Discrimination for tattoos or Piercing in the

Dominican Republic

Discrimination against people with tattoos or piercings is very normalized

here in the Dominican Republic, when a person is displayed in a public
place with a tattoo or with a nose piercing, on the lower lip or anywhere is
common to feel criticized, rejected or perceive that people keep some
distance with him.
If we ask anyone if he was treated by a doctor, a waiter or any profession;
the most common answer would be: "No, I wouldn’t let myself be cared
for by a criminal". 90% of people who said that were 40 to 60 years old.
According to them tattoos and piercings are "Devil’s" things.
Most of the young people who practice this activity in our country begin
between the ages of 15 and 17, many of them from poor neighborhoods
and families with limited resources. In our country, the tattoo artist is not
considered an artist, and what he does is not classified as a decent job.
But where discrimination is most felt in the workplace, that is why some
people who wear tattoos try to keep them hidden, for fear of being fired
or misjudged.
Contrary to what happens in factories and offices, it is increasingly
common to see sports figures, movie stars or television with tattoos.
Unlike the tattooists and ordinary people who are tattooed, these public
figures are the only ones treated with a lot of courtesy and even with a
certain respect and there is no lack of who affirms "You see, that person if
what is good".
Despite the discrimination of this type of art over normal people and
tattooists, it continues every day gaining more ground, when really the
only thing that this type of people share with each other, is the love for
art.