People are taking to social media to call for the end of sexist dress code policies that force women to wear painful and demeaning clothes.

The uproar began when a receptionist, Nicola Thorpe, was sent home from her temp job without pay after showing up to work in flats instead of high heels. Her supervisors told her to go out and buy heels, but she refused on the grounds that it's a sexist and trivial demand--not to mention the purchase would be coming out of her paycheck. How, after all, does a woman's footwear affect her job performance? (There is, however, an argument to make that the discomfort of heels could be hampering performance.)

This policy isn't the work of a single, regressive company. In the UK it's actually legal for companies to require women to wear high heels and it's broadly enforced--if not explicitly than implicitly through denigrating looks and comments and rescinded opportunities.

Thorpe stated a petition calling for the end of the law and has already garnered more than 130,000 signatures.

The issue has resonated with women around the world who routinely face sexist demands on their appearance.

To give the outrage some guidance, the women's rights group Fawcett Society started a hashtag #FawcettFlatsFriday for people to show solidarity.

Group shot at @PwC_UK today. Could be any day of the week though. #fawcettflatsFridaypic.twitter.com/3kpNBNrVvf — Ellie Raven (@ellieraven_pwc) May 13, 2016

Amazing. It's almost as if my shoes have no bearing on how good I am at any facet of my job. #fawcettflatsFridaypic.twitter.com/jUt7xnd8aL — Bethan Forrest (@bethanforrest) May 13, 2016

Because heels don't make you better at your job #fawcettflatsFridaypic.twitter.com/VwPkn0NRvr — The Women's Org. (@TheWomensOrg) May 13, 2016

Nailing some sweet academic journals marketing and PR without the aid of heels... #fawcettflatsFridaypic.twitter.com/JCL9GidNPX — Emma Griffiths (@AmdrammerEmma) May 13, 2016

It's #fawcettflatsFriday - just getting ready for work. So glad I'll be judged on my ideas not height of my heels! pic.twitter.com/YFiwnhgGvX — Rachel Fisher (@RachelAFisher) May 13, 2016

#fawcettflatsFriday Working from home today after meetings all day yesterday in killer heels pic.twitter.com/TXn1ua4R5O — TheYorkshireHamper (@DalesHamperCo) May 13, 2016

Coincidentally, in Canada, the pain and humiliation of a waitress forced to wear heels has triggered similar outrage.

A woman was forced to wear heels even though the pressure and chafing cut her skin and caused her to bleed profusely. After she switched into flats, she was berated by a manager.

Image: Facebook / Nicole Gavins

The waitress also said that the restaurant where she worked forced women to pay for specific uniforms while male servers were allowed to wear clothes they already owned.

Both stories highlight the prevalence of sexist dress code policies in schools, workplaces and all over society.

It's just one more double standard that holds women back and its part of a constellation of sexist behaviors and expectations.

For gender equality to be achieved, women have to be given the right to wear what they want without fear of being criticized, harassed, punished or shunned.

And laws everywhere have to be amended so that women are never unfairly discriminated against.