Uniforms and black silk: robes or shackles for women in the workplace? When is it someone else's turn to dictate what to wear?
Every morning when you open your closet, have you ever been in such a predicament? Carefully matched with the OL uniform suit, with decent black silk, but was teased by coworkers "too sexy"; change into conservative pants, but also by the leadership implied that "not enough femininity". It seems that the dress of women in the workplace is always walking a tightrope between "inappropriate" and "unattractive".
Why is it that a uniform and a pair of black silks can always easily set off a workplace storm?
Little A's experience may be illustrative. On the first day of her employment, she attended the morning meeting in a standard suit with black stockings. At the end of the meeting, the head of the department privately reminded: "The skirt is too short and the stockings are too transparent, so it's easy for customers to misunderstand." Aggrieved, Xiao A opened the employee handbook, which only says "dress appropriately", but there is no specific standard.
What's more ironic is that when Little A changed into long pants, the same supervisor joked at the gathering, "Our department is short of femininity!" This kind of contradictory requirement puts countless women in the workplace in a dilemma.
The Unspoken Rules of Aesthetic Bullying in the Workplace
When the combination of "uniform + black silk" appears in the office building, there are always people who automatically open the mode of judgment: - "Wearing such a sexy dress, is trying to seduce the leader, right?" - "Black silk with high heels? You don't look like a serious person." - "30 years old and still wearing black silk, what kind of girl is she pretending to be?"
These gossips hidden in the pantry and elevator constitute a set of invisible workplace aesthetic bullying. Research by a recruitment platform shows that 83% of women in the workplace have been talked about by coworkers because of their dress, and 65% of them have encountered comments with gender innuendo.
The double yoke of the male gaze
The dilemma of women's dress in the workplace is essentially a product of the male gaze. When greasy middle-aged male executives "comment and guide" on the black silk of female subordinates, when customers use ambiguous eyes to measure the uniform skirt of the receptionist, power inequality has been revealed through the dress code.
What is even more paradoxical is that this set of criteria is full of contradictions: - You have to be "feminine" but not "too sexy". - They must be pleasing to the eye, but not too sexy. - It has to fit the company's image, but not overpower it.
A female director of an Internet company spouted in an internal forum, "No one paid attention to my ability to lead the team to complete a 300 million dollar project, and changing a pair of stockings became the headline of the pantry." This post was anonymously liked by thousands of female employees.
The Freedom to Dress for the Workplace Manifesto
It's reassuring to know that a new generation of women in the workplace is breaking this set of unspoken rules: - Post-95 product managers responded directly at their weekly meeting, "My coding ability has nothing to do with stocking thickness" - Women traders at financial firms collectively protest the inclusion of stockings in the dress code. - Law Firms Eliminate 100-Year-Old Rule That Women Must Wear Skirts
These changes confirm the fact that true workplace professionalism is reflected in the wisdom of problem solving, not in the fabric wrapped around the thighs.
Wearing your workplace voice
When choosing a workplace dress code, remember three principles: 1. comfort is king: breathless waistbands are not inspiring 2. Safety is the bottom line: short skirts that prevent you from being exposed to the light will only distract you. 3. self-confidence is the key: can make you straighten the waist is a good robe
When someone points a finger at your black silk, respond with a smile, "I suggest you pay more attention to my KPI completion rate."
Clothing is armor, not shackles. The real charm of the workplace is never in the thickness of the stockings, but in the glint of intelligence in your eyes. When more women wear their favorite clothes into the conference room, when the uniform black silk no longer cause boring discussion, that is the real beginning of equality in the workplace.
The next time you pick out a workplace robe, simply ask yourself: will this outfit allow me to fight with more confidence? As for the eyes of others - let them continue to stare at your ability to shine.
