Hearts, roses, skulls and "Mom."
Twenty years ago, tattoos would have only been seen on the biceps of bikers, sailors and inmates, but as tattoos become more mainstream, they are popping up in the workplace too.
Marvin Rod, tattoo artist at The Tattoo Clinic on Government Street, has been inking clients for more than 13 years. Rod said he has seen an influx of doctors, nurses, lawyers, other business professionals and "soccer moms" getting tattoos during the past several years. He said he recently serviced Dow businessmen.
"People who you wouldn't think would get tattoos are getting them," Rod said. "I've been seeing that for the past eight or nine years."
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According to a study published in 2006 on the American Academy of Dermatology's Web site, almost one in four Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 has one or more tattoos.
Tattoo policies vary from workplace to workplace, but they have become relaxed overall, according to a CBS report in January.
John Litchfield, senior partner at the New Orleans law firm Berrigan, Litchfield, Schonekas, Mann & Traina, L.L.C., said his firm has no formal tattoo policy.
"If we had to make policy, it would be something along the lines of 'nothing offensive,'" Litchfield said. "If somebody came in with a German swastika, that would be a problem - or 'I hate President Bush,' 'I hate Jesus' or 'I hate Mahatma Gandhi.'"
Litchfield said he thinks because tattoos have become mainstream - even in the workplace - "people don't even notice them."
"Plus I have a lot more things to think about than how somebody paints their body," he said.
Anita Day, mass communication adjunct instructor, said she got a tattoo on her upper-right back a few years ago to replace a Theta symbol, which was a tattoo suggested by her deceased mother.
Now, Day's back bears a green and yellow slithering salamander, which peeks out when she wears sleeveless shirts or dresses in the classroom.
"I actually got that tattoo when I was a lobbyist," Day said. "It was visible through my cocktail dresses, but nobody's ever commented on it."
Day said though some businesses still have strict policies on body art, dress and grooming, educators have recently traded in their "long beards" for tattoos, wacky hair colors and piercings.
According to an ABC report in 2006, tattoos exploded into the limelight in the 1990s. Rod credits this surge to television, sports and entertainment.
"It started when [Dennis] Rodman started getting his tattoos," Rod said.
Rod said if his clients' workplaces have strict rules about tattoos, they usually opt for art that can be hidden under clothing.
"They usually get them in places [their bosses] can't see - the leg, the lower back," Rod said. "Or they want them right above the sleeve. That's what they request a lot."
But Rod said professionals should not allow career constraints to dictate what they can and cannot put on their bodies.
"The decision should really be up to them," Rod said. "They just have to realize it's going to be on their body forever."
----- Contact Leah Square at lsquare@lsureveille.com
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