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From: defaria@hpclove.HP.COM (Andy DeFaria)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Dress code
Message-ID: <7990001@hpclove.HP.COM>
Date: 1 Aug 90 16:27:37 GMT
References: <29174.26ac6fe6@ccavax.camb.com>
Organization: Hewlett Packard Calif. Language Lab
Lines: 27

/ hpclove:comp.software-eng / duncan@dduck.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) /  5:13 am  Jul 31, 1990 /
>In reading things posted on this topic, I do not believe I have read one of the
>reasons I have often been given in the past for dress codes which is related to
>the customer-image issue.  Wearing non-distinctive dress has been justified to
>me -- not where I currently work but a few jobs back -- on the basis of avoid-
>ing people becoming a "distraction" to other business goals.
>
>This sounds bizarre, but it seems to come partially from a sales/marketing or-
>ganization view that customers, during presentations or other kinds of inter-
>actions, will be distracted by distinctiveness in dress and not be as well fo-
>cused on the sales/marketing goals for the interaction.  This used to be an ex-
>cuse why minorities, women, the physically/mentally distinct, etc. were also
>considered "distractions" in business settings.

Ah yes I can see it now:

	"Joe that shirt is to loud, too colorful, too distracting to our
	companies business goals... Take that shirt off and bleach it white
	so it will look like everybody else shirt!"

	"I'm sorry, I really would like to hire you, Jane, but you're too
	attractive and would too much of a distraction to our male employees
	in our corporate meetings... Could you, say, gain 50 pounds?"

Yeah I know that stuff like this really does happen in real life (although it
is not usually put so bluntly) but when we state what's really going on in
plain English it looks really silly, doesn't it?