Help Help I'm being Oppressed.

[Red Lion]

A girl my friend hangs out with came into a group chat with us yesterday night and immediately started ranting about how she was being unfairly oppressed. She posted a long text about how Food Lion's dress code bordered on fascist and by forcing her to conform they were "killing her identity". And she thought this thing out, probably spent hours thinking about it. 

The summary of her rambling seemed to be this: You aren't allowed to make a gay guy stay in the closet. Her clothing is as much a part of who she is as her sexual orientation. Making her wear a uniform is tantamount to erasing her identity and forcing her to live as someone she is not. It was all very dramatic at one point she even compared it to being transgender. Yeah... she went THERE. 

Sad thing was this might have been an almost compelling argument if the whole context hadn't been something so stupid. Food Lion dress code says no saggy pants that hang past your ass and no facial piercings. Having to go without her face metal and her pants hanging below her ass for 4 hours a day, three days a week, while she works as a bagger is a form of oppression. 

I am so fucking done with these entitled millennials and their bullshit. It's like they need to be the victims, they NEED to be oppressed so they look for something, anything that they can use to say "Me me me! I'm the victim here! me me me!". And then she cried about how she couldn't get a job and she was never going to be able to move out of her parents house and I logged off because I've seen this a thousand times from all the other disgruntled college kids in my town and none of it even surprises me at this point. 

And remember children: Being forced to wear a uniform and take out your piercings is the same thing as being forced to stay in the closet. Hahaha fuck you.  

 

[#00Buck]

Food lion?

Sounds like a grocery mart for furries. 

[Red Lion]

In NC Food Lion is one of the bigger grocery store chains. Unfortunately I don't think it's run by furries. 

[#00Buck]

10 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

In NC Food Lion is one of the bigger grocery store chains. Unfortunately I don't think it's run by furries. 

So you're saying it's aliens? 

[Red Lion]

Either aliens or the Illuminati, no one really knows *Spooky music* 

[Saxon]

This talk of dress codes reminds me of a woman in London who was sacked because she didn't want to wear high heels. I sympathised with her, however, because making all of the women wear shoes that make it difficult to walk isn't very fair and I don't think flat shoes are 'slobbish' to begin with.

[Red Lion]

Just now, Saxon said:

This talk of dress codes reminds me of a woman in London who was sacked because she didn't want to wear high heels. I sympathised with her, however, because making all of the women wear shoes that make it difficult to walk isn't very fair and I don't think flat shoes are 'slobbish' to begin with.

See this is a legit complaint. High heels are really impractical and uncomfortable and they might interfere with her ability to work and later on down the road cause her ankle strain. 

[Saxon]

Just now, Red Lion said:

See this is a legit complaint. High heels are really impractical and uncomfortable and they might interfere with her ability to work and later on down the road cause her ankle strain. 

She was required to do lots of walking for her job, so it was doubly dumb.

Fundamentally I don't care so much about how people dress for their jobs, provided they look presentable and, if they are meant to help me out, identifiable. That seems to be all that they're asking for in Food Lion, so...

Anyway, clearly we furries are the most oppressed because most of us can't even afford the clothes we need to manifest our animal identities. 3:

[Lucyfish]

My only stance on it is making someone take out their facial piercings is dumb, unless they are low-hanging and you are working in food preparation. If you give a fuck about someone's eyebrow stud or nose ring, you're a prudish faggot lol.

[Feelwell]

1 hour ago, Red Lion said:

I am so fucking done with these entitled millennials and their bullshit

Not *all* of us millennials are entitled.

 

1 hour ago, Red Lion said:

 It's like they need to be the victims, they NEED to be oppressed

You're oppressing my victimization complex.

 

1 hour ago, Red Lion said:

 so they look for something, anything that they can use to say "Me me me! I'm the victim here! me me me!".

 

Well either there is a bigger problem that they'd like attention for but they don't want to admit it, or more likely they're selling the story so that you don't take the stores side.

 

That stuff being said she is completely insane. Even if the piercings or pants thing makes little sense it's not difficult and doesn't oppress any identity. Slightly disappointing that they used trans and gay as examples when the backlash for those are much stronger. Not many people will freak out because of your pants, but a heck of a lot of people do ostracize for being gay or trans. 

[Sarcastic Coffeecup]

Muh oprreshuns

[Vallium]

26 minutes ago, Lucyfish said:

My only stance on it is making someone take out their facial piercings is dumb, unless they are low-hanging and you are working in food preparation. If you give a fuck about someone's eyebrow stud or nose ring, you're a prudish faggot lol.

