The world is full of artistic and creative people with a craving to express their abilities, and they have turned to several forms of art to express themselves. One of these forms is inking one’s body through tattooing.

Tattoos are done for several reasons. Whether it’s to honor a family member, match a best friend or simply have an imaginative creation represented on their body, people worldwide have tattoos permanently engraved on their skin.

Several professions, typically ones in offices, have deemed tattoos “unprofessional” and require their employees to cover them during office hours. In some cases when tattoos are present on areas that aren’t typically covered, employees have turned to makeup as a solution to covering their “unprofessional” inked masterpiece.

Employees tend to cover their tattoos without questioning their boss’s request, but the question still remains: What exactly makes tattoos so “unprofessional?”

One of the few job atmospheres where visible tattoos have always been acceptable was at blue collar professions which put tattoos in a “less professional” category. Although there are different standards, dress codes and rules between blue collar professions and office jobs, visible tattoos do not affect the work that is completed within either field.

Some may argue that covering tattoos is just a part of the dress code, but clothes aren’t necessarily a form of art. Dressing presentably rather than in sweatpants is a necessity in the working world to be taken seriously. Having a visibly seen tattoo does not give off the same vibe that a hoodie and sneakers would during a meeting. There is a significant difference between looking like you just rolled out of bed and revealing a tattoo.

Office jobs are filled with hardworking individuals who are at most times demanded to cover their permanent art. If the rule of covering tattoos was taken away in office environments, it would not change their ability to successfully fulfill their role in their work field. Tattoos are simply a design to represent something significant in one’s life, which in the end, does not change their work ethic or ability to complete tasks that their job requires.

A reason for hiding tattoos in office jobs may be because some people find them distracting or a way of revealing too much of one’s background, but neither of those reasons deem someone unprofessional because of their ink. In a sense, asking one to cover a tattoo is equivalent to asking one to cover an obviously visible scar. Scars are just as permanent and revealing as a tattoo, but they are never asked to be covered.

In a world where tattoos are hard not to find on somebody, they have definitely become more common and acceptable to bosses, but still hold the negative connotation of being unprofessional. Whatever your personal opinion may be on the act of tattooing, people are inevitably going to keep getting them in visible areas.

With it being 2018, a year of extreme changes in societal matters, tattooing should be included in the mix of a changing attitudes. Society has been much more accepting of “new” ideas like same sex marriage and increasing diversity, but still hold onto categorizing tattoos as unprofessional.  Tattoos have become the modern form of self expression and do not dictate the professionalism behind an employee. With that being said, employers in today’s society should cut back on the restrictions they put on those with tattoos.