The context: I posted my own LinkedIn account yesterday to thank my company and amusement park for providing a fun Family Day. One of the photos I used included a photo of my colleague, her kid, my son and I at a water park. I was wearing a relatively conservative 1950’s type of two-piece bathing suit (high-waisted bottom). It gained a pretty good traction in my network – around 35 likes.
I guess my post gained a bit too much traction because the next day, my manager messaged me and told me that the seniors at my company saw my post and requested I take down that photo (meaning I have to take down the entire post.) I asked why, and what social media policy could I violated. My manager said it’s a “reputational risk,” and I asked for elaboration. He said this topic was not up for debate and if I don’t take it down now, he will have to escalate it. I deleted it after seeking advice from a few people.
I’m pretty upset because my company didn’t provide me a real explanation as to why this family photo at a water park was offensive to them and instead violated my freedom of expression by sexualizing a mother’s body and shaming me for it.
I have a gazillion thoughts running through my head. I want to escalate this to HR but I’m 99.9% sure the head of HRis the one who complained about my photo so that wouldn’t go anywhere. I’m in a no-win situation.