It seems like these days, blonde’s are having more fun, but brunettes are getting the work done. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Kasey Edwards had to dye her hair brown to be taken seriously at work.
“You’re too pretty and feminine to manage this project,” her account director at one of Australia’s largest management consulting companies said.
Kasey said that her account director was surprised that she wasn’t flattered by his positive assessment of her appearance. “Was I not listening? He’d just paid me a compliment! Surely I should just take the flattery and shut up.”
“Knowing this was not a fight I could win – it wasn’t the first time my appearance had been openly discussed by my male colleagues in relation to work with clients – I decided to look for a job at another consulting organisation.”
“But first, I dyed my hair brown. I knew that moving away from the blonde stereotype would help with my recruitment prospects and my salary negotiations.”
Silicon Valley CEO Eileen Carey recently revealed to the BBC that she also dyes her hair brown so that she will be taken seriously at work.
“The first time I dyed my hair was actually due to advice I was given by a woman in venture capital,” says Carey who is the CEO of the tech start-up Glassbreakers.
“Being a brunette helps me to look a bit older and I needed that, I felt, in order to be taken seriously,” Carey says.
Carey has also swapped her contact lenses for glasses in an attempt to be seen more as a CEO than a sex object.
Just like how you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, you shouldn’t judge a woman by her prettiness or her hair pigmentation.
SheSociety is a site for the women of Australia to share our stories, our experiences, shared learnings and opportunities to connect.
Leave a Reply