Princess behaviour

Recently I have been re-thinking my role as a woman in the workplace. Now for those who know me, you know that I’m known for spotting what Siso – an old friend – used to term the 'Eminem' look. Now the Eminem look consists of a jean, t-shirt, hoodie and my favourite accessory a size 5 pair of Nike’s. This look works best for me because it draws attention away from my looks – which I prefer - to my talent. I love being a wall flower, that the best place to get to know everything about everyone. 

Then recently I came into contact with Lee who made me rethink my 'Eminem' look. Now this Lee is the complete opposite of me. She is the girly girl type , look my best, hair done, nails done everything done, so trust me when I say - not in a million years would I have believed that we would have anything in common.

One day we were in the staff kitchen together and started talking. Somewhere along the way we stumbled onto the difference between feminism and equalism (yes, it is a word I made up). She was telling me that she owns a company called ‘Princess Behaviour’ and her company goes around teaching women on how to embrace their femininity in the workplace – her exact words were ‘I want to be treated like a lady. I don’t want to be a wearing pants suit to work just so that I can be recognised as the boss. I want to embrace my femininity and still be able to call the shots when I walk into a meeting room’.

For a moment there I thought she might be one of those, (you now) those burn your bra’s, what men can do women can do better type of women. But boy oh boy was I far from the truth. It turns out that she believes in my ideology of equalism over feminism. Now for those feminist out there before you bite my head off, this is what I mean: I believe in equal opportunity for everyone. What I mean by that is I believe that we should all have equal opportunities in life. I should be getting a job over my male counterpart because I was deemed the best and not because I am filling out some gender count. Feminism as a whole I believe supports certain propaganda - I believe feminism tends to bring up a generation of women who want to rule both in the workplace and in the home-front.

Side point: I believe my ideology of equalism separates the businesswomen from the wife because that is how it should be. Anyhow that was not my point when I initially started to write this post, my point was I think a lot of women tend to use the 'Eminem' look to camouflage their femininity because once they are seen as too feminine, they will no longer hold any significance in the boardroom and people will no longer take them seriously. 

Princess behaviour had me rethinking my definition of beauty in the work place; can I have my floral dress, with make-up and high heels (not that I intend to change my look anytime soon) and still be seen as the efficient and hardworking girl that I am or will people's perception of me change based on what I am wearing that day.

I still have a lot to contemplate with regards to this whole 'Princess Behaviour' around work, but it's something to contemplate...

Act like a princess, work like a boss