Source: LWA/Dann Tardif / Getty
In a now-viral tweet, with over 17,000 likes, Leslie Mac shared that a Columbus, Ohio, OB/GYN office has a dress code policy that bans patients from wearing—wait for it—hair bonnets, as well as pajamas and slippers.
Twitter user @LeslieMac brought the situation to attention with a tweet that said, “There is an OB/GYN in Columbus OH that has a ‘no bonnets’ policy. My anger is peaking over this bullsh*t policing of Black women every f–king where.”
Her follow-up tweets included a sign displayed at the office which details, “Attire & Grooming: Please refrain from wearing sleepwear items. Thank you for understanding. No pajamas, no slippers, no hair bonnets.”
“Like Black pregnant people need more sh*t to worry about,” @LeslieMac tweeted. “I f–king hate it here.” According to Mac, “the nurse said ‘certain doctors have a problem with women wearing bonnets.'”
@lesliemac also shared details on the specific name of the office, where it’s located and how one can file a complaint.
In the replies, users asked questions like, “I don’t understand how a bonnet would impede the providing of care? What could this doctor’s rationale possibly be?” — and duly noted, “I don’t think this person should be a doctor if they think hair bonnets are an impediment to reproductive health.”
User @tuisdi highlighted, “The fact that there is a dress code for a doctor’s office… At least they make it blatantly obvious that you will not be treated with respect from the get-go. Not even pretending they’re not racist. Also, no PJs and slippers in an office that’s supposed to cater to pregnant ppl? I know women who’ve spent their last trimester only in slippers because their feet were too swollen to wear anything else.”
While MadameNoire has covered bonnet discrimination and stay abreast the ongoing conversation about the respectability of wearing hair bonnets outside one’s home over the past few weeks now. Read more about that here.
