This week’s Village Voice feature article is about a woman who was apparently too hot for her male colleagues to focus on their own jobs. Debrahlee Lorenzana, a former Citibank business banker, is suing Citigroup for being fired because her sexy curves were too much her bosses to handle.
The majority of the article focuses on how sexy she is, mainly Lorenzana reinforcing the fact that it’s not her fault she’s attractive and there’s only so much she can do about it (WE GET IT! YOU’RE HOT!), along with a lengthy photo shoot with nearly 25 extra shots online. But towards the end of the article, the real important stuff is made obvious. Not only had she been sexually harassed, but her bosses were preventing her from moving up in the company and giving her sales to other employees (all men, fyi). In the report on why she was fired, her bosses also wrote that she was late to work on days the bank was closed. The company generally ignored all her pleas for help, a transfer, or a fair work environment.
On a heart-wrenching note, Lorenzana is quoted at the end of the article wishing she wasn’t so pretty. “If being less good-looking… means being happy and finding love and not being sexually harassed and having a job where no one bothers you and no one questions you because of your looks, then definitely, I’d want that. I think of it every day.”
This statement is backwards in most minds— I thought being pretty bought me happiness! Girl, were we wrong. All sex-appeal aside, how are these lame bosses of hers getting away with keeping female employees from advancing or just getting fair work? Shame on them, shame on Citibank, and shame on the 75 cents to a dollar that women make!
