Some of you may have seen this article in the Age today:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/bank-beauty-tips-anger/2005/12/04/1133631149072.html
(Sorry I cant remember how to do the URL thingy). Basically the gist of it was this:

“The Commonwealth Bank is under fire for promoting a beauty pageant culture at work. It has given employees detailed grooming guidelines, including advice for youthful-looking skin and the brand and colour of underwear that staff should buy…” The guidelines go on to discourage women from wearing shiny tights because they make their legs look larger, among various other handy hints.

It reminds me of when I used to work at ANZ and I came across a similar publication. Only this was much worse. I remember it saying things such as that when you turn 30 you should add a zero to the amount of money you spend on clothes (so are we getting a zero added to our salaries too?). Also, that make up should not only be worn every day but re-applied during the day, that we should avoid horizontal stripes becasue they make us look fat, and my personal favourite, that we should avoid wearing shoulder pads because they only serve to intimidate men. I am not even kidding. At all. There were countless other offensive examples but I no longer have the book on hand.

This publication was geared solely toward women. I learned of it (and saw it personally) from a colleague who came across from another department where it was distributed. She was from India, had only been in Australia for a few years and wasnt quite sure how to take it. She thought it was a bit weird to see in Australia but thought it best not to speak up at the time.

At the time, we were horrified. We took a copy of it and wrote an annoyed letter to the higherst HR person in the bank, one Shane Freeman. We never even got a response. I’m not sure why but we never really followed it up. Most of my colleagues at the time have moved on so I dont think I’ll be able to track it down. I will be interested to see if this comes out at all in the coming days. Probably not.

Some arch-bogan in Biz-Cas-Fri gear sporting a t-shirt proclaiming: “Beaver Liquor”. I happen to know that this is actually a bottle shop in Beaver Creek, Colorado. But come on.

Geez Ed,

Where have I can't believe you missed this one. I was waiting for a post on this, but it seems that your mind is elsewhere today (ie bad sex in fiction. WTF??).

Anyhoo, check out this gem from The Age: http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/12/14/1102787077222.html (how the hell do you add hyperkinks in this thing anyway? Luddites: just copy and paste the address).

The general gist is:

“Tasmanian forestry giant Gunns Ltd has launched a multi-million dollar damages claim against environmentalists including Australian Greens leader Bob Brown, arguing their protests hurt the interests of its employees and shareholders.”

On those grounds, maybe oil companies can start suing those working towards sustainable energy sources, the World Bank can sue U2 for campaigning for forgiving 3rd world debt…the possibilities are endless.

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