Happy Healthy YOU
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Kelly Spencer - Happy Healthy YOU
Not too long ago, when out for dinner at CHOP, a London, Ont. restaurant, I noticed the male and female wait staff were dressed very professionally, almost formally.
One woman waitress briskly walked by our table, impressively carrying a very large tray with several dishes upon it. The impressive part was not her tray skills per se, but more so that she was doing it in three inch high heels!
As a woman that possesses only two pairs of high heels, both with years of dust blanketing them, I was intrigued. I started to observe the foot attire of the other staff members, soon to discover that the men all wore flat dress shoes and all the woman were wearing high heels.
The fact that I have comfortable footwear for all seasons had me totally disengaged from the conversations at my dinner table, as my head turned back and forth looking south to the restaurant floors at the foot wear of the woman staff members.
“How are they doing this?” I wondered out loud.
While some women walked with ease with their drinks and plates in tote, as if they were strutting the cat walk in their pumps, others appeared less experienced with their elevated footwear looking more
like a teenager wearing high heels for the first time. I could not imagine anyone choosing to wear these shoes on a job that required excessive ambulation.
So... I asked.
Our waitress appeared in her twenties or so, outgoing and friendly. I inquired to her “How do you do it in those shoes?” and I was a little surprised by her response.
She informed us that she had to. That it was mandatory for female staff to wear heels at least at the start of their shifts. The young waitress explained she can usually last a couple of hours before she needs to put on her flat shoes. “But that won’t be for long, they are making it mandatory that we all wear them, at all times,” and went on to say “female staff at the bar have to wear short and fitted dresses or skirts with their heels.”
What the what?
I was in shock. As a former Registered Nurse that wore scrubs and running shoes, and a current yoga teacher and avid fan of comfortable leggings and Birkenstocks, I was shocked. Not only by the lack of
comfort but also by the imposed dress code. The imposition of heels and leg-revealing outfits for women seemed sexist, discriminatory and outdated to me.
Claire Zillman, a writer for Fortune.com reported in a “dress code” article last year that “stories show that some employers are still forcing female employees to wear heels to work and the global sisterhood of suffering soles is rightfully outraged.”
Last spring, a viral photo showed the bloodied feet of an Edmonton waitress at a chain restaurant in Canada, who was forced to wear heels during a full shift. At the end of the day, her feet were "bleeding to the point she lost a toe nail," according to a friend, who uploaded the picture on social media.
A woman in the UK that was sent home without pay last year, for refusing to wear “2-4 inch” heels to a job that required constant standing and walking which has sparked many to investigate these outdated standards. More than 150,000 people signed a petition in support of this London, UK receptionist.
A parliamentary report looking into the troubling experiences suffered by female staff all over, was unearthed and the U.K. Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee said it became clear in the course of its inquiry that this was not an isolated incident.
"We heard from hundreds of women who told us about the pain and long-term damage caused by wearing high heels for long periods in the workplace, as well as from women who had been required to dye their hair blonde, to wear revealing outfits and to constantly reapply makeup.”
Ironically, it was men who were actually the first sex to don the high heeled shoe, adopted by the European aristocracy of the 1600s as a signal of status. The logic was, only someone who didn’t have to work could possibly go around in such impractical footwear.
But yet, 400 years later in 2017, such impracticalities are imposed?
Should modern day dress codes not be mandatory practical, reasonable and include equivalent requirements for both men and women?
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) became more involved with this issue in 2015 with many reports about restaurants with dress codes that require female servers to wear short skirts, tight dresses, high heels and low-cut tops to work.
“Many women experiencing these behaviours in the restaurant industry are young and working in their first jobs. So if their first job experience involves sexual harassment, they may think this is normal in
other work environments. Research suggests that women may come to expect and tolerate other situations of sexual harassment based on a negative first experience in the restaurant industry.”
ORHC also states that if you feel your dress code may be discriminatory, it is suggested to try and solve the issue internally, talk to a trusted coworker and download the OHRC infographics and policy statement to show your co-workers and sign to give to your employer. Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC) can also be accessed.
Basic human rights seem to be violated not to mention the studies that show elevated heeled shoes can be costly in more ways than one by taking their toll on your spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet, while
altering your posture and gait.
Don’t get me wrong, if a woman wants to show a little leg, throw on some high heeled boots, reveal some tasteful cleavage or put on a form fitting outfit, have at it. Go for it, feel sexy in any way that works for you. But I have never been one that does well with being told what to do. I certainly would not sit down and keep quiet about imposed sexualized dress codes that are impractical and uncomfortable and for the purpose of looking sexier for other people. I also will not support such outdated practices and will not be going back to this restaurant until they change their dress code requirements.
I think sexy comes from being yourself. Sexy is honoring yourself, making choices that are the best for you, standing up for yourself and allowing only treatment of respect and dignity. I don’t think sexy should be forced upon or mandated to anyone, by anyone.
And yes, I think my Birkenstocks are sexy.