today. Stigma is one of the reasons that employers do not want to hire employees with body art because stigma comes naturally from previous years.
History Behind Stigma
The article written by Lucille Ponte and Jennifer Gillan speaks about stigma in the workplace, yet it tells the audience about the history and social constructions of body modification. During the 1920's-1950's, tattoo parlors were stigmatized with the reputation of the lower class. For instance, "Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, many motorcycle clubs or gangs, some members of whom had been imprisoned, also used tattoos to forge a group identity, their markings typically symbolizing rebellion against mainstream United States society" (Gillan and Ponte). The article also mentions how in the 1920s-1950s, tattoo parlors was the social area to be for a working class man. However, this started a trend where tattoos became identified with lower status behavior.
Stigma has been attached to people with tattoos in the workplace more in today's society which is one of the biggest reasons why the workplace is not accepting of tattoos. Stigma leads to stereotyping which is focused on people’s identities in today's world. The main stigma behind tattoos is that body art is seen as unprofessional, distracting, inappropriate and not classy. As stated previously, tattoos were only stereotypical for sailors, criminals, and people in the circus, but the stigma still exists today. Stigma is one of the reasons that employers do not want to hire employees with body art because stigma comes naturally from previous years.
History Behind Stigma
The article written by Lucille Ponte and Jennifer Gillan speaks about stigma in the workplace, yet it tells the audience about the history and social constructions of body modification. During the 1920's-1950's, tattoo parlors were stigmatized with the reputation of the lower class. For instance, "Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, many motorcycle clubs or gangs, some members of whom had been imprisoned, also used tattoos to forge a group identity, their markings typically symbolizing rebellion against mainstream United States society" (Gillan and Ponte). The article also mentions how in the 1920s-1950s, tattoo parlors was the social area to be for a working class man. However, this started a trend where tattoos became identified with lower status behavior.