There is a passage in Leviticus that states: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”
While this passage varies from text to text, the message is clear: God does not approve of tattoos. The end.
Once the domain of sailors and prisoners alone, tattoos are now the norm for young Australians. According to a Department of Health study one in ten Australians has had a tattoo. Open any newspaper, sports magazine, even couture photo shoot, and tattoos will be peeking from wrists, ankles, arms and collarbones. Leviticus does not live here.
But there’s one thing that seems to follow the tattooed individual, and that’s a healthy whack of prejudice wherever they go.
A quick Internet search heralded gems such as, “I would never hire someone in a professional capacity with a tattoo – Yuk!” and “The vast majority of tattoo wearers appear to be those with limited cerebral activity”.
I have certainly seen some beauties: tattoo application may be on the rise but discrimination and prejudice seem to be rising at the same rate. The more tattoos, the more some people seem to have a problem with it.
Love thy neighbour is apparently void among those who see tattoos as ‘body graffiti’.
Late October 2011. It was sunny, but the wind was bitterly cold – Melbourne has a knack for not letting go of winter, regardless of how late in Spring you get. And 501 Swanston Street, Melbourne is about as godless a place as you can get in this city.
It’s also Victoria’s head recruitment centre for the Australian Defence Force.
I was waiting for a friend who was applying for the position of Airfield Defence Guard, an Air Force position at entry level. It was the last step in his application; he had passed every other admission test with flying colours. We both had a good feeling about that day and were ready to go for a few beers to celebrate afterwards.
I could tell the second I saw him that it hadn’t been good. His broad shoulders were slumped in his ill-fitting suit, and he gave me a thumbs down when he saw me. I shook out a cigarette from its packet and offered it to him.
“Beers?” I asked. If not celebratory, they could at least be consolatory.
“Liquor,” he replied.
Tom Griffin is young, fit, and broad-shouldered. He’s tanned, with dark hair, incredibly athletic-looking and sharp as a thumbtack – rare for twenty-somethings today. He’s a qualified personal trainer; experienced in labouring jobs as well.
And apparently entirely unsuitable to the Defence Force positions he applied for because of a throat tattoo.
Tom’s application to the Defence Force was a long one, with psychological, medical, fitness and various aptitude tests – all of which he passed flawlessly.
“Up until the interview I passed everything,” he said. “I got cleared for almost every job they had, on my aptitude test.”
So why was the military unable to offer a perfectly suitable candidate a job within its ranks?
The official word? Tom says the admissions officer who told him he was unsuccessful explained that he did not have enough knowledge of the position he was applying for, and his resume did not exhibit sufficient evidence of community service involvement.
The real kicker came about two months later when the Defence Force followed up with a “courtesy” call. Tom was told he shouldn’t bother to reapply for any positions because of his tattoos.
“I was not suitable for any roles within the ADF due to my tattoos,” he explained, “which was not the reason they gave me in the interview. They pretty much told me to not bother reapplying for any ADF roles – ever.”
When I asked the ADF for a comment regarding tattoos and applying to join the Air Force, they were not forthcoming. I was directed to the ADF’s policy on tattoos, and asked to reveal my sources so the Defence Department could launch an investigation. I politely declined.
So why tell people “officially” that they weren’t involved with their community enough when the real concern seems to be a throat tattoo?
“It’s prejudice,” Tom said. “They were just making excuses the whole time, trying to find a way around it all. The whole process was insulting. I felt like I was singled out for my tattoos despite any other of my qualities.”
Officially, the ADF’s policy on tattoos, for Air Force candidates such as Tom, reads: Air Force candidates are prohibited from having or obtaining tattoos on the face excluding the scalp, ears and neck. What’s that? Excluding the neck – exactly where Tom’s offending tattoo was placed. But there’s more: tattoos are acceptable on other parts of the body, unless the tattoo or brand is considered offensive, which seems, for military precision, decidedly open to interpretation. The definition is very vague indeed and there’s no indication of who gets to decide what is offensive.
It is distinctly odd that the ADF should be so offended by body art, a personal expression that every individual is entitled to. Sailors spread the ink trend around the world, forming an artistic tradition that is fully entrenched in the Defence Force.
But now tattooed people are indeed being discriminated against in their attempts to join the armed forces.
Whether you see tattoos as art or as something entirely different, they should not prevent the most suitable candidate being hired for the job.
The Defence Force was unavailable for further comment on its policies on tattoos for applicants wanting to join its ranks.
