Once upon a time, a 24-year-old curvy Black woman walked into the office of a national radio station wearing a grey pencil skirt and a matching sweater. Another Black woman—a lovely woman, by the way—gave her a tour around the office where she’d potentially work. However, at the end of the tour, the woman told the 24-year-old that her outfit wasn’t appropriate. Little did she know that she’d be viewed as a woman trying the “office siren look.”
Curvy women are often sexualized—regardless of what we wear. Even the blandest pair of sweatpants can be read as seductive. There’s rarely space for us to just exist in our bodies without scrutiny. The reality of not being able to show up in normal clothes without drawing attention to yourself is an invasive experience that often causes anxiety about one’s presentation.
Layer that with corporate American culture—built without us in mind—and you create a new burden: the constant, exhausting awareness of how our bodies are perceived in “professional” spaces. The double consciousness of being a curvy woman in a professional space easily overfills our minds with questions like “Do I look professional enough?” or “Is this too tight?” My favorite? “Is this even appropriate for the office?”
I’d ask myself…
