Why we need to stop saying: “You don’t look like a... {Insert profession}”

With entire professions falling victim to the ‘male, pale, stale’ label, can we really diversify workforces while it remains acceptable to say that women don’t look like they should be doing their jobs?

When the first statement we make to a woman who shares her profession in a traditionally male field is: “You don’t look like a {Insert profession}” we verbalise society's unconscious bias that acts to constrain women to acceptable gender based roles. Perhaps we need to stop telling women what they do and don’t look like when it comes to their jobs and start asking ourselves why we care to comment at all?

In this article I share my views on this commonplace throwaway phrase, it’s negative implications and steps we can each take to live and work more inclusively.