Strategy to deal with hiring discrimination against gender nonconforming hairstyle?
edit for more context: I shaved my hair last month so it's unusually short. i've been asked if i'm a "buddhist monk/nun" by confused bigots, pushed out of bathrooms by binary women who thought i was a man, and stared at the streets when I go out with my natural hair.
I am an afab nb college student. I have very short hair for a “woman”. Way shorter than most men. I’ve been looking for private tutoring jobs and I’m worried about my hairstyle working against me. I live in a conservative area with basically no protections for queer people, so I know showing up with very short hair as a “woman” can seriously hurt my chances. a lot of employers ask for your binary gender and a headshot in my country, so if my appearance makes me appear masc, I will "attract" a lot of trouble.
I tried wearing a wig to interviews, but I don’t think it’s a sustainable solution because it’s distressing to go against my gender presentation and it undermines my ability to showcase my skills. So I’m considering alternatives:
- Show up with a beanie to conceal hair. This runs the risk of being seen as unprofessional, so tell tutoring companies/parents that I had a bad haircut and wanted to conceal it.
- Just show up in my natural hair and roll with the hate. (I’m not in physical danger but this can def cost me opportunities or ramp up hiring discrimination)
- Stop looking for jobs until my hair grows to an "acceptable" length. (I'm not desperate for jobs rn but it would be gross if I have do to this just because bigots can't look past my gender presentation)
What would you do if you were in my shoes?