A satirical clip lampooning the persistent gender bias in workplace dress codes is viral online. Here’s what’s behind the joke.
Creative firm Donut Digital (@donutdigital) posted the TikTok on Nov. 11. Through satirical, malicious compliance and role play, the creator exposes how directives to “dress more professionally” can carry implicit gendered expectations. Then she flips the concept on its head when the “boss” essentially says, “No, not like that.”
As the clip starts, she provides the context, writing in the overlay, “My boss told me I need to start dressing ‘more professionally,’ and this is how she reacted.”
Why Is Her Boss Threatening to Report Her to HR?
“I’ve been receiving some complaints from people today about your on-call etiquette,” the boss says. “Do you mind going on cam?”
The employee turns on the camera, wearing a suit and a fake mustache.
“OK. Wow. It kinda seems like you just Googled ‘professional’ and then put on what you saw,” the boss voices in disappointment. “Like, do you mind just taking off the mustache while we have this call? It’s just kind of—Yeah. Just peel it off.”
Then, apparently taking the whole fit in, the boss says, “Wow, so that also has got to go. OK. Say it with me. ‘I will not wear a mustache to meetings anymore.'”
The creator responds, “I will wear mustaches to meetings.” The boss is clearly at her wits’ end: “HR needs it—just you saying it out loud. So say it with me. ‘I will not wear mustaches to meetings.'” But again, the “employee” doesn’t repeat the requested words.
Viewers React to the Satirical Workplace Sketch
In the comments section of the video, viewers riffed on the joke.
“I’m a manager and this is so funny to me, I’m Gen X,” said one person. “She has no right to tell you that you can’t wear a mustache. That’s discrimination.”
One person joked, “I NEVER SKIP A MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE VIDEO.”
“Do men also have to not wear mustaches to meetings?” asked another viewer.
If This Video Wasn’t a Joke, Would the Boss’s Behavior Be Legal?
The broad issue with the “boss” and her disappointment is legally iffy. For one, the 1989 Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins case (itself based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) says that gender stereotyping is discrimination. An employer asking someone to remove a mustache, then questioning a masculine outfit, is technically illegal.
Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination extends to sexual orientation and gender identity, and was further fortified by Bostock v. Clayton County. The case confirmed that employers can’t require transgender employees to follow a dress code for their assigned sex at birth, and that no dress code can force employees to dress contrary to their gender identity.
Also, Donut Digital is based in Manhattan Beach, California. Had the clip been a real situation, the boss would have been in legal danger. The state of California explicitly states that it is illegal to prohibit female employees from wearing pants or to require women to wear skirts. The state also protects against discrimination based on gender expression. Even an intimation of gender normativity would be problematic.
In this scenario, Human Resources would reprimand or fire the manager for placing an unequal burden on the worker. As one commenter noted, the boss was “restricting your gender identity. HR should be taking YOUR side.”
All Hip Hop reached out to Donut Digital for more information.
@donutdigital Replying to @Spookybootyagain 🧞♀️ what could be more professional than this? #gettingintrouble #workfail #workprank #workhumor #gettingfired ♬ Chopin Nocturne Op 9 No 2 – ChrisTune