The world’s most tattooed doctor says she always gets the same stupid reaction, but she doesn’t care.
dr. Sarah Gray, 33, out Australiawants to change public opinion tattoos after judged on her appearance while working as an orthopedic service registrar.
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The former Miss Ink Australia winner believes there is a shift that is making people more accepting, but wants to reiterate the message that she is not defined by her body art.
Sarah says it’s becoming more common for people in… professional roles to display tattoos and hopes that her appearance would not change how she is perceived.
She told the Daily star: “Tattoos don’t make you a bad person and anyone who thinks that’s just a representation of their unconscious bias, not who I am as a person.”
At the age of 16 Sarah got her first tattoo and became fascinated with the industry, which today carries over 300 hours of ink.
To represent important moments and meanings in her lifeshe started collecting pieces by artists.
She likes to challenge the idea that someone could judge her skills by the color of her skin, she says there
Sarah said: “I often have people contact me saying they were too scared to apply for job X or pursue career X for fear of being judged, but decided to go for it after they had me found it. That’s an amazing thing.
“If I can encourage one person to stay true to themselves by not fearing judgment, then I will continue to document my journey.”
Despite her very respectable job, she has become accustomed to having shop assistants and restaurant staff ignore her.
In a frustrating moment she was shopping for a pair of designer shoes three shop assistants fired her completely.
Sarah said: “They all served other customers first and wouldn’t even make eye contact with me.
“I waited politely for ages and finally gave up and left. They pulled themselves out of a sale and I saved myself $1,000 so I guess that’s a bonus.”
Another shocking example is that she and her husband went to dinner on Australia’s Gold Coast and were told by restaurant management that there was a ‘no visible tattoo’ policy.
The doctor wants more people to join her to celebrate diversity and creative self-expression, because “we weren’t born to be sheep,” she says.
She is thankful that the medical industry has never had a problem with her appearance.
Sarah explained: “I work in a conservative industry, but the world is evolving and accepting others more and more, as it should be.
“They let my work ethic and compassion for others speak for themselves. Those who are clouded by the way I look, I wouldn’t cooperate anyway. That’s their loss, not mine.”