Should women ‘dress for success’?
February 4, 2009
Despite more and more gloomy economical news each day with thousands of redundancies, failing companies, strike action and house repossessions, a really surprising news story yesterday was that the Bank of England has held a seminar for female staff on what makeup, clothes, accessories and perfume to wear in the workplace. Apart from the obvious question of ‘haven’t they got more important things to worry about at the moment?’ the bank has come under fire from both the press and equal opportunities professionals for what has been described as ‘institutional sexism’, and could possibly face discrimination claims as a result.
I actually can’t believe that the bank went ahead with such a ridiculous event at a time like this! What’s more surprising is some of the outrageous statements made in the seminar, that have been leaked in a memo from the meeting, such as:
“be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort – maximum two inches; always wear some sort of makeup, even if it’s just lipstick,”
“No-nos include ankle chains – “professional, but not the one you want to be associated with”
Now, I have in the past sent memos and emails about appropriate dress to staff, mainly in relation to dress down day as it is more difficult for employees to assess what is professional when they are given the freedom to wear their own clothes instead of say, a suit. However, the idea of implying that an employee might look like a prostitute is going a bit over the top in my opinion!
Equal opportunities specialists have said that the seminar and memo indicates that the Bank of England is an ‘institutionally sexist environment’ because they are obviously being judged by what they wear and are therefore being treated differently to men. Perhaps then, a better option would have been to have an open seminar that advised all staff – women and men, on professional dress and how to portray the required image in the workplace…
I saw a mini debate on this subject on the BBC Breakfast show yesterday, and there was a woman in the debate that felt very strongly that people should be judged on the quality of their performance rather than their image. On the other hand, an image consultant argued that appearances are judged, and even went as far as saying that you might have a better chance of saving your job in a redundancy selection situation with the right sort of dress. I agree that image is important to a certain extent, but I do not believe that there’s anyone who could dress their way out of losing their job if they were not good enough. In these difficult times, when companies are making redundancies they will be thinking about the core skills and needs that will help that business to survive and thrive, not who looks the most striking or professional – unless your company actually sells or deals in image (like an escort agency or something…)
One comment that made me chuckle in the whole debate was from Ruth Lea, who is an economic advisor to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, who said:
“Surely it is up to men and women, and their peers at work to decide for themselves what is suitable to wear. If you can get a well-paid job, surely you have the nous to choose the right clothes”
Which I think says it all!
What do you think about this subject? Is dress important and should the Bank of England have gone ahead with the seminar?
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