gnu (04/15/83)
...seem to get discriminated against more often than scruffy looking men. At least that's how it looks to this scruffy looking man. Of course, it could be that most women (not living on the street) lack the guts to nonconform and get away with it, like us unkempt men. I think it has more to do with women getting more conditioning about personal appearance. Women show their "guts" in other ways in this society. As a consultant I once negotiated a dress code involving "not wearing clothes with holes"...in this same company the Latino women sitting in front of IBM 3270's typing insurance forms all day were REQUIRED to wear makeup, dresses, and stockings, and were "sent home to change" for violations. Their 50-year-old white female shop steward thought it was a fair policy. (Admittedly I got a lot of garbage from management about my dress until we negotiated the policy...even afterward, they were afraid the "clerks" might catch on...) Women, have any of you dealt with this problem successfully? (Or un-?) John Gilmore, Sun Microsystems