This story has been bubbling away on the net for some time but I thought it deserved a comment. We read:
"It seemed like a nice frothy summer treat for some hardworking gals at a hard-driving law firm. In June, instead of hosting another earnest discussion about client cultivation and leadership, the women lawyers group at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton invited an editorial staffer from Glamour magazine. The topic: the dos and don'ts of corporate fashion.
First slide up: an African American woman sporting an Afro. A real no-no, announced the Glamour editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was "shocking" that some people still thought it "appropriate" to wear those hairstyles at the office. "No offense," she sniffed, but those "political" hairstyles really had to go.
By the time the lights flicked back on, some Cleary lawyers-particularly the ten or so African American women in attendance-were in a state of disbelief. "It was like she was saying you shouldn't go out with your natural hair, and if you do, you're making a political statement," says one African American associate. "It showed a general cluelessness about black women and their hair."
Source
I think the fashionista was telling the truth and that an aggressively African hairstlye is seen as confrontational and uncool in top business circles -- but telling the truth is no excuse these days.
