The BBC is reporting the problems of a young woman whose extensive collection of tattoos threatens to disadvantage her in the workplace.
Is there not a contradiction, however, between the desire to, as she put it to the BBC reporter, ‘express’ herself, and the desire not to be judged or treated differently as a result? She has decided to make a public statement about herself, to stress her individuality, her lack of conformity. She has chosen to alter her image in a most dramatic way - the artwork on her body invites notice and attention, it even demands it. And yet, she says, she doesn’t want to be judged on her appearance.
Of course, I defend her freedom; she has every right to make the choices she has, and she is right to challenge those who instinctively regard her as a criminal or untrustworthy. Yet it is undeniable that the manner in which she has chosen to express herself is one that is deliberately subversive of social norms. It is a manner which screams, ‘I am different!’: that, surely, is much of the point. Having asked to be viewed differently, one should not be surprised if one is.
Of course, it is those who challenge conventions that are able to change them, though there has always been, historically, a price to pay.