<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms. Martín had gotten the lotus tattoo at age 18, to her parents’ displeasure — though her father currently backs her decision not to remove the body art, on principle — but despite their strong oppositional feelings, she appreciated the flower’s positive connotation.</span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve always liked the idea that the lotus represents, which is that you have to fight for what you want,” </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44723997"><span style="font-weight: 400;">she explained to BBC</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A decade later, that tattoo has caused her some distress in preserving her ambitions to serve in the Spanish military.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I felt terrible, at first I couldn’t believe it,” Ms. Martín said. “The reasons he was giving me seemed so absurd. I left utterly distraught, I was crying.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Apparently, there were also several men, taking the same exam as she, who had body art — including a man with a tattoo on his heel — but the men were all left to complete their exams without interruption. A second woman was removed from the exam for having a tattoo that was partly erased with laser treatment.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There were two things that bothered me: Firstly, there was the personal issue — it was two years of my life all for nothing, so much work and sacrifice. And then, above all, why should men be able to have the same tattoo and it’s no problem for them?” Ms. Martín further explained.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prior to her removal from the exam, Ms. Martín had aspired to work as a military psychologist. After leaving her previous position at a Madrid hospital, she studied for two years for the requisite civil service exam, since the selection process is competitive and the exam rigorous.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Until 2016, women in the Spanish army were made to wear skirts for particular occasions, but this rule has since changed. Women may request to wear a skirt, but a uniform in which the bare skin of the feet is visible is no longer obligatory uniform standard, no matter the circumstances.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Views on body art and piercings are potentially changing among Spain’s military and security forces. For one, </span><a href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/01/04/inenglish/1515083819_480090.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">La Legión members sport tattoos openly</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. As well, the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, </span><a href="http://www.surinenglish.com/national/201809/07/guardia-civil-body-tattoo-20180907092955-v.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">froze the introduction of new rules</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the physical appearance of civil guards, which would have included heightened enforcement toward tattoos, especially for women.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms. Martín has since appealed to the </span><a href="https://rio.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/organisations/spanish-ministry-defence"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spanish Ministry of Defense</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for permission to take and complete her exam. She is optimistic, given that the ministry is currently headed by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Robles"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Margarita Robles</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a woman. Robles is one of 11 women serving as ministers in Spain’s new socialist government.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms. Martín is short on time, though, as she is 30 years old, which is the maximum age for candidates in her desired position.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the Spanish army’s prohibitive policy towards tattoos and piercings, Ms. Martín is facing her challenge during a period of gender equality awareness, both in Spain and globally. On March 8, 2018, </span><a href="https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About"><span style="font-weight: 400;">International Women’s Day</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, thousands of women across Spain went on strike in an effort to demand equality. The following month, a huge feminist backlash occurred after a </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43915551#sa-link_location=story-body&intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-europe-44723997&intlink_ts=1536516518242-sa"><span style="font-weight: 400;">court ruled to absolve five men of the rape</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of a </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/world/europe/spain-pamplona-sexualassault.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">young woman in Pamplona in 2016</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms. Martín said decidedly, “If this had happened a few years ago, I would have expected nobody to believe me or listen to me, but right now we’re seeing progress and change in this area and that’s why it has hurt so much and that’s why it’s given me strength.”</span></p>
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