Pink Heels, Power Suits: Women, Leadership and the Negotiation of Authentic Identity at Work

Abstract

The recent upswing in the female Labour Force Participation Rate in India that has risen to 41.7% against 23.3% points to an important milestone but reveals a critical authenticity vacuum wherein women have to negotiate their identity between feminine expression and masculine professional figures. This chapter discusses the critical role of workplace authenticity, and insisting women to make a decision between Pink Heels and Power Suit is not only a social problem but also a violation of the Right to Dignity as provided in Article 21 of the Constitution. The research gap is that the existing Indian laws are not sufficient because the POSH Act 2013 only concerns overt harassment but not the identity tax and micro-aggression that marginalize feminine qualities. This research employs a legal- empirical approach to analyzing Indian Constitutional provisions (Arts. 14& 16) and international G20 standards, at 25% of board positions as compared to 12.2 in India. The most significant insights are that there is a dual-blind jurisprudence: women are commonly considered incompetent when they look too female, and aggressive when they incline towards masculine professional expectations. These stereotypes form a glass ceiling which cannot be broken by statistics. Finally, the chapter suggests a drastic legislative change, suggesting that the 2020 Labour Codes should be changed to enable gender expression as a protected factor. India can achieve by shifting towards a proactive identity-protection model rather than a reactive model of safety that its surging number of female workers will be able to perform well, without losing their true selves and eventually the high goal of 70% of total Labour Force Participation Rate.