The Marine Corps fixed a small tattoo discrepancy that will now allow a tattooed female Marine recruit to enlist.

Shirt collars, it turns out, have a lot to do with tattoos. Marine recruit Kate Pimental of Maine discovered this the hard way when she tried to join the service, only to be turned away because of the tattoo on her collar bone. The tattoo is a simple, cursive script that says, “Let your smile change the world, but never let the world change you.”

The rule of thumb in the Marine Corps is that Marines can wear tattoos anywhere that is completely covered by their uniforms. The problem was that the default male and female uniforms covered an unequal amount of skin. A male Marine could sport a collar bone tattoo because his crewneck undershirt would keep it out of sight. A female Marine, however, had to wear a v-neck collar that would expose such a tattoo.

Pimental called attention to the different standards in male and female uniforms by contacting her representative, Rep. Chellie Pingree. Together they contacted Gen. Robert Neller and asked him to change the undershirt policy so that it didn’t create an unwitting double standard.

Neller agreed.

Now both male and female Marines are allowed to wear crewneck undershirts with their uniforms. Women in the service have a choice between v-necks and crewnecks, but for events that demand uniformity, superiors can request that all Marines wear crewnecks.

Pingree said in a statement that she was pleased with Neller’s decision to fix this tattoo discrepancy.

“This was a common-sense change and will allow bright, dedicated young women like Kate to serve their country proudly as a Marine,” Pingree said. “I don’t believe the old policy was intentionally discriminatory, but in the end it prevented women with some tattoos from enlisting when their male counterparts with the same tattoos were allowed to sign up. I’m grateful to General Neller for listening to our concerns and appreciate him acting to quickly change the policy.”