The ongoing conversation about gender equality in the workplace has taken a new turn after an Australian female landscaper raised an important question about workplace dress codes. The debate, sparked by Shianne Fox, a Sydney-based tradeswoman known as “The Bikini Tradie” on social media, has gained widespread attention. Fox called out what she sees as a double standard: why can men work shirtless in extreme heat while women cannot?

Fox recently took to TikTok to express her frustration after being told she had to keep her shirt on while working outdoors in sweltering 40-degree Celsius (104-degree Fahrenheit) heat. In her video, she criticized the rule, saying, “It’s a f—ing 40-degree day today and I’m the one who has to wear my shirt, while all the boys on-site don’t have to wear theirs. It’s a double standard, it’s sexist, and I’m actually really over it. I just want to be topless like the boys—but no, I will ‘distract them’.”