So the Church of Body Modification has yet another member claiming that their facial piercing is protected by divine right and thus they should not be affected by dress code policies that ban piercings. Sara Yule got a job at a Catholic hospital and decided to her lip pierced. When told she would have to wear a retainer, she insisted that her religion did not permit the wearing of such retainers, and on religious grounds demanded that she be allowed to keep the ring.
SARA YULE (Photo: John D’Annibale / Times Union)
Sara says that she is “looking to make history” (religions always like ambitious and idealistic young heroines). The CoBM — big surprise here — hasn’t bothered replying to email on the subject so far. What I’d love to see is an explanation from anyone on how body modification in this context (a lip ring) is an overtly religious act, versus, say, simply an act of free expression (and the underlying spiritual freedom that all acts of free expression contain). As one of it’s founding members, I strongly feel that the actions CoBM members are not, by and large, “religious” in nature.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I agree with Sara that taking control of your body is an essential part of becoming an individual, and I think it’s terrible that there is a system in place that works to stop people from being individuals. However, part of being an individual is also accepting that sometimes doing the right thing isn’t easy, and that the more free you want to be, the more you have to rely on yourself, rather than expecting others to help you.
I think firing someone over body modification is bullshit. Worse than that though, I think that the fact that “freedom of expression” is not a fundamental and protected right in the United States (it is a right in many other nations), is also bullshit. Sadly though, you can’t use a bullshit religion to fight bullshit laws.
Comments
70 responses to “The latest CoBM news”
But the point is she wasn’t refused employment or fired. They offered three different routes of compromise because they wanted her to remain an employee. That’s a hell of a lot more than you’ll get from most establishments.
Frankly, I just can’t see how wearing a retainer would be “against her religion.”
But the point is she wasn’t refused employment or fired. They offered three different routes of compromise because they wanted her to remain an employee. That’s a hell of a lot more than you’ll get from most establishments.
Frankly, I just can’t see how wearing a retainer would be “against her religion.”
I think it’s insane to compare piercings and tattoos to race or sexual orientation. You can choose to have piercings and tattoos. You can’t choose who your parents are.
If you’re accepting the dress code as a condition of hire (companies have the right to stipulate pretty much anything, after all you’re choosing to accept it in order to work there) and then break that condition the company could rightfully end your employment.
I agree that everyone has the right to control their body but sometimes you have to pick between what’s more important: your career or your mods. Not everyone can have a career where the two coexist happily.
Seems to me that she’s been given the option to choose, she’s just not exercising it.
One more thing: the last thing she is quoted as saying is “But I won’t [remove my piercing] because somebody says I have to.”
Until you’re the President of the “Free World” you eventually have to abide by someone’s rules. Maybe she should run for office instead of working at a hospital.
I think it’s insane to compare piercings and tattoos to race or sexual orientation. You can choose to have piercings and tattoos. You can’t choose who your parents are.
If you’re accepting the dress code as a condition of hire (companies have the right to stipulate pretty much anything, after all you’re choosing to accept it in order to work there) and then break that condition the company could rightfully end your employment.
I agree that everyone has the right to control their body but sometimes you have to pick between what’s more important: your career or your mods. Not everyone can have a career where the two coexist happily.
Seems to me that she’s been given the option to choose, she’s just not exercising it.
One more thing: the last thing she is quoted as saying is “But I won’t [remove my piercing] because somebody says I have to.”
Until you’re the President of the “Free World” you eventually have to abide by someone’s rules. Maybe she should run for office instead of working at a hospital.
To compare body modifcation to race is stretching it, but comparing it to sexual orientation is completely accurate. For the record, I am a gay woman who has been “out” for almost 10 years now.
Sexual orientation is not something that is automatically and irrevocably visible upon first glance. If you were to put a line up of people in front of an employer they cannot accurately tell what your sexual orientation is anymore than they could tell who has a full bodysuit and a 0 gauge PA. Facial piercings and tattoos visible outside of a long-sleeved collared shirt, are what all this conflict is surrounding. People can make assumptions based upon stereotypes, but there is no real way for any employer to know either your sexual orientation or modification status unless you are openly showing them via visible gay pride items or tattoos and piercings.
There are plenty of people in the work force who keep their modifications or sexual orientation a secret. I can’t count how many gay teachers I’ve met who keep their orientation a closely-guarded secret because of their jobs. I myself work a job where I can be fired for having visible modifications, despite having a 2 gauge septum.
