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Gender Bias In The Workplace Essay

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While the nation today is plagued with many a social injustice, one that continues to boggle my mind is that misogyny and the objectification of women is somehow still present. Barely 60 years ago (yes, your own grandmother probably was a victim of this overt sexism), gender bias was a completely acceptable, and often encouraged office practice. While this sort of sexism is not as prevalent in today’s work environment, it is important to remember that young men at work in the 1960’s who experienced and practiced this overt gender bias are the men who grew up to found and run companies that many young people work at today. It is completely ignorant to even say that these sorts of biases are extinct, as they died out due to fear of lawsuits …show more content…

I received an enticing sparkly name tag, was told I could wear comfortable ‘active wear’, and was greeted with a warm “welcome to the team, girlfriend!” by every stylist working that day. I walked out of my first day of work with a huge smile on my face and told my mom I felt like I had just made new friends. The next day, my manager sat me down and gave me the official ‘talk’ dictating my responsibilities as the ‘team coordinator’. The list included, but was not limited to, making sure I wore makeup to work every day, making sure my hair looked ‘neat’ every day (i.e. no ponytails, buns, or as my manager said, ‘rat nests’), wearing what the company calls ‘active wear’ only in the shades white, black, and red (this ensemble consisted of leggings, a white or black tee shirt, the company issued vest in either red or black, and preferably brand name tennis shoes with socks). The final portion of my ‘talk’ with the manager is one that I did not realize at the time was so astounding: I was encouraged to make polite and, if applicable, flirtatious conversation with clients.
I worked at the company for over six months with no significant issues until one fateful Tuesday evening. It was an hour to closing time and I was already tired and ready to go home. Unfortunately, along came a tall, handsome man who later introduced himself as Ivan. He was enjoyable to talk to, as he was incredibly smart and interested in the same subjects as I was. I did my job and talked to him

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