Amid the growing trend of workplaces becoming more lenient toward tattoos, piercings, and unconventional hair colors, a recent story highlights an unfortunate incident where a woman resorted to wearing wigs to comply with her job’s demand to conceal her pink hair.
Emily Benschoter, a 29-year-old professional, found herself in a predicament after securing a job offer that required her to cover her pink hair. Faced with this dilemma, Benschoter took a creative approach to maintain her job while expressing herself.
Benschoter explained, “Dyeing my hair for a job I work at 40 hours per week wasn’t an option. I am a self-expressive person, and I feel very confident with pink hair, so I came up with a solution to keep the job and my hair.”
Her job in the hospitality industry, a front-of-house role, was secured through an interview process that did not involve an in-person or video interaction, keeping her appearance hidden from the interviewer. She only became aware of the company’s hair policy before her first shift and subsequently turned to wigs as a workaround.
Benschoter shared her wig-wearing journey on TikTok, where she posted videos showcasing her various eccentric wig choices. Her initial video on July 19 displayed a blonde, shoulder-length wig with a caption that read, “When you have pink hair but corporate does not approve, so you wear terrible wigs.” These videos gained significant attention, some even amassing millions of views.
While Benschoter found humor in her unconventional wig choices, she expressed dissatisfaction with her employer’s stance. “It’s dehumanizing that I can’t be accepted at face value because my hair is a non-traditional color,” she remarked. “It’s so superficial that my hair color is an obstacle.”
Addressing the situation, organisational psychologist Gena Cox explained that employers enforcing regulations against unconventional hair colors often stem from an inclination towards a perceived ‘ideal employee’ appearance and assumptions about clients’ preferences. “Rejection of employees’ colored hair is a form of bias and a sign that the workplace is not inclusive,” Cox stated.
Many TikTok users identified with Benschoter’s experience, sharing their own stories of having to hide hair or tattoos due to company policies. The narrative underscores the evolving dynamics of self-expression in the professional sphere and the challenges individuals face when reconciling personal identity with workplace norms.
