I recently came across a post on Facebook for a petition requesting that people with tattoos and piercings be given equal opportunity protection, making ink and metal equal to gender, race, religion, disability, national origin, etc.
No, just no. Please just take this ridiculous claim to EEOC and shove it.
Equal opportunity employment exists to protect people from discrimination against choices they could not make. Let me repeat that, in all caps, because maybe those of you who think this petition is the one for you are a little too self-involved, privileged, and entitled to have missed it when it was just written in front of you. EEOC exists to protect people from discrimination against choices THEY COULD NOT MAKE.
I will never argue that employers should be able to discriminate against tattooed and pierced candidates. I myself have tattoos and prefer to be able to show them off whenever possible. I am proud of my ink, and I love it. I would like to be able to walk into any office and not have to worry about them being a factor in the hiring decision.
But I also recognize that every bit of ink on my skin was my choice, unlike my gender, race, and national origin.
If you want to be recognized as a viable candidate despite the ink and hole you have put on or in your own flesh, then lobby for a separate law, one that forces employers to turn a blind eye to you body modification and just look and your on-paper qualification. The Supreme Court is not going to turn people with body modifications into a suspect class any time soon, so stop pretending you are one. Take your ridiculous entitlement and privilege and do something valuable with it.
