Woman's 'Perfect' Comeback to Male Colleague's Remark Over Her Hair Cheered

A woman's witty comeback to a male colleague's comment about her hair has been praised as the "perfect response" to what many felt was an inappropriate remark in the workplace.

While women have experienced many positive changes to their role in the working world, the issue of sexism still looms large over many places of employment.

That prevalence was highlighted in a 2022 study of over 1,500 working women by people analytics firm Perceptyx that revealed two-thirds "sometimes" experience sexist behavior in the workplace, while 25 percent endured "frequent" sexist incidents.

Sexism can take on many shapes and forms at work. Sometimes, as in the case of one woman posting to Mumsnet, it can even be a throwaway remark about something as simple as a female colleague's hair color.

According to the post shared by a user writing under the handle VirginiaCreek, she gets her hair colored every 6 to 8 weeks but tends to switch things up during the summer months.

"It's always a similar color but I tend to go slightly darker in summer when my skin is a little darker," she explained.

The contentious incident occurred during an encounter with a new colleague when she arrived at work. He asked her whether she had dyed her hair. She explained that she had and did so every few weeks.

"Oh, I liked it better before, the lighter color suited you," he told her. Quick as a flash, the woman said she fired back: "That's okay, I didn't dye it to impress you."

The woman explained why the comment really irritated her.

"What got my back up was the way he asked me and then proceeded to give his opinion (negative) as though I should have factored in his approval when I chose to get it done," she said. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Though she insisted she "smiled" when she said it, another colleague wondered whether the response had been "a little harsh."

Not according to social media.

MandSStoreManager thought it was a "great response," with girlmom21 agreeing it was the "perfect response" to the comment.

Chilledbubble felt it was "absolutely fine," adding: "The more people get the message the better. He was rude to offer opinions on your hair."

Nachobutt noted, "you hadn't asked his opinion and yet he felt it necessary to give one anyway," while Sharrowgirl said: "His comment was a bit inappropriate/rude and your response perfectly highlighted that, so I think it was pretty good."

Bambi1132 said, "Women are not here to look pretty for men," with Penguinsaregreat adding, "People should stop expecting females to be accommodating and nice."

ShirleyJackson, meanwhile, asked: "Where do people get off commenting on the physical appearance of others? Do they imagine they're perfect specimens? And it's usually men."

Newsweek has contacted VirginiaCreek for comment.

Update 07/12/22: This article has been updated with a new image.