I think everyone will agree with me when I say that appearance consumes a huge portion in whether we get special treatment or not. It is a fact that teachers will favor their more attractive students even if it is subconscious. With social media feeding us ideas of what we are supposed to look like, it is no surprise that people feel the need to hide their natural hair or eye color. The worst part is when it affects your ability to work. I found many articles that shared different scenarios in which women were punished for wearing a certain style of hair.
Chastity Jones was offered a job as a customer service representative at a call center, but the job offer was rescinded when she refused to cut her dreadlocks. Their reason for not giving her the job was that her hair went against their grooming policy as dreadlocks “tend to get messy.” Now she is going to take them to court as she feels they violated her rights and offended her race. We hear about these stories all the time and it’s terrible because perfectly capable people lose so many job opportunities over such petty reasons. I am furious over this; I can’t even imagine how she must feel. I mean they offered her the job, meaning they thought she was capable. I personally think this is offensive to her, you wouldn’t go to someone extremely tall and tell them you can’t have the job because we need you to be shorter. That sounds ridiculous. You shouldn’t ask someone to change just because you want them to fit an unrealistic ideal. Were all different and we are all born with different characteristics that make us who we are. I agree with her and I think them asking her to cut her dreadlocks is like telling her not to be black or to not embrace being a proud black woman. It is an offense to her and her race. I am glad she is suing, and I really hope she wins.
Akua Agyemfra was sent home from her job at Jack Astor’s Bar for wearing her hair in a bun instead of down as she had taken her hair extensions out and felt the desire to throw it up into a bun. The job requires their female employees to wear their hair down. The problem with this is that it says in the job description female employees must wear their hair down. The fact that this is required is insane it sucks that women are still pressured into looking perfect all the time. It is no wonder so many women have insecurities when they are always expected to appear a certain way. The fact that there are still work environments like this sickens me I get that she works at a bar, but why should the way her hair looks matter. Her ability to work is what should matter, not how perfect her hair is.
We see this issue a lot, mainly with woman of color. Recently considering past events there has been more conversation about this topic with Netflix releasing their movie Nappily Ever After. The movie is about a black woman who has pretty much been told to hide any characteristic that she naturally had because it was considered ugly in society’s eyes. Her main insecurity was her hair. As a black female, her hair was curly and harder to maintain and since she grew up thinking that straight hair was more beautiful and socially accepted, that’s what she was trying to have. I think it’s great that they have realized this is an issue and it has sparked many conversations about black women’s hair being different and how that is not a bad thing. I think it’s wonderful that they are trying to get everyone to embrace their natural beauty. I think it is great that they also showed how they treated her a little differently in the workplace by making some joke about her hair. They didn’t go as far as to firing her in the movie, but they tried their best to make us feel what these women feel every day and its refreshing.
So in the end, does appearance matter? Absolutely. It’s the harsh reality that we all have to live with but it does we will never know what certain traits we have that caused us to lose the job because not all companies are as open about it. So the next time you don’t get the job you wanted so badly, don’t beat yourself up. It could have been over something you had no control over.
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