Depends...too many of them at oncd can be really sloppy. At my job I have a coworker who has a nose piercing and an upper lip piercing, she always looks nice and presentable  and it isnt too outrageous so its tasteful which is why they allow it.

 

Im sure if youre a goth with a faceful of piercings you probably need to tone it down in a professional environment

 

 

But yeah, otherwise if you complain about a uniform thats really retarded. If I ever want to express muh individualities and identities at work I just wear my innocuous wristband or something...

Unless your boss has a no fun allowed conform 100% entirely protocol its entirely unreasonable

[Vae]

Not allowing baggy pants is something I can understand.

Facial piercings, however, are a pain in the ass to remove and reinsert. They're generally permanently in your face, unless you need to take them out for cleaning and such.
Unless they're actually so cumbersome as to get in your way, or pose a risk of contamination concerns (For instance, that guy who has giant holes in his cheeks probably spreads his spit, and thus his germs, more easily than most people.), I do think it's a pretty ridiculous thing to expect.
Piercings can also close if you take the jewelry out and don't have retainers for them, which cost extra money and not everyone knows about.

Colored hair is also a dress code concern of this nature that I don't agree with, because colored hair is also a permanent thing. But it usually falls under the same category of "unprofessionalism," even though neither of these things relate to a person's ability to be well-dressed and clean.

I don't agree with her relating it to LGBT struggles, because that's just... no.
But if the person is wearing the right clothing, shaving, keeping themselves clean, etc, then the more nitpicky aspects of dress codes tend to fall under "old people getting angry because they don't like change" to me.

[Lucyfish]

I see completely nothing unprofessional about a lot of facial piercings. "Professional" doesn't mean "plain and boring."

The only thing that should influence uniform is practicality. If something in your wardrobe is getting in the way of you doing your work, then it shouldn't be there. However if the point of the uniform rules are "I just don't like the look of piercings" then you can go fuck yourself 800 times.

[willow]

that's a new one. I guess she's never had a job before. majority of places don't really approve of sagging pants and that's a pretty understandable thing. it looks sloppy and no one really wants to see your ass while you're at work (unless you work at a strip club :v). but unless there's some potential risk with having a shit ton of piercings (like they caught on something) or you're in a more professional setting, I don't get the why some places lose their shit over them. kind of the same with tattoos or oddly colored hair.

unless they're implying that things outside of the norm = degeneracy, which is pretty silly.

1 hour ago, Red Lion said:

I am so fucking done with these entitled millennials and their bullshit.

I'm not gonna really argue about this, but I hardly think that this is a problem with all Millennials and more like individual people who don't understand the concept of "oppression"

[Lucyfish]

If I went to an executive professional's meeting and one of the guys in suits had piercings all over his face, I'd fucking trust him MORE than the other guys. It would indicate to me that this is a real person instead of a money-hungry two-faced shitfuck.

This thing about piercings being "unprofessional" really pisses me the fuck off.

[Vallium]

Here's an idea...maybe consider your career path before you get certain kinds of piercings, and once you do land a permanent/mostly permanent job it'd be wise to find one with a cool boss that doesnt mind piercings and then proceed to make near-permanent changes to your body.

 

If you work in an office then tough luck if you want a bunch of piercings at work, but if you actually did work at a piercing shop thats probably the easiest way to be certifiably pierced to your hearts content

[willow]

15 minutes ago, Lucyfish said:

If I went to an executive professional's meeting and one of the guys in suits had piercings all over his face, I'd fucking trust him MORE than the other guys. It would indicate to me that this is a real person instead of a money-hungry two-faced shitfuck.

Generally speaking, we're more likely to trust people who look or act similar to ourselves.

Personally I don't believe piercings signify how professional you can be, but most professional settings have pretty stringent dress codes anyway so I'm just like 'meh, okay'

[#00Buck]

The whole point of a corporate uniform is that people can be easily identified by the public and other employees and are obliged to conform socially as well as functionally. 

By enforcing a grooming and clothing standard you increase the likelihood that employees will conform. 

Conformity is control. You really don't want low level employees "doing their own thing."

You want them to perform simple tasks and obey orders. 

Being any kind of non-conformist goes against that. 

Likewise the store also wants the customers to conform as well. It is all about controlling people. 

Nothing is a more constant reassurance that you're someone's bitch than having to wear a dumb uniform with their "brand" on it all day long. 

