Company wide Teams call, one of the presenters had a very sexual picture, think Jessica rabbit style, inappropriate for work; starts speaking, all becomes clear...

[AstonsGerbil]

So, will have to change some details so that it's not completely outing.

Someone I know closely was in a Teams call recently, a big company wide one, works for a big UK company, private company, very well known.

Slides to be presented in the call include pictures of the presenters and one of the pictures is extremely sexual: of pretty much a bombshell of a woman, Jessica Rabbit type, completely inappropriate in a working environment and especially inappropriate as the picture chosen for a business presentation.

Person I know thinks, hmm that's not right, why has no one pulled her up about this? Highly inappropriate to use this picture.

Then...this presenter comes on the screen to talk, it all becomes clear, extremely deep male voice and despite the Teams filters on their IRL video, it's obviously a male person. Their name as well is fairly obviously like a porn star name. Think like a 'Chantelle' or 'Chastity' type name.

But we get told on this board over and over again it's not a sexual fetish, no no, it's not, uh uh, they are just 'being true to themselves'.

Just to be clear, if an actual woman did this she'd be told to change the avatar and tone it down. 100%. Ugh. Indulging this at the highest level of this company is so gross.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll get all the usual suspects coming out to tell me I'm being a big old meanie blah blah blah but tbh, I'm just glad I don't work there. Total ick.

I remember years ago when I worked in a call centre one of the woman I worked with got sent home because she was wearing a backless dress. She had thick black tights on and it was a black dress, with longish sleeves, but fully backless. Less sexualised than this, but she still got sent home.

I'm reading this and remembering the time i had to remove a picture of me because I had a tiny bit of cleavage showing because it was "unprofessional". Double standards in the job place.

Such clear double standards.

I know a young woman who was sent to HR for a 'chat' because she wore an opaque white blouse to work a few times and various male colleagues complained about her being inappropriately dressed. She wore a camisole underneath the blouse so it wasn't like she was flashing anybody but she still got gossiped about 😠

This sounds very similar to my ex colleague. We had a meeting in a private room at a pub (think they thought they needed us all to be drunk!) telling us he was transitioning and would be turning up later as a “woman”. He turned up in a red skirt suit with a white blouse which looked neat and professional. The next day he looked like he’d run through a jumble sale and picked up any clothes he could lay his hands on. I’ve never seen so many clashing colours and patterns. And this is how he dressed until he detransitioned 2 years later!

Our work don't allow our Teams headshot pictures be anything other than the ones taken in front of the white wall at work by the grumpy facilities guy. So they are all very similar, not exactly very flattering of any of us, but at least professional. I'm told this company are pretty much the same, so it's definitely double standards.

One of the very young modern apprentices at my work updated her photo to a pouty duck face one and you could see a tiny bit of her cleavage. It was up for about 2 days then back to the mug shot photo taken by facilities, so clearly HR had pulled her up on it. I almost wish this was my work to see what would have happened (spoiler...probably nothing as this sexualised photo is clearly their 'true, stunning, brave self' after all - my work as an aside are also very gender woo believers).

What's wild about mine is the shirt I was wearing is one of my work shirts. It's OK if I'm wearing it at my desk but not in front of the building? OK.
I don't get these company policies.

I did a corporate job for the last 5 years before retiring and we were told to put pictures up. It just so happened that week I was harvesting Yard Long Beans in the summer of 2020 so I took a photo with a yard long bean as a moustache Cartel Style and put that up.

I didn't realise that the pic appeared on external emails.

Problem was that even taking it down, it still appeared randomly on emails.

Weirdly they never asked me again. Apparently it tickled the accounts team in Head Office quite a lot.

Women's clothes are policed due to the fear men will lose the run of themselves when faced with temptation. No one thinks for a moment this would be the case with a person who, whatever they may pretend to the contrary, they see as a man in a dress. Being allowed to dress in a sexualised way at work is strong messaging that they are not regarded as a woman.

Gawd, they live amongst us. My husband has a couple of these delights living "their true selves" in his work. Basque lad and another middle aged one who wears 80's female power suits with mini skirt n court shoes. Can't be very comfy either of them. DH is a H& S union rep and has not been popular as he has been a naughty boy ensuring that they respect the Supreme Court Ruling.

I remember that thread. I quite often wondered what happened in the end.

I hope the OP found a new job and got the hell out of Dodge.

I remember the psychiatrist and psychotherapist Az Hakeem -. who worked with gender questioning men for a decade - says that a lot of transwomen dress like their mums because their issue comes from mother-related hang-ups. They literally want to look like their mothers.

Surely they have a uniform code?! My ex worked in two different branches of the civil service, one was more casual dress code and one was more traditional smart wear but they both had work wear guidelines. 🤦 It's grim that this person is forcing his fetish on his colleagues unchallenged.

That’s really interesting. I often thought it was a “how they saw women” sexual kink. So either whore (PVC) or Madonna (twin set and pearls)

Some men will marry someone who is like their mother. There is also a thing where some transvestite men will do dress & makeup like thier wives e.g. Dr Upton.

@PrettyDamnCosmic Fuck me that is grim 🤮

The high profile civil servant referred to above:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13706357/Government-department-embroiled-row-fetish-gear-civil-servants-complain-transgender-colleagues-workwear.html

I think all corporate headshots should be like this. Serious faces and a vegetable. Preferably one you grew yourself.

Exactly!

I second this!

The double standard is a real thing. I remember years ago, when I was line managing a bright young woman, I had to take her aside and quietly advise her to put a jumper on because her boobs were distracting. I still feel a bit bad about that because it's not even as if she was dressed unprofessionally, she just couldn't help her shape.

This standard about professional dress never applies to a 50yo bloke who decides that, as of Monday, he's coming to work in a leather mini and fishnets to express his "authentic self".

All the women ( and men ) follow it, but not these "women" because they are special. DH has privately raised it with his line manager and she agrees but doesn't want to go there and who can blame her? They are very run of the mill basic grade civil servant here. Think Job Centre but not that.

Bloody hell. I can believe that. My DH has complained to the union and they like that. He has put it as a potential safeguarding issue but to be fair , these blokes haven't used the Ladies to his knowledge since the SC ruling and my DH has no female colleagues willing to back him up, so he doesn't want to be "That Man". He knows that they are not comfortable but they are afraid to have their names on paper saying so.Including his female Line Manager. Meanwhile, these clowns get to swan about the office getting off on one...

I left a part time job a few years ago in part because a plainly male colleague started turning up to meetings in teeny tiny daisy Duke style shorts, tights, boots, a long nylon wig and huge false nails. No one else seemed to have a problem. But they certainly would have if a woman turned up like this, looking like a streetwalker. The double standard is alive and well, and that's how we know there are no "trans women", only men with a kink or 2.

I also had a colleague suddenly turn up at work as a "woman" in leather skirt and fishnets about 10 years ago. He'd already been the office creep that the new girls had to be warned about.

Luckily for us, we had a tough Yorkshire lady as the boss's PA and she put him properly in his place about toilets and appropriate office wear.

Why will the senior blokes never speak out to these numpties about dress code and appropriate attire?

Because they like it?