While walking around work today, I noticed something that just really had not struck me before.  It is the way that there is one set of rules for one group of people, yet an entirely different set for others.

What do I mean?

If I were to put pictures up in my work area of women wearing bikinis or underwear, it would not be long before one of two things would happen.  First, I would probably be written up for something along the lines of sexual harassment.  Second, I would probably be looking for work elsewhere, since most companies have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to things like this.

All this being said, why is it that when I walk through my work, there are several people that have pictures of people like Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp with their shirts off or similar?  How is a guy with his shirt off or just wearing a towel any less of an offense to the company policies on things like this than if I put a scantily clad picture of, for example, Gigi Edgeley or Tyra Banks?

Am I supposed to accept that it is right for the ladies in my office to enjoy the sight of their favorite actor in a semi-clothed state, yet if I put up a picture of an actress, model or any other picture of a lady with the same amount of clothing on, it is considered wrong?  Are the rules really that skewed in favor of women that they are exempt, or are people just afraid to stand up and say anything about it to someone?

To be fair… it is not just my current job, but this is something that I have seen at a couple of my other jobs too.  There was one office that I worked at where a woman had her desk littered with pictures of various men, not only in various states of undress, but in some provocative positions as well.  Yet I would be willing to BET you that should one of her male counterparts put up a picture of Jessica Alba in a bikini, SHE would be one of the first ones to raise a stink about it, and HR would be all over him, say little or nothing about her desk.

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice these little contradictions in life?  I am sure that I cannot be the only one out there that sees things like this.