[Vallium]

2 minutes ago, #00Buck said:

The whole point of a corporate uniform is that people can be easily identified by the public and other employees and are obliged to conform socially as well as functionally. 

By enforcing a grooming and clothing standard you increase the likelihood that employees will conform. 

Conformity is control. You really don't want low level employees "doing their own thing."

You want them to perform simple tasks and obey orders. 

Being any kind of non-conformist goes against that. 

Likewise the store also wants the customers to conform as well. It is all about controlling people. 

Nothing is a more constant reassurance that you're someone's bitch than having to wear a dumb uniform with their "brand" on it all day long. 

Yeah but managers dont always exactly have piercings or tattoos either, so I slightly doubt your theory

 

Well...there's this one dude who I did an interview with, had a armsleeve of tats. Was pretty rad.

 

Not bad for a manager at pet supermarket. Still pretty basic, though.

[Feelwell]

See the tattoo thing is something I'm mildly concerned about, because they can be misinterpreted.

Par exampla, I'd like to get a tattoo of a book and a quill and ink, but I bet somebody will misinterpret that as some crazy religious thing, when in truth it's because I love writing.

Or if I got a string of binary tattooed, people might think I'm some sort of escapee from a labor camp.

Or if I get a rabbit tattooed, I'm, I don't know, a slut. Or work for playboy.

[Vallium]

5 minutes ago, Feelwell the Rabbit said:

See the tattoo thing is something I'm mildly concerned about, because they can be misinterpreted.

Par exampla, I'd like to get a tattoo of a book and a quill and ink, but I bet somebody will misinterpret that as some crazy religious thing, when in truth it's because I love writing.

Or if I got a string of binary tattooed, people might think I'm some sort of escapee from a labor camp.

Or if I get a rabbit tattooed, I'm, I don't know, a slut. Or work for playboy.

Most people who are sane dont mind innocent things like rabbits, books, and numbers unless theyre actually batshit insane with sticks up their asses. If its not too 'out there' and looks good you can get away with tats in some circles of work.

Whereas, if you had skulls, slurs, death, gore, macabre, or lascivious imagery its probably not a good idea to have those in visible locations

[Feelwell]

Just now, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Most people who are sane dont mind innocent things like rabbits, books, and numbers unless theyre actually batshit insane with sticks up their asses. If its not to 'out there' and looks good you can get away with tats in some circles of work.

Whereas, if you had skulls, slurs, death, gore, macabre, or lascivious imagery its probably not a good idea to have those in visible locations

Got it, so what you're saying is tattoo an orgy on my chest?

[Vallium]

Just now, Feelwell the Rabbit said:

Got it, so what you're saying is tattoo an orgy on my chest?

Rabbit orgy, go nuts bro

[Feelwell]

Just now, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Rabbit orgy, go nuts bro

You're a genius. I've run out of likes but you're a genius.

This must be a thing.

[Red Lion]

While I can see the point about the piercing rule being unnecessary I still don't think it's a form of oppression. Also I would argue that it honestly doesn't matter if you don't like it, it's someone else's business so they can enforce whatever dress code they want and if you want the job you either have to conform or look elsewhere. Is that always fair? Not really, but that's the way it is.  

Rules you don't like =/= oppression. 

[AshleyAshes]

4 hours ago, #00Buck said:

Food lion?

Sounds like a grocery mart for furries. 

I thought it was the name of his kitchen until I finished reading the next sentence!

[Red Lion]

6 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

I thought it was the name of his kitchen until I finished reading the next sentence!

Food Lion is not nearly cool enough to be my kitchen *chef hat*

[Thundeere]

[Vae]

51 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

While I can see the point about the piercing rule being unnecessary I still don't think it's a form of oppression. Also I would argue that it honestly doesn't matter if you don't like it, it's someone else's business so they can enforce whatever dress code they want and if you want the job you either have to conform or look elsewhere. Is that always fair? Not really, but that's the way it is.  

Rules you don't like =/= oppression. 

She really shouldn't have called it oppression, because it isn't.

But I still feel like it's valid to criticize these more controlling, nitpicky appearance stigmas, to begin with.
Instead of just going "Oh well, fucking deal with it."

People require jobs to live. And some people don't have the luxury of a huge market to choose from, or a huge job pool, or an education or contacts that open up more doors for them.
So it's not always just a matter of "Shut up, and line up for something else."

[MalletFace]

4 hours ago, Red Lion said:

Unfortunately I don't think it's run by furries. 

Worse: Belgians.

