I think piercing can sometimes be viewed as an assertion of self and an act of anti-establishment. So sometimes people in establishment fear what it might mean. They might feel that first and foremost you must serve in a company as part of a team (especially when you must wear their uniform) and they feel asserting your identity through piercing threatens this team. They might make assumptions that "well if they're willing to pierce X, what else are they going to do?"

I don't really agree with this. Especially with a piercing that has become so mundane like an eyebrow piercing. I guess that depends where you live but certain piercings nowadays that used to cause families to stare with their mouths wide open (a simple nose ring in my hometown) are pretty commonplace and people shouldn't be batting an eye.

It's funny though because I might come across as conservative saying that now that I have my own business (photographer), I don't know how I'd feel if I wanted to hire an assistant to shoot a wedding for a family from the midwest if the assistant had a septum piercing and wanted to wear a "tusk" (I don't know if you even call it that so please don't be offended). Not that I would feel that it would impact them performing their job or that it would make them a bad employee but because it might freak out my clients too much and detract attention from what we should be focusing on and that would be the wedding.

I used to take out my nose and eyebrow rings when I was younger and new to an office job. I felt people should get to know me as me and not focus on my jewelry or possibly use that as an excuse for something. Once I established myself and we all felt comfortable with each other, the jewelry would go back in.

While I think discrimination based on piercing is narrow minded, I don't know if I'm completely opposed to it. And really, a company that treats people that way is not any company any of us should want to work for to begin with. It also depends on that company having a clear policy. If they don't and they discriminate/fire, that's a whole other story. If they do, maybe it's just their perogative and at least they are honest. Once again, not a place where we'd want to work.

Seems as though when people are uneducated and something new arises or there is a stigma of what something else represents, they go ballistic and usually in the wrong direction. I have no hang ups about piercings and it really depends on where you are in the country. Some areas seem ok by it and some not. Piercings are a personal experession just as mentioned above concerning hairstyle etc. It is the narrow minded Victorian hangover that this country seems to thrive on that keeps it from moving forward as society grows. I am not anti establishment but I am sure a promoter of moving ahead and stop looking behind. Why is it that a floor worker can have multiple earrings or piercings while someone who has contact with the public can not? It is pure discrimination. I absolutely agree that what you look like has nothing to do with how you perform your job. I have met many main stream conservative types that when in the work place are completely clueless but yet they have no problem with getting or maintaining a job whether they perform or not. Wake up America and join the rest of the world and stop discriminating ahgainst people because they don't look like you. (I happen to be a senior financial executive and I am glad I don't fit the corporate mold)

I work in insurance, and it's not just tattoos and piercings (other than the ear) that have to be covered... Conservative clothing, minimal make-up, and only "natural hair dye" has been clearly expected in all offices I have worked in... (This is usually clearly stated in the employee handbook.) My bosses and colleagues have always been considerate in requests to myself and others, but always been made clear to not "walk that line."

I have even been advised by countless different people to hide my tragus (part of the inner ear) piercing during an interview (which simply means wearing my long hair down) because it would come off unprofessional and make me seem "rebellious". Someone said I could run the risk of them focusing on that rather than my resume, etc.