When I was younger, I worked in a number of retail jobs where my boss nitpicked over my appearance, telling me how to wear my hair, telling me how to wear my makeup, insisting that I wear high heels, etc. I've been fired for refusing to wear full eye makeup (I can't, I'm a horrible flincher). I've worked for bosses who told me they picked female employees for their looks (one memorable boss told me "ugly girls don't sell clothing" as she was throwing a resume away). I noticed this happening to a lot of my female co-workers as well.
Has this happened to you? In what industries? And does this happen to men? To what extent?
2007-12-26 08:30:48 · 15 answers · asked by Priscilla B 5 in Social Science ➔ Gender Studies
Ashleigh- can you elaborate?
2007-12-26 08:35:51 · update #1
Ashleigh, thanks for elaborating. Not quite on topic, but just out of curiosity, are nurses allowed to wear scented products now (perfume, after shave, etc). It was my understanding that they couldn't. My mother was a nurse, and she told me it was to avoid allergic reactions that some patients might have.
2007-12-26 08:48:35 · update #2
Military people: Good point. I never thought of that.
2007-12-26 08:49:18 · update #3
There's a difference legally between wearing clothes that promote a professional image, and wearing clothes and make-up to be sexual in a "non-sexual" job. Flight attendants fought and won the fight against being forced to wear make-up, so that's a done deal. Sue and win!
Working in the fashion industry is an exception. You are expected to wear fashionable clothes, hairstyles and shoes to promote an image, but being told that you are too ugly for the job is actionable.
2007-12-26 11:08:59 · answer #1 · answered by La Belle Dame Sans Merci 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Oh goodness, yes. As a junior worker in a multi-national corporation (French firm), I was in strife every day for not being 'corporate' enough in my appearance ... I was told which shoes and which colour to wear, to wear stockings, to wear skirts not pants, etc etc.
I'v ehad lots of jobs where a uniform is required and it's very strict, and many jobs where a certain standard of dress is required by a kind of 'unwritten' code.
After a while you get used to it, and know how to dress to 'fit the bill' and still be yourself.
Nowadays I wear pants to work as well as skirts, and the juniors can follow my lead ~ as a junior the older ladies in the office set the tone.
That's how it is, I guess, although I do think there is more flexibility for women and men today.
The accountant in our office, for example, often wears a brown suit which would never have been allowed when I was young, men had to wear black or blue suits, always, in the city.
When you work outdoors, you also have to wear a uniform of kinds ~ at least boots or gum boots, some sort of apron and gloves as well as a hat. I've had jobs where they've sent people without hats home to get them!
There are rules everywhere, but we can work to change them.
I've never worked anywhere where makeup is an issue. I am well groomed at work, but makeup is out. No-one has ever said anything to me about it, I would be hugely offended if they did, as it is none of anyone's business.
However, I know that air stewards are expected to wear makeup and I've never worked high end retail, I know the attitudes are different in those sectors.
Cheers :-)
2007-12-26 11:41:12 · answer #2 · answered by thing55000 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you know I had to think about this, but, yes, I have been nitpicked about my dress. I work as an Exec Assistant for a VP. When I was new to the job I didn't have a lot of business clothes so I started wearing what I thought were nice dresses only to be written up because mid thigh is considered too short. I was told I needed to have my hair and make up done and 'look the part' of representing the sales organization and the VP's office.
2007-12-27 03:30:08 · answer #3 · answered by angibabi113 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ever been a nurse? Back in the good old days, the girls were not supposed to wear make-up or perfumes/nail polish etc. No toe-less or high heel shoes. Male nurses could never have hair that went below the collar. We could never use after shave and our beards were unheard of. On an average day I would wash my hands over a hundred times, change uniforms at least twice and still not be up to someone's dress code. How times have changed.
2007-12-26 08:34:30 · answer #4 · answered by Ashleigh 7 · 7⤊ 2⤋
The only time I was instructed on how I was to look, dress, etc was many years ago in nursing school......our instructors always told us to wear our hair up if it was long and out of our faces, minimal makeup, no jewlery in case it could get caught on something or hurt the patient, nails short, uniform dresses to our knees and no perfume. Perfume can smell really offensive and overpowering to someone not feeling well, plus, it may trigger allergies.
2007-12-26 14:30:11 · answer #5 · answered by lacrosselover 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This hasn't happened to me because I refuse to work in that type of industry. I work at places where no one sees me so my looks on the most part don't matter.
Starbucks is big on that too. If you ever been to one around here (Seattle, WA where the first where made) they are ran by girls with stripper bodies and they all have the same caffinated personalities. It was on the news a couple years ago. No one is going to pay $5 for a cup of coffee so they put these girls there to sell it.
2007-12-26 08:43:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
When I worked in retail the everyday complaint was "tuck those shirts in"
When I worked with the State Police the biggest issue was having to wear long pants when it was 90+degrees outside!
2007-12-26 09:38:21 · answer #7 · answered by Me 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not nearly that much, but I was forbidden from wearing sleeveless shirts and open-toed shoes when I worked at a call centre. The sleeveless shirts fell under the umbrella of "provocative," and they didn't want to risk paying health insurance for an injured toe.
2007-12-26 09:27:40 · answer #8 · answered by Rio Madeira 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Never. You may want to talk to someone about this though. Unless it is written that these things are part of the dress code it probably illegal...at the very least extremely unethical.
2007-12-26 12:25:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it happened to me each and every day for over 20 years.
They constantly told me how to wear my hair, my facial hair, work clothes, what kind of sunglasses I could wear. They even told me how far my belt could go beyond the belt buckle. It didn't only happen to me though. It happened to each and every one of us. The nerve of them.
We were all part of a special organization called the U.S. Air Force.
2007-12-26 08:43:42 · answer #10 · answered by BeachBum 3 · 10⤊ 0⤋