By sarahc_c - 08/12/2014 09:17

Today, my boss commented on the fact that I don't usually wear makeup, then told me it would be much appreciated if I'd change that. FML
I agree, your life sucks 33 122
You deserved it 3 468

Same thing different taste

Top comments

CallMeWindSock 24

Comments

And people say sexism at work doesn't exist. I'm not even assuming your boss is a man. I did a highly technical internship not working with clients this summer and part of my exit interview was being told I should wear make up and jewelry and whike the suit I wore for the presentation was fine the rest if the time I should have worn fashionable tailored dresses like some of the other women. My director's daughter works for Kalvin Klein and she gets free clothes. I wore skirts and blouses everyday.

Misogyny!! The patriarchy strikes again >:(

Make up that matches your skin almost exactly will nullify his statement..

imagineapc 11

Make up SHOULD match your skin nearly identically. That way blemishes are covered without making the rest of your face look like it's a different color than your neck.

That's really inappropriate on your boss's part. I went six months without wearing makeup and when I did start wearing it again, my boss looked at me and said: "Huh. So you ARE a girl." I feel your pain.

I'm a guy, and that hurt me just reading it!

Suggest that he wear makeup and learn what is appropriate conversation in the workplace.

You should ask him why he feels that way. It doesn't influence your work. Unless you have a certain type of job in which that case it would.

This is sexist. The reason may not have been because your face is particularly unattractive, but if you work with customers or clientele face to face, maybe you look tired and make-up makes you look less tired, more engaged, and clean/put together. But this comes from the stupid societal expectation that women have to be decorative first, productive second...but if a man looks like Jake from Statefarm with mutton chop side-burns there is NO standard for appearance (speaking of Jake from Statefarm - those commercials are so popular and HE is so popular, but if it were a woman wearing a pants uniform in female version of him physically, would it be as popular? Probably Not - remember Flo from Progressive? 50s style heavy makeup and hair and bubbly as hell).

Am I the only one who thinks this isn't sexist? Or rather, we don't have enough information to make that call. We know nothing about OP, OP's boss, or OP's industry. I used to be a beauty student, and even as students if we showed up to class without makeup on we'd be turned away and sent to apply it. It was part of the uniform, and rightly so, because we were selling beauty to our clients and they expected a certain standard. In a lot of customer-facing jobs, employees are expected to look well turned-out. Men are expected to be clean-shaven with tidy hair. Women are expected to wear a little makeup. It's about how the customer perceives them, and how the customer's opinions of the company could be impacted. Also, maybe OP is just genuinely Quasimodo-tier hideous. I can't think of a single person who doesn't loo better with makeup (including guys), perhaps their boss was trying to be helpful or some shit.

Lizardgirl 7

I think you make a good point. There isn't enough information to say whether or not the comment was sexist. Some jobs require women wear makeup. My job is all female but we're required to wear makeup and fine jewelry.

#27 Uhh... No? Guys have been socially expected to wear makeup at numerous points in history. Just google it. We just happen to be living in one of the times when they're not. Besides, isn't it sexist that only men are expected to shave their faces every day before work? The only thing sexist here is that everyone is assuming OP's boss is a man because they don't like what s/he said.

We had a girl in the restaurant that I work at who always had bags and dark circles under her eyes, my manager once got a complaint about how he should "stick to legal hours and break times because your staff look exhausted!" We do, that was just her face and a little concealer could help. Fresh faced, clean and happy staff are what people want to see in a restaurant, not warn out and tired

Aww do what you want, im sure you look great ether way