People have
always worn clothes of one sort or another for protection from the weather, to
fit in with the customs and way of life of the society in which they lived and
to look good. The type of apparel has always varied across the world in
accordance with climatic conditions and what was available in the region.
Another common practice to complete the look people desired to achieve for one
reason or another was to make use of adornment of various sorts. This often
consisted of precious metals such as gold or silver which was beaten into
intricate shapes and designs and embellished with precious stones. Jewelry of
this sort came in the form of rings, tiaras, necklaces, bracelets and body
piercing. The final form of body adornment was the practice of applying paint
to the body in the form of makeup and tattoos. These practices have been around
for a long time and are part of our culture so to suddenly turn round and
declare that piercing and tattoos are in appropriate in the work place is
completely illogical.
The use of
makeup and body decoration of all sorts, including tattoos, has important cultural
dimensions. In many parts of Africa for instance, the application of tattoos is
an important part of the ceremony celebrating becoming an adult. The young
person shows of both his tattoos and the body scaring he receives with pride.
In a democratic country, it makes no kind of sense to argue that tattoos are
acceptable for some and not for others. After all, in the global world, the
human resources department of any big firm could be faced with applications
from all over the world. Telling a qualified person who could be of great
benefit to a company to have his tattoos removed and reapply would land the
company in court. It follows that what is acceptable for some should be
acceptable to all. A company cannot fight long established customs just because
it hasn’t seen them very often. Fashion is a global business and is no longer
restricted to small areas of the world.
The same is
true is for body piercing which, contrary to what some may think, wasn’t
discovered by hippies; it was around long before teenagers starting piercing
their tongues, belly buttons and noses. The best known form of body piercing is
ear rings and even our prehistoric ancestors wore them. There is no country in
the world where ear rings are never seen. Telling people applying for a job
that they can pierce their ears but not their noses would infuriate applicants
from India or the Middle East where nose piercing, “hızma”, has been around for
eons. Checking belly buttons and asking people to stick their tongues out
during interviews would land the company on the front pages of the tabloids and
all over the internet in seconds. The resulting negative publicity and court
cases concerning unfair treatment are just not worth the hassle whatever the
private views of the H.R. department are. All that has happened in the modern
world is that the practice has spread to other parts of the world, something
fashion tends to do.
The way an
individual decides to present himself to the world is also a matter of choice.
People are free in their choice of clothes, the colors and designs they decide
to sport and the accessories they decide to complete their outfits with. Some
wear jeans, some prefer dresses, others wear suits. Some prefer light makeup;
some prefer a lot more and yet others prefer none. Some buy cosmetics, some
wear henna and others have tattoos. Some wear valuable jewelry; some wear dress
jewelry. Some wear ear rings; others pierce their noses or their belly buttons.
Some wear bracelets on their wrists; others wear then round their ankles.
People cannot be up in arms about some forms of body adornment and not others;
it is irrational to say the least.
There are
fields where some body piercing or any kind of jewelry may be inappropriate for
various reasons. One such field is medicine: doctors and nurses are obliged to
put the safety of patients above all else. You cannot have a surgeon excusing
herself because her ring got tangled in the patient’s entrails for example.
Hygiene needs to be maintained at hospitals hence the white coats, scrubs, the
lack of jewelry and the disinfectant hand-washes. The same goes for the army
where the apparel sported needs to be practical in terms of the job that needs
to be done, defending the country and fighting the enemy. However, although
jewelry may be impractical in both these professions, tattoos create no
practical problems in terms of security and hygiene and are, therefore,
logically perfectly acceptable.
The world
of fashion includes both what we wear and how we accessorize. What aspects of
fashion one decides to follow is a matter of individual choice. This choice is
determined both by individual preferences and practical considerations.
Workplaces would do better to shift their focus to applicants’ skills and
talents and what they can do for the company. They should avoid being
sidetracked by irrelevant details such as body piercing and tattoos.
No comments:
Post a Comment