Vineeta Singh recalls sexist encounters: dress codes and demand for husband's involvement

Sexism is unfortunately still prevalent in the business world, even for successful entrepreneurs like Vineeta Singh. In a recent interview with actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on her show “What Women Want”, the Shark Tank India judge and SUGAR Cosmetics CEO opened up about some of the sexist encounters she has faced early in her career.

The entrepreneur shared an incident where she was asked to dress differently in order to secure a job offer early in her career. While the IIT-IIM grad complied at the time because she wanted the job, she now says she would object to such a request if it were to happen again. She explained how she called her mother overnight and changed her wardrobe to oversized men’s shirts during her internship at ITC, just so that her clothing wouldn't be the reason she didn't get the job.

“When I was doing my internship at ITC, there was a time when I was told that the jeans and the tight tops that I wear to the factory are not okay. So I remember, overnight, I had called my mother from Delhi to Saharanpur with these big baggy shirts, men’s shirts, and every single day of my 2-month internship I wore those oversized men’s shirts because I didn’t want that to be the reason I don’t get a job offer," she told Khan.

Singh also recalled being told by an investor that they don't invest in women-founded companies and that she would only receive funding if her husband joined the business. This is a clear example of gender discrimination and it is disappointing to hear that this still happens in today's society.