Women in Pants Men in Dresses Double Standard
When I entered a magazine job straight out of university, I knew inherently that jumpers, jeans and joggers weren't appropriate for the office.
But years later, working at a female-led start-up, those same clothes were basically the uniform of my colleagues. For us, neat hair was optional, and make-up was the anomaly, not the rule.
Gendered expectations around appearance can vary drastically depending on workplace culture. But the data shows that, regardless of the environment, women face more scrutiny than men about how they look and what they wear.
For many women, particularly those in corporate environments, getting dressed for work can be an expensive affair.
Research has found Australian women spend $15 billion on grooming annually. In contrast, men spend only $7 billion.
And expectations to look a certain way don't just drain us of cash, they also consume our time.
In her TEDx talk, which has had more than 5 million views, journalist Tracey Spicer quoted statistics from a survey on grooming. It found women spend an average of 27 minutes per day getting ready for work. Across a year, that equates to 10 full working days.
"Over our lives, on average, women will take 3,276 hours in grooming; for men it's 1,092 [hours]," Tracey Spicer said.
So, how else does the 'beauty expectation gap' manifest itself and, short of a feminist revolution, is there anything women can do about it?
'Beauty expectation gap'
Clothing and make-up can be an avenue for personal expression, but some women feel external pressures — be it from their boss, the media or society at large — to look a certain way.
Even when a woman's appearance has nothing to do with her competence or chosen profession, she may be questioned about what she's wearing.
We've seen this scenario play out multiple times in the Australian political sphere. From Natasha Stott Despoja's boots to Julie Bishop's stilettos, female politicians' fashion choices are observed far more closely than those of their male counterparts.
Tara Moss is an author, former model and human rights advocate, whose nonfiction book Speaking Out explores issues facing women and girls in Australia, such as discrimination, sexual harassment, online abuse and casual forms of everyday sexism.
She believes many women face a "beauty expectation gap" in their workplace.
"Women's grooming is … often an expectation, with career consequences for those who don't 'look the part'," she says.
"It is not uncommon in 2019 to see establishments where women are expected to wear high heels despite working on their feet all day."
Of course, shoes aren't the sole problem. Expectations around dress and make-up can set women back financially, but Ms Moss says that hair is one of the biggest examples of a double standard.
"Another concern of mine is the expectation that women keep grey hair covered — which is not an expectation generally foisted on men — and the expectation that curly hair, and particularly the naturally curly hair of women of colour, must be straightened and 'tamed' to look professional," she says.
"These expectations require dyes and chemical treatments that are costly, and for some cause adverse allergic reactions."
Women face time, financial and physical pressures as a result of the expectations placed on them.
Creating a uniform to cut down on costs
As a freelance stylist and producer in the fashion industry, Ellie Hinkley is familiar with the pressure to dress well at work.
"You can meet some stylists, creative directors or marketing managers of the company you're working for, and they are all wearing beautiful clothes," she says.
"It's very on-trend at the moment to have a designer handbag, so these ladies are now spending, four, five, $6,000 on a handbag.
"I did work for an employer once who insisted on us ladies all wear lipstick … And I'm not a huge make-up wearer, so for me that was like, 'Wow'."
Ms Hinkley says although some of the men in her industry sport designer 'bum bags' or shoes, the majority wear a uniform of black jeans and T-shirts.
Indeed, she's created her own work uniform of sorts — an oversized shirt, blazer, jeans and sneakers — to avoid spending unnecessary amounts on clothes. But she still devotes longer to pre-work grooming than she'd like to.
On average, Ms Hinkley says she spends an hour each day getting ready, three hours a week washing her hair and tanning, and two hours each month getting her nails done.
"In comparison, my partner who works in construction, he'll get out of bed at 5:45am, he'll go have a very quick shower, throw on his work clothes that he gets given, and within 15 minutes he'll be in the car, ready to go," she says.
Transitioning in the workplace
Melbourne-based transgender advocate Melissa Griffiths has seen both sides of the coin.
She transitioned in 2015, after losing her father and a cousin to cancer.
"[Their passing] made me think, 'You may be living part time as a trans woman, but life is pretty short' … so it made me come back and think about [transitioning]," she recalls.
For Ms Griffiths, who works in an office, changing her corporate appearance was a financially and emotionally taxing experience.
"It's quite a cost," she says.
"Some men obviously do buy facial makeup and skincare products, but a lot don't, so you tend to be spending more [as a woman].
"You've got your lipstick, you've got your foundation cream, your brush, your powder, then you've got the price of dresses. The price of female clothes seems dearer to me than male clothes, if you want reasonably good-quality stuff."
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Looking the part, landing the job
The cost of beauty products and clothing can be a barrier for many women wanting to join or re-enter the workforce.
And it's this precise problem that the global organisation Dress for Success is trying to address.
Ursula McGeown is CEO of the charity's Sydney chapter, which started a decade ago.
"Our founder Megan Etheridge … wanted to address a societal problem of how women are discriminated against when going for a job," she says.
"If you didn't look the part you were eliminated from the recruitment process straight away, so that actually eliminated a lot of vulnerable, disadvantaged women who didn't have the finances to go out and get themselves a gorgeous new dress or a blazer.
"These women who we support, they still have barriers [to entering the workforce], but we're taking that 'not looking like you don't belong' barrier away because we're giving her everything she needs. That's just one less thing she has to worry about."
While many industries and workplaces are modernising their dress code requirements, Ms McGeown says the pressure to look professional is still financially burdening for women.
"Like the [gender] pay gap, it's going to take probably, unfortunately, generations to change," she says.
"But there's some real trailblazing young people coming through who are just breaking the mould, so we'll get there eventually — I hope."
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Source: https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/double-standards-for-womens-appearance-at-work/11365492
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