I use to work for a mobile video game company. The majority of the developers there are not what you would describe as "atheletic"

The business side of the company is mostly young women, and a few older men and women in management roles.

At the time I was in my twenties, and what you would call a body builder. I'm 6'ft 215 pounds of lean muscle.

I've only been with the company for a few week. I was asked by my older female manager to please wear baggier shirts to work because I was intimidating the office, and she needed to preserve the "work culture" for productivity reasons.

I was wearing the work uniform. Which was just a company T-Shirt. It was XL, and it fit fine. It was no skin tight, it was just a normal T-Shirt. My arms were big, so it showed my arms. They wanted me to wear a XXL or XXXL shirt to work. This would have been the equivolent of a 10 year old trying on his dad's old college football jersey. It would not have fit, and would have looked ridiculous.

I ended quitting, because I felt I was being bullied. I came into work everyday with a smile, and greeted everybody with a handshake and a hello. I never did anything to intimidate anybody.

This still bothers me. Ocasionally, I'll head to the HR reddit and tell this story, and ask what I could have done. For the past 4 years that I have been telling this story there I always get the same response.

"You should have worn more work appropriate clothing. You can't be walking around the office looking like a tool."

It is pretty sickening to me that it is acceptable to fit shame a man, since being in shape is generally considered complimentary. Its like saying a Fat Person can make fun of a skinny person, but not the other way around.

Its like I try to talk about this issue, particularly with the HR board, and they just creme me. "Oh you have muscles. Good for you douchbage"...they completely ignore the issue. I don't get it. Its like I can't bring it up, because everyone assumes I'm trying to brag about being fit or something. But how do I tell this story, without bringing up the fact that I'm muscular?

What really get me tho, is if I were a woman, this would have been a lawsuit. Immediate harassment charges brought. I mean, my outfit was not inappropriate, my body was. Its the equivalent of asking a woman to wear an unfitting shirt because her breast are too big.

Also, how are HR Departments so biased towards issues like this. A woman could file a complaint against her coworker for smiling at her, I can't even get any sympathy from being told that in order to keep my job I need to appear as if I'm less muscular. :-/