A photo of a poster that wouldn’t look out of place in the fifties is doing the rounds on Twitter - and shockingly it’s from a present-day fashion retail store here in the UK.
Emma (@Charmed_ward), from Devon, tweeted a photo of the sexist poster, which she claimed was directed at all-female staff in her former job.
The poster asks employees whether they are a “role model” for the unnamed company and is accompanied by a list of bullet points that’ll likely make your blood boil, including: “Are your legs tanned and gorgeous or do you require hosiery?”
The student at Oxford Brookes University didn’t want to name the store, but she did say it was a retail chain and added that her particular branch was “exclusively staffed by white women”.
The poster says employees must “score 10 out of 10 before going on stage in your store”. Here are the rules female staff must adhere to:
1. Is your hair neat and tidy and are you wearing light makeup?
2. Are you wearing one of this season’s fashion looks, which is less than 3 months old?
3. Have you used 2 pieces of accessories to lift and enhance your outfit?
4. Does your footwear compliment your outfit (sic)?
5. Does your footwear meet Health & Safety needs, are they clean and polished?
6. Are your legs tanned and gorgeous or do you require hosiery?
7. Have you removed any visible body piercing and covered up any exposed tattoos?
8. Is your body language positive and are you smiling?
9. Would a customer or a member of staff approach you for style/fashion advice?
10. Is your personal hygiene/appearance of a standard that would not offend?
Emma took to Twitter to slam the poster, calling it a load of “sexist garbage”.
“The idea that I wasn’t allowed on the shop floor without ‘light makeup’ and ‘tanned and gorgeous’ legs is sexist garbage,” she wrote.
“Were my legs tanned and gorgeous? No. But my name tag was on and I knew the latest sales and stock. Let me do my damn job.”
Her tweet has been shared over 300 times, with 500 favourites. People were astonished that a poster like this even exists in 2017, likening it to something you’d see at a ‘Carry On’ theme park.
When asked whether there was a similar poster for the male workers in the store, Emma replied that there wasn’t one as there were no male employees working in the store - despite the fact it sold products for men too.
After receiving an influx of tweets asking her to name the store, Emma decided not to release the information.
She tweeted to say she hadn’t intended to name them “as the company was otherwise fine” and she didn’t want to “do anything that would backfire on her”.
She added: “Similar rules are in place for other retailers and calling out one chain isn’t enough. We need better from ALL retailers!”
Hear, hear.