Pantene had a campaign in 2013 about casting down labels against women, specifically in the workplace. This commercial highlights the way men are complimented with positive adjectives, but when a woman does the same thing, she is dubbed with negative adjectives. Although this commercial is rather old, the stigma against women in the workplace is still very relevant today. More and more people get angry about the pay gap between men and women (reported to be a gap of 21% in 2014) and more is being done to narrow that gap, but it still exists. This article points out how colored women are paid even less, within their own ethnicity in addition to being compared to white men’s earrings. The article also states that education isn’t the solution to narrowing the gap, so we must change policy as women and companies also to make a change. But on the list after the narrowing the salary gap is treating all types of women equally as men in the workplace.
The stigma surrounding women in a professional workplace has existed since women were permitted to work in a professional setting. Starting out as secretaries and assistants, women were still objectified by men and weren’t given higher positions mainly because of their gender. Today, I would like to say a lot has changed but we can see that women are still getting paid less than men and are treated differently. Moreover, what makes this issue worse is that some women who are successful in their job don’t want other men to know that they make more money in them, in fear that it would diminish a man’s masculinity. In Buzzfeed’s video “Don’t Tag Me”, Quinta Brunson’s character explains how she received an excellent education and makes a considerably large amount at work, but doesn’t want to be tagged in an office photo. Her reasoning is “don’t tag me in that photo.. I don’t want a picture online where I’m making more money than a dude, it’s gonna turn guys off”. Although the video is meant to be humorous, I think Quinta’s bit in the video is actually bringing light to this issue of how men have an inferiority complex when women make more money than them. But there are women who believe this to be true; that it makes certain men uncomfortable to know that their significant other is making more money, so they are okay with making less. This mentality needs to stop, in both and women and men. the amount someone makes should not be influenced by their gender or their race, but they should be judged by the quality of work that they do.
Therefore, women should not be assessed or criticized because of their gender nor should they feel ostracized by the way they dress or act. How you present yourself in the workplace shouldn’t change depending on your gender or race. Companies need to realize this and begin to change their policy so that everyone is treated and judged fairly.