Put Your Best Face Forward
by Lydia Daffenberg
Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage. He lives not by truth but by make-believe.--W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).
We give up our freedoms a little more every day, here and there. Bit by bit. Be it through home association bylaws, The Patriot Act or our workplaces. This is especially true if one's workplace is literally in the business of money. Say, a casino.
Darlene Jespersen, had worked as a bartender at Harrah's in Reno, NV for about 20 years. She was fired because she was not wearing makeup. She had shown reservations adapting to the new management's appearance standards. After the axe fell, she took them to court under sex discrimination charges.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in support of the casino:
"The ruling found, however, that the casino's appearance standards were no more burdensome for women than for men."
--Dec. 29 San Francisco(Reuters)
Read story here
The court cited a 1974 ruling that a company can require men to have short hair while women can sport long locks.
Of course it ruled for the casino. Image rules. Image is everything--especially in a casino where botox-smiles and martini-grins float along rivers of cashflow. Perhaps Darlene forgot that. Never mind that since only women (and some lovely trannies out there) wear makeup, the ruling is based on sex. Makeup can not be considered personal hygene--merely decoration.
As both men and women have hair, the '74 ruling directed only toward males is based on sex-roles and is discriminatory just as much as Darlene's case which is directed only toward female employees.
Perhaps if the casino distributed an informative pamphlet amongst the female employees, it would aid in the adaption process. It could provide answers to common questions from employees such as:
- How can I tell when I'm wearing too much makeup?
- Is mime or clown makeup allowed?
- Does purple and green eyeshadow clash?
- Are there sister-company brands I must adhere to when purchasing makeup?
- How often should I powder my nose while working an 8-12 hour shift on the floor?
posted by Lydia Daffenberg @ 2:37 PM
3 Comments:
Your point about freedom is very well taken. If you have to wear costumes you don't like, if you have to smile when your down, if you have to perform menial monkey-brained tasks simply to possess green slips of paper which decide your fate, then haven't you given up freedoms. Important ones. But no one seems to care--being a slave is utterly acceptable for most. It is a life-long goal for some. Being told what to wear, how to do your hair, what to say, how to do this, what to know, how to reduce body odor, what to read, how to live, what to value, how to value . . . etc., et. al., and all that jazz, all leads to many problems we have with our society today--undue stress(more health problems), exceptional numbers of cases of depression, and on and on. I've ranted--I apologize.
Lydia, great post! I want to know why men can't wear makeup. I could use it. Just a bit of mascara to sharpen up my eyes. Women used to say I had penetrating eyes. Penetration is important to men. But this whole thing about employers telling their employees how they should look, I'm against it, which is why I don't work jobs that require elaborate costumes, like cops or goths, or a Vegas Lady. I think all the Vegas Ladies should walk around in their houseclothes without makeup. Who knows? Could be a hit. Men have done it for years.
CW,
If you want to wear makeup, you just go right ahead.
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