Are people born with tattoos and piercings? Well, if you don't count the port-wine stain people, no - and even those folks get those removed. That is the status quo.
Now, what about tats on hands, necks, and faces? On your own hands, you can see them. However, on a neck, face, ear, or head, you can't even see them by yourself, and, if it is writing, in a mirror, they're still backwards. As such, to say that they remind you of something is disingenuous. This means you have gotten them for other people to see. You are looking for a reaction. It might not be shock, but you have something that you want someone (who isn't you) to see. On the face, anyone who says they don't want a reaction are not being honest with themselves. We have 12 cranial nerves, but only 31 for the rest of the body. "Look me in the eye", "You can't keep a straight face", and myriad others point to the face and head and neck being the centerpoint of humans. I saw 5 deer today in a small valley in Pennsylvania, and they all looked alike - minimal facial dimorphism. We don't have that. Extraneous color and metal accentuate that.
Whether it is equitable or not, making a permanent change to the focus of your person which is outside the pale should be considered greatly, and one should not be surprised that, if one chooses in the affirmative, another who does not share the same opinion might not think or feel the same.
Now, as to the person who mention Maoris, do you know any Maoris? I don't, but I did know MANY Samoans and Hawai'ians, some Micronesians, and one or two Tahitians. The Polynesian facial tattooing was for battle - to scare opponents. That's it. Warriors. Not cultural. And Polynesian tattooing, especially among Samoans (as Tongans do NOT tattoo) gave me a new perspective. Mainlanders with their ugly/dumb tattoos could learn something from a Native Hawai'ian or Samoan, but be ready for the tattooist to ask about your genealogy. Also, it will be placed with the traditional ivory needle and tapping; the only concession to modernism is that the ink is no longer ashes mixed with coconut water - the modern black ink is less carcinogenic. Moreover, it is going to hurt - and up to 6, maybe 8 guys will be needed to hold you down when the belly button tattoo is placed. You wash up in the ocean while it is healing, to wash away the pus, and cool things down.
I knew a captain in the US Army, who is haole/pakeha/palagi, who got his right shoulder with a traditional tattoo, and you can't see it in uniform or in scrubs, but it is 1. real 2. traditional 3. respected, because he respected the culture, and the natives felt he was worth it.
Now, as for the Under Armour, sure. There is a rad tech where I work who wears this white nylon sleeve on his right arm, which looks like an orthopedic thing or a burn sleeve. In reality, it covers his whole arm sleeve, because that's what the policy told him. He takes it off when he is off the clock. Hell, you could put a band-aid on your neck. People would then not think even a second.
So, again, is it equitable? A very few might think you are getting the short shrift, but, as long as you are in the junior position, you don't have the leverage. Is it just? I don't know, but I DO know it is what it is.
