Survey!

        Part of my project was for me to have this "journal". I was suppost to have a question to ask people about their opinion of my topic. Well I couldn't pick just one question, or really even two since my topic (Expressing yourself in the workplace and at school) is one, very debated and two, people have a hard time just saying yes or no to things, there seems to always be exceptions. For example, one of my questions was "Would a person having a tattoo/piercing/or dyed hair influce your decision on whether you'd hire that person or not?" and almost everytime a person read it said "Depends on the job" and I agree. Which is why I chose to do a survey!
      Below is the survey that I handed out and emailed to people. As you can see, the boxes for #3 don't line up on the blog, but on the survey they were next to each selection.


 1) How important is it to you that you’re able to express yourself in your work place?  
 (Place and X in one box. 1-very important – 5- not important)

      1                                    2                                  3                                     4                                       5

2)      At School? (Please disregard if not student)

      1                                   2                                   3                                      4                                      5

3)      Check all that you think should be allowed in the work place (or in school if you’re a student).

 Small visible tattoo                                             Large visible tattoo

Hidden tattoo                                                       Pierced ears

Henna (non permanent tattoo)                            Gaged ears

Painted nails                                                        Dyed hair (natural color)

Blue jeans                                                            Dyed hair (unnatural color)

Sandals/ flip flops                                                Dyed hair (accents)

Pierced nose                                                        Pierced tongue

4)      Do you think that dress codes are going to “relax” as today’s younger generations grow up?

                Yes                                                         No

5)      Do you think that having a tattoo/piercing/ or dyed hair will affect your chances of getting hired?

Yes                                                         No

6)      Would it influence your decision on whether you’d hire a person or not?

Yes                                                         No

7)      What is your age? (Wanting to compare if age is correlated with what people think should be acceptable.)

Age is ----- (               )

My results out of 17 surveys:
Question 1:   1/17 chose 1  -   3/17 chose 2   -   11/17 chose 3   -   2/17 chose 4   -   0/17 for 5
Question 2:    5/17 for1    -   8/17 for 2    -    0/17 for 3    -   1/17 for 4      -   1/17 for 5 - 2 people didn't answer
Question 3:

13/17 Small visible tattoo                                           5/17    Large visible tattoo

17/17 Hidden tattoo                                                    12/17  Pierced ears

11/17 Henna (non permanent tattoo)                         6/17    Gaged ears

14/17 Painted nails                                                      14/17 Dyed hair (natural color)

12/17 Blue jeans                                                          9/17    Dyed hair (unnatural color)

6/17 Sandals/ flip flops                                                12/17 Dyed hair (accents)

6/17 Pierced nose                                                        7/17    Pierced tongue

Question 4: 14/17 for Yes ----- 3/17 for No
Question 5: 16/17 for Yes ----- 1/17 for No
Question 6: 10/17 for Yes ----- 6/17 for No --- 1 person didn't answer
Question 7: --- (2) 17, (5) 18, (4) 19, (3) 25, 26, 62, 67

Henna

       The tattoo that parents love, non permanent! Henna is made from henna leaves and is sold as a powder (made by drying, milling, and sifting the leaves) which is in turn mixed with lemon juice, strong tea, or other mildly acidic liquids. With the right mixture it will turn out almost like toothpaste (it will keep the shape) making it easy to do all of the detailed designs.
         Henna dyes (or stains the skin) because of the "lawsone" molecules in the leaves. When the paste touches our skin the lawsone binds to the proteins in our skin cells, hence staining them.
          Once the paste is made, it needs to sit for 6-12 hours to make sure all the lawsone is released from the leaves. Then once applied, a good stain can be achieved in just minutes, but it can be left on for up to a couple of hours to make the stain as dark as possible. Also before hand you can put on a oil with high levels of "monoterpene" alcohols to help improve the stain; for example tea tree, eucalyptus, cajeput, or lavender

Ear Cuffs

          If you don't want to actually pierce your ears, then ear cuffs are for you. They're an earring that's designed to "hug" or cling to the upper part of the ear. This is achieved by having the metal formed into a curved shape that snugly fits around the folds of your outer ear. I personally have 2 simple bands, and they don't hurt at all to have them on. Also, this earring comes in several different designs and shapes and can even be incorporated with already existing piercings (see picture to the right).

       As I said, I have only two plain cuffs (one silver, one gold) but there is a huge variety in the types and styles available. They can be just a strip of metal, curved wire (with curved wire there can be swirling and curvy patterns) or they can have embedded gemstones, etched designs, dangling jewelry, or take on the shape of a specific thing or animal (bottom picture.). 

         They are usually made of metal, but it can have wood, bone, or gems attached or hung (very common). They also are a one size fits all kind of deal (sometimes sizes can be chosen) and they are super easy to adjust to the size of your ear. I love the ones I have and highly recommend them!

Gages

       Gaging is stretching and already existing piercing. Originally done only by tribes and in different cultures, it has entered the western world and become a hit (well at least for some). There are several ways to "gage" or stretch openings, and you can do them in several places other than just the earlobe.
       The most common professional way to do it is by Tapering. It's done by lubricating a the desired sized taper (circular rod) and pushing it through the piercing. Once you reach the end of it, you place the desired jewelry (that's the same size as the taper) next to it and slide it in as you pull out the taper.
       Then there is Dead Stretching; where the larger sized jewelry is simply forced in, however this can cause buildup of scar tissue making it harder to be enlarged later on, and/or, it could cause a "blow out" and tear the skin.

