Woman decides to wear ‘terrible wigs’ after her job banned her pink hair
A woman who claims she needs to cover up her pink hair at work has gone viral after turning up to the office in 'terrible wigs' every week.
Emily Benschoter, from Georgia, has responded to her corporate bosses who 'won't allow pink hair' in the best way possible.
Watch her viral TikTok below:
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After landing a front-of-house role in the hospitality industry - without a face-to-face interview - the 29-year-old was told via messages that pink hair is a no-go.
She called it 'dehumanizing' and 'superficial'.
"Dyeing my hair for a job I work at for 40 hours per week wasn't an option," Benschoter told Newsweek.
"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.
"It's dehumanizing that I can't be accepted at face value because my hair is a non-traditional color. It's so superficial that my hair color is an obstacle.
"I prefer my pink hair, it's me to my core. So now I purposely pick wacky wigs which is quite funny.
"The worst the wig, the better.
"It is a way to open up the conversation with the customers who think it is insane that I have to cover my pink hair."
Gena Cox, an organizational psychologist, also told the publication: "Companies focus disproportionately on employees' visual characteristics when they have a preconceived notion of what the 'ideal employee' looks like and when they believe their clients and customers share that bias.
"This is a longstanding problem that exists even when some people show up with their natural hair; for Black women, it has even been necessary to get a law passed, the CROWN Act, to enable them to wear the hair that grows out of their scalps.
"Colored hair generates strong reactions for similar reasons: some associate it with being 'different' or less 'professional,' or only suitable for certain jobs, such as creative arts, or as 'distracting' to those who do not like such visible signs of self-expression."
Unfortunately in the UK, the Equality Act 2010 doesn't actually include hair colour so employers will always have that upper hand, legally.
However, turning up to work in hilariously horrendous wigs is something we can all get behind.
"Instant follow because corporate pink hair solidarity!" one of Benschoter's viewers commented.
"Yes that definitely looks better than a little bit of pink hair!" someone else joked.
Anish Vij