Because of the intense social pressure to be physically attractive that is encouraged by the existence of stylish celebrities and anorexic models, American women often believe that flaunting their bodies and accentuating their sexuality is the most effective way to entice others—both men and women—to like and respect them. Females feel that they must correct the "flaws" in their appearances and draw attention to their most attractive qualities by employing makeup, hair dye, high heels, certain clothing, and even plastic surgery.
Although these tactics may seem to attract positive attention on the street, especially from men, they have the opposite effect in the workplace. According to the ABC News article "Can Sexy Women Climb the Corporate Ladder?" by Eric Noe, if a woman is interested in holding a position of power, she will be looked down upon by coworkers of both sexes for emphasizing her sexuality or putting blatant effort into improving her physical appearance; this is because people often immediately judge women who obviously strive to appear attractive as being unintelligent and promiscuous. Unfortunately, when a female has lower status in the office than others—such as a woman in a secretarial position—far fewer of her coworkers will care if she presents herself in a highly sexualized way or not (Noe). In fact, a woman in an inferior position may be expected to exude femininity due to social norms and traditional gender roles.
The experiences of the title character from the film Erin Brockovich (2000), based on an actual woman, provide a key example of this phenomenon. Erin, who becomes passionate about law because of the injustice occurring in her community, begins working with a seasoned male lawyer to challenge the corporation at fault. Although Erin’s work is incredibly thorough, the male character chastises her several times at the beginning of their relationship because of her revealing clothing. Instead of seeing Erin as a dedicated coworker and person—in which case, gender should not matter—the man is constantly distracted by Erin’s overt display of her femininity. Similarly, the conservatively dressed female corporate defense attorney makes a negative remark about Erin’s clothing upon their first meeting. The corporate defense attorney could not respect Erin for her ideas because the attorney, like Erin’s male partner, was shocked by an appearance she perceived to be inappropriate.
According to Noe, people associate positions of power with masculine characteristics because men traditionally and most frequently hold these positions. Therefore, high-ranking women in the workplace who flaunt their femininity are immediately looked down upon; coworkers may assume that such women are not actually qualified for their jobs and, thus, are showing off their more redeeming qualities. As is the case when it comes to sex, the author of "Can Sexy Women Climb the Corporate Ladder?" points out that there is a “double standard” for men and women in this situation. A man who strays from the stereotypical image of a professional businessman, perhaps by looking slovenly in a wrinkled, partially-buttoned shirt, may receive scornful glances from his peers at the office; however, his intelligence, competence, and personality will probably not be doubted simply because of his appearance. For a woman, on the other hand, dressing too sexually, wearing thick makeup, etc., can severely harm her career advancement.
Women interested in climbing the corporate ladder must acknowledge the existence of this situation and dress accordingly. This does not mean that businesswomen must dress like men, but it does mean that they must dress and behave sensibly. Anything to draw strong attention to one’s gender, whether one is male or female, is inappropriate for an office setting in which a diverse group of people are trying to work together, hopefully without personal biases. If a man at work rolled up his sleeves and began asking people to squeeze his “manly guns,” coworkers would label his behavior inappropriate because it is lowering productivity—it’s a distraction to other workers—and is detracting from the sense of equality in the environment—women may feel threatening or harassed by his display of physical strength. Although coworkers might not feel harassed by a woman who is flaunting her femininity in the workplace, both men and women would be too distracted by her appearance to respect her as an office authority figure.