          Also there's Teflon Tape Stretching. This is done by simply adding one layer of non-adhesive Teflon tape at a time until it's the next size gage. This way is the safest and most recommended by professionals to stretch piercings.
       Now there are several other ways as well (Using weights, scalpelling, silicone plugs,etc.) but I won't go into them. As you can see there are several ways to stretch piercings and there are even more types of jewelry you can use. Plugs, O-rings, and flesh tunnels are some of the more common ones used today. Plugs is just a simple cylinder filling that can flare out on the sides(its the brown one in the picture with little swirls on it). An O-ring is in the picture to the right, it's the clear blue one. Flesh tunnels are the ones that show space through the piercing (it's the silver metal one).

    Now even though these are popular, there are a few health issues that can happen. There's the obvious scaring that can happen, and then there's also the "point of no return". This is achieved once a person goes onto a gage size bigger than 0g. Once after that size, the tissues in your ear will not shrink back to the size of the original piercing.

Gauge	Millimeters	Inches
18g	1.0 mm	0.0310467"
16g	1.3 mm	0.039758"
14g	1.6 mm	0.0459"
12g	2.1 mm	0.06349"
10g	2.6 mm	0.077396"
8g	3.3 mm	0.0948"
6g	4.1 mm	0.1046"
4g	5.2 mm	0.2363"
2g	6.5 mm	0.387"
0g	8.3 mm	0.4007"
00g	10 mm	0.457"
7/16	11 mm	0.48217"
1/2	12 mm	0.5"
9/16	14 mm	0.63"
5/8	16 mm	0.7298"
3/4	19 mm	0.75"
7/8	22 mm	0.8562"
1 inch

Back Corset Piercings

          One of the newest kind of piercings. However picture's can be misleading. This look is created by having as few as four piercings, (two in each row) or as many as the individual wants or has room for, and then running a ribbon through them to create a pattern down the skin. Since there are many risks to having this piercing it is usually done as a temporary job for a special event. Like a photo shoot, advertising campaign, or a play.
         When done temporarily, usually captive bead rings are used as the jewelry, but it can also be done with hypodermic needles which can simply be removed after the event.

       When done as a permanent thing, surface bars have had the best results. However, it is highly unlikely that every surface piercing will heal correctly. Normal daily actions are a big threat to the healing piercings which makes it a lot of work for the wearer to take care of them. Also, just like any other surface piercing, rejected or unhealed corset piercings can leave permanent scarring.

      One big thing for corset piercings too are the fact that most pictures of them show them laced and freshly pierced which can mislead the viewers to thinking they can be laced at all times, which isn't the case, even for a well healed permanent corset piercing. Also in advertising they can airbrush the pictures to hide redness, swelling, or irritation. 
      As you can imagine, this kind of piercing was created to resemble olden day actual corsets and be seductive. While I was researching this I found several artistic pictures done of the corset piercings. I would of posted some on the blog, however they were taken to show off the beauty of the natural (naked) body, so decided against it. My point though, is that even though this is a very erotic and strange kind of piercing it's also been accepted as being artistic and creative.

Piercings

           Almost every child gets their ear pierced when they're young. Who wouldn't? It's a step towards looking more mature and different from everyone else. Depending on where a person gets a piercing, it can either one make the person feel more like they fit in, or two, make the person feel unique. Personally I don't have any piercing at all on my body, but I don't see anything wrong with them. In fact I would have some, but I'm a baby about pain, so I wear a "ear cuff" (Can see one in a later blog). To me if a person has a piercing then they are just simply expressing their style.
       


Above is a Youtube video done by Vault Video who went around and interviewed people about whether they think having a tattoo or piercing would affect their chances at attaining a job. They interviewed a wide variety of people (as you can see and the bottom left of the screen) that all had piercings and/or a tattoo. Out of all that were surveyed "85% thought that having a tattoo or piercing impede ones chances of finding a job," and I myself believe it too, but should it be that way? Why do companies want unmarked and unpierced employees? Yes to make every one look clean and tidy, but No company would be able to employ their whole store or business with these "perfect" employees. Vault Video's actually found that   "53% of employee's cover up their tattoos and/or piercings while at work." But again, why is this necessary? Even in the video they interviewed a Business Consultant who said that she has no issue with them, but she was aware of her field having an issue with it. She also pointed out that possibly that it was just because of our generation. BINGO! Okay grandparents, remember those girls walking around in skirts showing their legs? (I know! Total taboo.) Well back then those "flappers" was the opening up of our generation; people wanting to express themselves and look different from everyone else. Stand out in the world and say "Hey! Look at me! I'm special!", and sorry to say grandma, it's only going to get worse.

  

      But as one of the major "individualism seeking" generation

 (generation X) grows up and enters the big world to earn their fancy

job, will having a tattoo or piercing be such a bad thing? I actually feel more comfortable around people with a tattoo, piercing, or wildly colored hair because I connect to them in the wanting to feel different. I will agree though that are some really extreme piercing that probably aren't really necessary to share with the world. (Ex. Back corsets, genital piercings, etc.)

        As people with all of these things start to grow up and flood the world, they aren't looking for a guy with greased back hair in a monkey suit when they stop by the bank for a $20. All they'll want is a friendly face that recognizes them for who they are. Not just an everyday 300 pound American citizen, but an individual in this world who is going to become someone.  

My Reason

This blog was created for the sole purpose for talking about how much of a issue having a uniform is; whether for work or for school. People say that there would be a big improvement in learning if a uniform was enforced for schools, but I disagree. People think that requiring every employee to look the same will help their business, but I disagree. People think that piercings and erotic hair dying shouldn't be allowed and many find it repulsing, but I disagree. How do you feel about it?