1 minute ago, Thundeere said:

[Endless/Nameless]

I was just thinking this afternoon about how humiliating it feels wearing a uniform.

It shows to the world that you are currently operating at a lower class.

But then again, I am a whiny little bitch.

[Guest]

One article about the lady who had bloody toes at the end of her shift.

Oppression is a word that should be used for real oppression. Y'know, actual class/race/gender/sexuality oppression. Not your piercings forced out, or to have a uniform. Fuckin hate snowflakes like that. I take minor offense to the notion that all millenials are like this. Its like saying all generations alive and before millennials are to blame for the housing collapse, amongst other things. 

[Vallium]

56 minutes ago, Endless/Nameless said:

I was just thinking this afternoon about how humiliating it feels wearing a uniform.

It shows to the world that you are currently operating at a lower class.

But then again, I am a whiny little bitch.

Damn those doctors, corporate managers, policemen, firemen, court officials, construction workers, researchers, Military veterans, electricians, EMTs, post office drivers...

How dare they wear uniforms and conform to a specific dress code that is easily identifiable and recognizable to clients and civilians as to what their career is as they are on the clock

Lower class plebs

[Summercat]

56 minutes ago, Lemon said:

minor offense to the notion that all millenials are like this

Speaking as a millennial that is currently in a uniform, at work, and has a much stricter appearance code (Must be clean-shaven, hair must be fairly short, no visible tattoos, no piercings aside maybe an ear if you are a girl, no jewelry visible), and am perfectly fine with that, I think anecdote vs anecdote washes out.

About the only thing I get peeved on slightly is the beard. I miss mine. I had the whole Jewish Patriarch thing going on.

[Conker]

I dislike dress codes in most business casual places that don't deal with customers because I fail to see the point other than corporate masturbation, but it's also something I've put up with and will put up with in the future becuase it isn't THAT big of a deal to not look like shit every day for eight hours.

I do wish people could sport anime colored hair more often though. That shit is rad. I'm cool with tattoos and piercings as well. Let the body be a canvas!

I think as time moves on, so will most of these social stigmas, at least in all areas that aren't related to face-to-face customer service. I can see some of them staying in place there. If I'm at a bank talking to a banker, I'd like him/her to look the part on some level since he/she is dealing with my money. Bit important that. I'd still be fine with said person sporting red or blue or purple hair though. That's just awesome.

[#00Buck]

I like enforcing dress codes, grooming standards, workplace cleanliness, performance reviews, security checks etc. for ordinary workers. 

Anything that gives people the impression that they are being watched, evaluated, and that their actions have consequences makes for an efficient and harmonious workplace. More supervision and accountability = less drama. 

Exceptional workers are different. Anyone who proves themselves to be an exceptional worker and who demonstrates exceptional loyalty can do whatever they want and dress however they want (within reason) as long as they don't break any laws or industry rules and they get all their work done on time and within budget. 

[Wax]

I know millennials are stereotyped as wanting to be oppressed but I think pretty much every generation has this problem.

Stick a gay couple in a Disney film and they won't hear the end of it, for example. Those herds of Moms thinking its 'wrong' for their kids to be exposed to such horror. Soccer-mom activism basically.

However that doesn't mean this chick is in the right or anything — clothing being a part of your identity is ridiculous

[Saxon]

54 minutes ago, Wax said:

However that doesn't mean this chick is in the right or anything — clothing being a part of your identity is ridiculous

Many religions require their followers to wear silly hats, and loads of other (more fun) groups make clothing part of their image. Like gimps.

People don't have to be constantly exuding their identity every minute of the day, is all.

[Feelwell]

24 minutes ago, Saxon said:

Many religions require their followers to wear silly hats, and loads of other (more fun) groups make clothing part of their image. Like gimps.

People don't have to be constantly exuding their identity every minute of the day, is all.

I'd say that unless it is religious, since religion is a massive part of people's lives, things can be kept to a norm. The religion thing is that it's part of their tenants to wear the hat/cloth headwear, and removing it is sacrilegious. Other than that it's not too bad. I think no exposed tattoos is a bit iffy, since you can't just remove those and it may not be easy to cover up. If it's very explicit maybe but if it's like, a flower or a tree or a quote, something innocent then that should be fine.

[Saxon]

45 minutes ago, Feelwell the Rabbit said:

I'd say that unless it is religious, since religion is a massive part of people's lives, things can be kept to a norm. The religion thing is that it's part of their tenants to wear the hat/cloth headwear, and removing it is sacrilegious. Other than that it's not too bad. I think no exposed tattoos is a bit iffy, since you can't just remove those and it may not be easy to cover up. If it's very explicit maybe but if it's like, a flower or a tree or a quote, something innocent then that should be fine.