I can’t speak for what goes on in the U.S.A., but here in Canada a person cannot be discriminated against due to their sexual orientation, race, religion, country of origin, economic or marital status. Does this mean it doesn’t happen? HELL NO. It happens every day. These laws are just there to make people happy. When it comes down to it, any employer can refuse to hire you or to terminate your employment for any reason (which they aren’t even legally required to give you). Until anti-discrimination laws, especially those in the workplace, are given some capability to be enforcemed this situation will simply continue to repeat itself.
To compare body modifcation to race is stretching it, but comparing it to sexual orientation is completely accurate. For the record, I am a gay woman who has been “out” for almost 10 years now.
Sexual orientation is not something that is automatically and irrevocably visible upon first glance. If you were to put a line up of people in front of an employer they cannot accurately tell what your sexual orientation is anymore than they could tell who has a full bodysuit and a 0 gauge PA. Facial piercings and tattoos visible outside of a long-sleeved collared shirt, are what all this conflict is surrounding. People can make assumptions based upon stereotypes, but there is no real way for any employer to know either your sexual orientation or modification status unless you are openly showing them via visible gay pride items or tattoos and piercings.
There are plenty of people in the work force who keep their modifications or sexual orientation a secret. I can’t count how many gay teachers I’ve met who keep their orientation a closely-guarded secret because of their jobs. I myself work a job where I can be fired for having visible modifications, despite having a 2 gauge septum.
I can’t speak for what goes on in the U.S.A., but here in Canada a person cannot be discriminated against due to their sexual orientation, race, religion, country of origin, economic or marital status. Does this mean it doesn’t happen? HELL NO. It happens every day. These laws are just there to make people happy. When it comes down to it, any employer can refuse to hire you or to terminate your employment for any reason (which they aren’t even legally required to give you). Until anti-discrimination laws, especially those in the workplace, are given some capability to be enforcemed this situation will simply continue to repeat itself.
BLAH — SOOO many opinions. No wonder there’s a fucking war raging.
I’m gunna say something, it has nothing to do with this though.
Has anyone noticed that the “big cheeses” at the tip top of the war totem pole (you know, presidents, PM’s, and all the people who make the “let’s fight” decisions) are never female? Ever notice how the ONLY people ever to have officially called a war is a man?
I figured that out the other day after some research and it suddenly dawned on me that if researchers can find a cure for testosterone, then the world would be a peaceful place.
hm.
BLAH — SOOO many opinions. No wonder there’s a fucking war raging.
I’m gunna say something, it has nothing to do with this though.
Has anyone noticed that the “big cheeses” at the tip top of the war totem pole (you know, presidents, PM’s, and all the people who make the “let’s fight” decisions) are never female? Ever notice how the ONLY people ever to have officially called a war is a man?
I figured that out the other day after some research and it suddenly dawned on me that if researchers can find a cure for testosterone, then the world would be a peaceful place.
hm.
Oh yeah, I meant to add, as my two cents about this thing here..
When i started getting into body mod my mom, after realizing she wasnt going to talk me out of anything, gave me some advice. I ignored it at first.. but as every year goes on that i am more and more involved, i realised how right she was.
She told me “You know, you’re going to have to be a very strong person to be as different as you want to be. If you want to be different, you need to be 100% confident in yourself and your modification. Because if you’re not, every single person of the millions of people who are going to challenge your body modifications are going to see right through every fact and argument you throw at them. All they’re going to see is an insecure, unconfident person trying to battle prove your modifications before yourself to them. Be confident, and all they’ll have to question is you, not your modifications. And if they do question you, your answers will be like a brick wall.”
She was right, my mom.
Oh yeah, I meant to add, as my two cents about this thing here..
When i started getting into body mod my mom, after realizing she wasnt going to talk me out of anything, gave me some advice. I ignored it at first.. but as every year goes on that i am more and more involved, i realised how right she was.
She told me “You know, you’re going to have to be a very strong person to be as different as you want to be. If you want to be different, you need to be 100% confident in yourself and your modification. Because if you’re not, every single person of the millions of people who are going to challenge your body modifications are going to see right through every fact and argument you throw at them. All they’re going to see is an insecure, unconfident person trying to battle prove your modifications before yourself to them. Be confident, and all they’ll have to question is you, not your modifications. And if they do question you, your answers will be like a brick wall.”
She was right, my mom.
LeaveThePoliticsToMadmen,your mom is so right and I strive to teach that to my boys with their choices. Granted they cant make many choices now since they are only 5 and 10 but they have made some and they stick to their guns when people question them about it.
LeaveThePoliticsToMadmen,your mom is so right and I strive to teach that to my boys with their choices. Granted they cant make many choices now since they are only 5 and 10 but they have made some and they stick to their guns when people question them about it.
