“My firm operates a dress-down policy on Fridays, but I was recently asked to change out of the (fairly short) skirt I chose to wear. An associate (pale, overweight, dowdy) brought up the matter with my supervisor, saying it was ‘inappropriate’. A straw poll of the office would suggest otherwise – that the skirt was short but acceptable. As a blonde female at a conservative US firm, I think I’m being picked on for my looks – should I also dress dowdy or stick to the Friday skirts?”

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