...Tenets?

Some institutions already forbid people from wearing certain religious wear (School uniform in France forbids religious iconography), while others require that they do (airlines operating through Iran mandate that female staff wear some kind of head scarf).

Regards exposed tattoos, generally I don't care...but when the tattoo has a spelling mistake in it...like 'to young too die'...why...why did you do that to yourself? D: That one was especially ironic because the man who had it was either going to die young, and hence ironically defy his tattoo, or become old before he died and hence render his tattoo irrelevant.

 

[Vallium]

Is it really that difficult to willingly accept a dress code? I mean if you want your green hair and snakebites so bad just go to school as a hairstylist or graphic designer or something.

 

Cater your look to your career choice, its not that hard

 

And if it really IS that hard, then you should evaluate if youre priority is looking pretty/badass 24 hours a day or if you actually want to get over it for 8 hours a day, get paid to live, and be as special and unique as you want to off the clock

[Feelwell]

7 minutes ago, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Is it really that difficult to willingly accept a dress code? I mean if you want your green hair and snakebites so bad just go to school as a hairstylist or graphic designer or something.

 

Cater your look to your career choice, its not that hard

 

And if it really IS that hard, then you should evaluate if youre priority is looking pretty/badass 24 hours a day or if you actually want to get over it for 8 hours a day, get paid to live, and be as special and unique as you want to off the clock

Nevar! I r speeshul snuflak an u r suppress may idoontitty

[#00Buck]

Your identity should not be based upon physical items. 

If your identity has to do with things you own, wear, or buy you really have no identity.

If someone takes away your items then your identity ceases to exist.

Who you are should be internal and should be expressed to the world by your thoughts, words, and actions. 

That is real identity.

The other thing is just fashion. 

I'v always found the people who try the hardest to look interesting on the outside are the most boring people on earth. 

Fashion is a poor substitute for personality. Those who are slaves to fashion have very little personality. 

[Dr. Doggo]

21 hours ago, Saxon said:

This talk of dress codes reminds me of a woman in London who was sacked because she didn't want to wear high heels. I sympathised with her, however, because making all of the women wear shoes that make it difficult to walk isn't very fair and I don't think flat shoes are 'slobbish' to begin with.

Yeah, I read that. I don't know why this is even a debate. It's been in papers all fucking week. For fuck's sake. The difference between black flat shoes and black high-heels in an office environment is extremely trivial. It's not like she showed up with fuzzy-eared bunny slippers or something. Anyone with a bit of sense can see that regardless of whether or not they're a feminist.

What's even the point of dragging it on as the papers have done?

[Zeke]

 Mellinials complaining about the uniform they are given is hilarious. No one wants a Hot Topic reject working at their company. :V

[Red Lion]

I asked one of my friends who works as a manager about the face metal thing today. He told me that, while not common, it has happened that people have in the past come into work with infected piercings that were oozing, also people who's piercings weren't in properly have dropped them around the store. Generally the rule of thumb is to avoid anything that might be off putting to a potential customer though in the case of piercings and jewelry in general there does seem to be a practical element to it.

[Summercat]

I think I recall my Gen X cousin complaining about this, 20 years ago...

[Cingal]

Protip: Don't stick your dick in crazy.

[Clove Darkwave]

I work in a body piercing jewelry store, so naturally I don't have this problem at all. In fact not wearing a uniform is how people know I work there. Go figure.

In the years I've seen piercings 5 days a week, yeah I'm going to agree that they can be an issue with cleanliness because some people are convinced that they don't need to clean them every day, potentially more than once a day, and often do a poor job at keeping them from getting irritated or infected. LOL I JUST GOT THIS PIERCING A FEW DAYS AGO proceeds to rub filthy fingers all over it.

On the other hand, retainers exist for all piercings in both clear bio-acrylic and glass. Lobe piercings have a wide variety of flesh-tone hiders made by Khaos. Most employers just ask you to make an effort to conceal them, the ones that won't accept that are kind of just being a dick and are likely the ones that take issue with any tattoos period as well. My favorite are the double-morons that won't let staff wear retainers and instead demand they cover it with bandages, because that's totally less obvious and less diseased looking.

However speaking as someone with experience in management, I can also say that their motivations are sometimes motivated more by having the least amount of bullshit to deal with. They don't like people any more than you do and really just want less problems to deal with.