“Has anyone noticed that the âbig cheesesâ? at the tip top of the war totem pole (you know, presidents, PMâs, and all the people who make the âletâs fightâ? decisions) are never female? Ever notice how the ONLY people ever to have officially called a war is a man?”
Only one thing to say to that: Margaret Thatcher.
“Has anyone noticed that the âbig cheesesâ? at the tip top of the war totem pole (you know, presidents, PMâs, and all the people who make the âletâs fightâ? decisions) are never female? Ever notice how the ONLY people ever to have officially called a war is a man?”
Only one thing to say to that: Margaret Thatcher.
It’s all about image. Hospitals are respectable places. And many people feel (unjust logic, of course) that even healed mods are harborers for bacteria. They want to keep their image in society. Though some are leniant…I happen to work with the elderly, with 25 piercings, somewhere in the range of maybe, 8 visible tattoos, and hair that could made into a mohawk on a whim. It all just depends on the business.
It’s all about image. Hospitals are respectable places. And many people feel (unjust logic, of course) that even healed mods are harborers for bacteria. They want to keep their image in society. Though some are leniant…I happen to work with the elderly, with 25 piercings, somewhere in the range of maybe, 8 visible tattoos, and hair that could made into a mohawk on a whim. It all just depends on the business.
killy – again, to me it goes back to your self-confidence. I worked in the recovery room in the hospital for a long time, and as long as i was confident in my skills and did the job right, i never got a negative word from my bosses or co-workers.
.. if i wasn’t so sure of my skills and always double-thinking my actions, my insecurity would show and they’d pick on my mods. It all comes down tto that.
killy – again, to me it goes back to your self-confidence. I worked in the recovery room in the hospital for a long time, and as long as i was confident in my skills and did the job right, i never got a negative word from my bosses or co-workers.
.. if i wasn’t so sure of my skills and always double-thinking my actions, my insecurity would show and they’d pick on my mods. It all comes down tto that.
Wow, this thread wandered far afield!
1. Leave the lady’s eyes alone. She was being photographed in a stressful situation. If the studio or setting was fairly dark, and there was a sudden light flashing… well, go take a flash picture of yourself in a dimly lit room and see how you look.
2. Women are not fully capable of declaring war? Men have held most of the power for a long, long time. War is declared by those in power. Therefore men have declared most wars. How many major cities have been founded by women? Hospitals built? Religions founded? The problem might be the heteropatriarchy, but it is not some inherent biological inferiority on the part of men.
3. IMHO, and the opinion of the law as I understand it in the US, they can discriminate on the basis of looks (including born freaks, tattooed faces, burn victims, etc.) if they can show that looks are part of the job, unless the employee is part of a few narrowly definied protected classes, like race. A car salesman will just not be as effective if she is horribly disfigured or, possibly, even just heavily modded. You makes your choices, you takes your consequences.
4. Discrimination against mods in the workplace will not be changed in the courts, at least not in the US (and probably not even in Canada, given the Notwithstanding Clause) until companies find it unprofitable to discriminate. When was the last time any of us refused to shop somewhere because the store had a policy against visible ink or piercings? Do we even know the policies of local merchants? Maybe we need to start asking. Boycotts and engaged dialogue change more business practices than any lawsuit.
Wow, this thread wandered far afield!
1. Leave the lady’s eyes alone. She was being photographed in a stressful situation. If the studio or setting was fairly dark, and there was a sudden light flashing… well, go take a flash picture of yourself in a dimly lit room and see how you look.
2. Women are not fully capable of declaring war? Men have held most of the power for a long, long time. War is declared by those in power. Therefore men have declared most wars. How many major cities have been founded by women? Hospitals built? Religions founded? The problem might be the heteropatriarchy, but it is not some inherent biological inferiority on the part of men.
3. IMHO, and the opinion of the law as I understand it in the US, they can discriminate on the basis of looks (including born freaks, tattooed faces, burn victims, etc.) if they can show that looks are part of the job, unless the employee is part of a few narrowly definied protected classes, like race. A car salesman will just not be as effective if she is horribly disfigured or, possibly, even just heavily modded. You makes your choices, you takes your consequences.
4. Discrimination against mods in the workplace will not be changed in the courts, at least not in the US (and probably not even in Canada, given the Notwithstanding Clause) until companies find it unprofitable to discriminate. When was the last time any of us refused to shop somewhere because the store had a policy against visible ink or piercings? Do we even know the policies of local merchants? Maybe we need to start asking. Boycotts and engaged dialogue change more business practices than any lawsuit.