Factory Tour Discrimination

Due to my love of factory tours, and pie, I’m taking a pie factory tour later this week in nearby Winchester, Indiana. I’m working with a student who is writing an honors thesis about the marketing of gluten-free products, and we thought touring a pie factory would help her with her project. And we’ll get pie!

I just got the extensive dress code and I wanted to share it in its entirety:

All tour participants must wear closed toed shoes and socks (hose). Tour participants wearing sandals will not be permitted to enter our facility. Male tour participants are required to wear long pants and shirts with sleeves. Men wearing shorts, tank tops or sleeveless shirts will not be permitted to enter our facility. All jewelry will be required to be covered or tucked into clothing. Plain wedding bands are permissible. No glitter, applique, studs or feathers on attire, including shoes and purses. No glitter make-up please. No food or drink, including gum or chewing tobacco, will be permitted in the facility. No hats in the facility. Hair nets and beard nets are provided to be worn.

Maybe I’m overly sensitive to discussions of discrimination due to the recent passage of the “religious freedom” law here in Indiana, but many items prohibited from the factory do draw to mind a certain flamboyant lifestyle. If you prohibit the clothes, are you also prohibiting the people? Or do they just not want glitter and feathers in their pies?

Jeffrey L Cohen

Jeffrey L Cohen