After abruptly quitting her job due to its dress code, a former JCPenney employee and feminist activist is using her 15 minutes of fame to rail against the “sexism” of dress codes.
The saga began when Sylva Stoel, who goes by the Twitter handle “queenfeminist,” tweeted out she was sent home from her job at JCPenney for wearing shorts that were “too revealing” with the ironic twist being that the shorts were bought from the store’s “career section.”
Considering Stoel's large Twitter following of approximately 23,000 people, her post went viral and attracted the attention of media outlets across the country.
In an email to Mic.com, Stoel wrote, “The only word the manager said on dress code during my job orientation was that denim was not allowed, t-shirts were unacceptable, spaghetti-strap tank tops weren't allowed and skirts couldn't be 'too short.’ But I was never warned that wearing linen shorts to work could get me sent home."
In a statement to People, JCPenney clarified its dress code and stated that it does not discriminate on the basis of gender:
“JCPenney's dress code policy for store associates prohibits the wearing of shorts of any length. This policy applies to both male and female associates. We have reached out to the associate who blogged about this policy, but she has not returned our telephone calls thus far.”
Regardless, Stoel told the Huffington Post, “Unfair dress codes affect millions of women, and it’s time to speak out against them.”
Stoel continues to spread the narrative that dress codes are “sexist,” and has even claimed dress codes “benefit patriarchy”: