Victoria Hungerford
Web Editor
As a graduating senior, I find myself more than just a little frightened with each passing day. Not because I do not want to leave the college lifestyle and enter into the real world, but rather the contrary. I am worried it will be impossible to embrace my individuality while at the same time making myself marketable for career placement.
Let me put this into another perspective: how many professors here have multi-colored hair? None. How many people at a doctor’s office display intense amounts of tattoos or body piercings? Probably the most you’ll see is a nose piercing. Growing up, did any of your teachers have unique markers on their body? Probably not. All were very mainstream, clean cut, and acceptable to Grandma Mae, down the street. This is why I am in a hard spot.
I will be graduating with a double degree in feminist studies and black studies. Both degrees have taught me to think critically about social institutions as well create my own theoretical framework for my understanding of the world. While I absolutely love my fields of study, as they both liberate me personally as well as educationally, these skills are not marketable skills in the real world. Neither is my pink and purple hair.
I embrace individuality and have found myself recently playing with hair color. My hair has gone from dark brown, to red, to black, to purple, to rainbow. Currently I am rocking pink and purple hair. But I’ve been told by countless people that when entering the market place I will have to conform, and thus change my hair color. Keep it “professional.”
Is this what I want? How is my physical appearance any reflection of my professional merits? I have worked in collaborative environments such as the KCSB Media center and The Bottom Line and have never felt any pressure to “look like others.” Rather, I have felt encouraged to embrace my individuality and bring my own perspective into my workplace.
Yet, it seems colorful hair and “alternative” appearances are often met with skepticism. Here is an example. I am a proud dog owner and a friend of the Santa Barbara Humane Society. I have never missed a puppy vaccination and have always been treated warmly until I dyed my hair.
Suddenly my responsibility as a dog guardian was put into question. I was bombarded with a million questions regarding whether or not my dog’s shots were up to date while in line to get my puppy spayed. They did not question the elderly couple in front of me dropping off their Labrador. I was questioned whether I understood the procedure my dog was about to undergo; if I knew the risks and whether I have de-wormed my six-month-old puppy. They left the mother behind me with her two children alone as she dropped off her dog.
I answered politely and explained to the best of my ability that I am a responsible pet guardian, I understood what was to happen, and why I was having my dog spayed. After leaving the clinic, I realized it was most likely due to my appearance that these women assumed I was an irresponsible pet guardian.
I have encountered similar situations when talking to other older individuals in the career field I would like to enter. However, when discussing career placement with individuals in my sister’s area of expertise, the tattoo and art gallery industry, I have only felt acceptance of my appearance and creative abilities. My hair was never an issue; instead, my resume and portfolio were the issue.
Shouldn’t career placement be based solely on my resume and portfolio, not on my physical appearance? While I continue to hunt and refuse to change my appearance, I find myself looking more closely at graduate school rather than career placement, knowing full well my hair color wouldn’t be a contributing factor to whether or not I am accepted.
Here at UCSB, are we prepared to enter the real world? Are we ready to get rid of our unique identities, and have we been fully prepared to conform to the hegemony we discuss and fight against?
Graduate school it is, where I can hide away in academia as long as I want until I see society is ready to accept a pink-headed individual in its cubicle walls.
You’re awesome.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue too. Do I really want to work within a workplace that will not allow me to express myself, even through clothing styles/hair/etc, just so I can have the kind of job that my grandmother would be proud of me for having? Luckily, I find myself turning in more of a direction of self-employment, business, the entertainment industry, or academia anyway with regards to careers after college, so maybe the restraint of personal expression won’t be an issue.
It’s hard to want a life in the common workplace of today when I see business men tirelessly drudging their way to work every day here in Japan, wearing their matching uniforms of black, grey, and white, only expressing what little individuality they have through their choice of subdued color ties. How could I want a life like that?
I feel you, girl!!!
My own hair has undergone the same amount of dying and cutting experiences, and I always itch to return to more punk haircuts when my hair gets “normal” again. But, especially when trying to find minimum-wage work, employers are HUGE on the issue of appearance and reflecting the company’s image. I also fear that the more decorative I get, the less work I’ll be able to have.
I was actually talking to Melissa about this when she sent me your link, and we agree that because of the increase in the bolder aesthetic choices that younger generations are making, there should be an equal amount of image tolerance within companies. No, it still won’t be ok for someone to walk in as VP of a software company with a mowhawk, face shrapnel, and full body tats, but to allow the minor things to slide, like hair dye, one or two facial piercings, and an easily-coverable tattoo or two, would be a completely fair and manageable compromise to make.
The problem is historical.
The older generations have long equated body decorations with hoodlums, anti-establishment behavior, and danger in general. Because of this, it’s hard for them to see, especially in their old age, how the increase of such adornments brings the negative associations almost to a screeching halt. Now, even a “good girl” could have multiple ear piercings and a tiny tramp stamp and still be considered normal in they eyes of her peers. So why not in the eyes of employers? After all, we all know that a completely decoration-free individual could be a worse person to hire than one who may have, say, pink hair.
Keep being an individual, even if it has to only be on the inside! I know how tough it is wanting to look one way but not being able to simply because your position calls for it. If all else fails, apply for the job looking natural, then add in the color and spice once you prove yourself invaluable.
preach it, girlfriend.
preach it good.
Never get into fights with ugly people, they have nothing to lose