Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, sex discrimination in employment is illegal and a form of legally actionable discrimination. One form of illegal sex discrimination is gender stereotyping. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that under Title VII, it is illegal for employers to refuse to hire or promote employees based on gender stereotypes.
One of the common ways this comes up in the workplace is when male supervisors or managers refuse to promote or hire women because they claim their female employee is not “feminine enough.” This might include comments like:
- “You’re abrasive”
- “You don’t smile enough”
- “You could be friendlier” and
- “You’re too emotional.”
It often also includes claims about how female employees dress – criticisms that they do not wear enough dresses or the like.
This sort of discrimination also affects people who identify as LGBTQ and do not dress “traditionally.” Discrimination against an LGBTQ individual because they do not conform to traditional gender norms is just another form of illegal gender stereotyping and is illegal.
Discrimination of this sort is common in many different industries and is illegal. Several courts and judges have recognized that an employer who objects to aggressiveness in women but whose positions require this trait places women in an intolerable and impermissible “catch 22:” out of a job if they behave aggressively and out of a job if they do not. Title VII lifts women out of this bind.
