Compliance with the mile-high stack of social expectations you grow up with as a girl turns out to be mandatory if you want to get ahead in business. Be blonde, be skinny, and don’t forget to smile, bitch. Buy the right shampoo, perfume, cosmetics, dress, shoes, and you might be acceptable, but really you’re just deplorable. I worked for years in a high-visibility corporate role where I had to wear hose, heels, and lipstick to fit in. Confronting just about any manifestation of sexism, however aggressive and unpleasant, was a fast track to career failure. I’ve been walking a tightrope over a
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