Women, Weaves, and the Workplace

Shave your legs. Blow dry your hair. Tweeze those eyebrows. Then some BB cream, light blush, liner, and eye shadow before running out the door. Sound familiar? Some of us indulge in this process… others not so much. Should it matter? No. Does it matter? Yes. Why? Because women are often judged by their appearance in the workplace.

Forbes, “Unfair associations between appearance and work performance are more frequently made about women in the office, whether clothing, body frame or makeup related.” Countless women who have chosen not to wear makeup have reported being told they look unprofessional. Their appearance directly affecting their ability to get promoted. Others, like the CEO of Glassbreaker Eileen Carey, have described trouble being “taken seriously” by their colleagues when they look “too good.” Eileen began dyeing her hair from blonde to brown, and she began wearing glasses so tech colleagues would stop doubting her ability to run a Silicon Valley company.

All women face these issues, however for women of color the issues are often amplified. In her new book Climb,Michelle Gadsden Williams describes how the corporate experience for women of color differs from the experience of white women. When Williams decided after 30 years to stop hot ironing and chemically straightening her hair, she received a lot of feedback. Some was positive, but she also heard: “Why on earth did you do that?” and “some hairstyles are just not appropriate for the workplace.”

Just to clarify, Williams’ appearance was not slovenly. She was clean. She was wearing a professional dress, appropriate makeup, and she still had carefully styled hair. It just didn’t look like any of the hair worn by the women here. The ’Good Hair’ Study shared by Williams, reveals “Women of color in the workplace, particularly those with natural hairstyles, are penalized because they often do not conform to traditional notions of beauty.” This is how Williams at 44 years, the chief diversity officer at Credit Suisse (a Fortune 500 company), with an appearance as carefully manicured as her resume, was deemed by some to look “unprofessional.”

It’s easy to say, “It’s only hair.” But according to this Chris Rock documentary, it’s also a 9 billion dollar business. A business with serious ramifications on the perception of beauty. To learn more about how African American hair is perceived by society (and by extension the workplace), check out Good Hair (2009).

To learn more about Climb and the issues faced by women of color in the workplace, check out the WNBA NRGM Panel: The Art of Writing Nonfiction. Michelle William Gadsden and two other nonfiction authors will be there to discuss the challenges and skill needed when plotting reality into story.

To learn more about some of the other authors attending. Check out last week’s blog post here.

By Rina Mody

Rina’s a marketing assistant at a publishing company in NY. She’s an avid traveler and loves to go to new places – both real and fictional.