Hairy legs in an office setting

[Anonymous]

I'm an old millennial in a line of work that leans both a little military and a little crunchy, and I've seen a change in norms. Even a decade ago it used to be "cover tattoos, only natural hair and nail colors," etc. (Front line staff in my field are uniformed so there were pretty clear guidelines around personal grooming when in uniform that were similar norms for office staff.) Now people do come to work with blue hair and crazy nails. There really has been significant change in recent years.

Most women wear pants, there doesn't seem to be a ton of overlap between the people who are into skirts and not into traditional feminine gender presentation, but I find it hard to imagine wearing a skirt with unshaven legs would impact someone's career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an old millennial in a line of work that leans both a little military and a little crunchy, and I've seen a change in norms. Even a decade ago it used to be "cover tattoos, only natural hair and nail colors," etc. (Front line staff in my field are uniformed so there were pretty clear guidelines around personal grooming when in uniform that were similar norms for office staff.) Now people do come to work with blue hair and crazy nails. There really has been significant change in recent years.

Most women wear pants, there doesn't seem to be a ton of overlap between the people who are into skirts and not into traditional feminine gender presentation, but I find it hard to imagine wearing a skirt with unshaven legs would impact someone's career.

PS I get that my field is VERY different from PR or corporate law or whatever. My point isn't that it's universal. Just that I think there has been change that's maybe more visible from where I stand, that would make a young person not shaving stand out less than some think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

It’s you who seems to have not set foot in an office recently. You are not getting close enough to review people’s leg hair length, and it’s not affecting their job performance either way. Instead of standing in the way of progress, why not welcome difference with open arms? Why are all the old fuddy duddies so opposed to young people having some agency with their bodies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t leg hair show through pantyhose?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

You’re probably right, but a partner at my law firm once told a group of us to stop wearing open toed shoes because it made us look like “party girls” and then commented on our shoe choices again every time she saw us thereafter. So yes, people might say something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn’t leg hair show through pantyhose?

stop worrying about the hair on my legs, Karen, and let me do my work in peace.

cannot imagine how hairy legs would prevent someone from completing basic office tasks.

stop upholding the patriarchy. stop conforming to men's standards of beauty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

You’re probably right, but a partner at my law firm once told a group of us to stop wearing open toed shoes because it made us look like “party girls” and then commented on our shoe choices again every time she saw us thereafter. So yes, people might say something.

And when was that? 20 years ago?

[Anonymous]

OP, tell her to wear pants. No one wants to see her hairy legs. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

You’re probably right, but a partner at my law firm once told a group of us to stop wearing open toed shoes because it made us look like “party girls” and then commented on our shoe choices again every time she saw us thereafter. So yes, people might say something.

And when was that? 20 years ago?

Again, it is very clear you haven't worked in an environment that PP is describing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

You’re probably right, but a partner at my law firm once told a group of us to stop wearing open toed shoes because it made us look like “party girls” and then commented on our shoe choices again every time she saw us thereafter. So yes, people might say something.

Wasn't that a threat not too long ago? The overwhelming consensus was that we do NOT wear open-toe shoes in the office, right? No long nails either!!! because that's beyond trashy. But hairy legs are women's rights and everyone is all of a sudden totally OK with it?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, tell her to wear pants. No one wants to see her hairy legs. Gross.

Agree, nasty.

We chartered a sailboat in the Caribbean and one of the female workers did not shave her legs. Honestly it was nasty.
The Caribbean is more of a crunchy setting for a job. I can't imagine an American or European woman wearing
a skirt on the job and not shaving or waxing her legs in a professional office setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, tell her to wear pants. No one wants to see her hairy legs. Gross.

Nobody wants to see or hear a lot of things at work, but we do all the time. We deal because we just want to get paid. It’s no single person’s responsibility to be pleasing to everyone else’s senses. Everyone is offending someone in some small way. Work on your own snap judgments and reactions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, tell her to wear pants. No one wants to see her hairy legs. Gross.

Agree, nasty.

We chartered a sailboat in the Caribbean and one of the female workers did not shave her legs. Honestly it was nasty.
The Caribbean is more of a crunchy setting for a job. I can't imagine an American or European woman wearing
a skirt on the job and not shaving or waxing her legs in a professional office setting.

Oh, that must have been so hard for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without having read all the back and forth in this thread, it boils down to this: SHOULD it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? No, it shouldn’t. WILL it matter that she doesn’t shave her legs? Yes, it will. The people in her office will be Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers. It’s an unfortunate reality that in a traditional, professional office setting she will stand out in a negative way. Anyone arguing against this fact doesn’t know what they are talking about and certainly hasn’t set foot in a traditional office. It may not be ideal, but it is the reality. Make sure she knows this and then she can make her own choice.

How will it matter? Factually, what will happen? They will see her legs and fire her? They will see her legs and reprimand her? They will see her legs and criticize her body and ask her to shave? No, none of these. That would probably be illegal. So what will actually happen? They will occasionally see some leg hair and then move on with their day? Is that really what all this hand wringing is about?

You’re probably right, but a partner at my law firm once told a group of us to stop wearing open toed shoes because it made us look like “party girls” and then commented on our shoe choices again every time she saw us thereafter. So yes, people might say something.

And when was that? 20 years ago?

Again, it is very clear you haven't worked in an environment that PP is describing.

And again, you are incorrect. Do I believe this happened? Yes. Do I believe it happened in this century? No.