Law in Contemporary Society

View   r8  >  r7  ...
MinaNasseri-SecondPaper 8 - 15 Apr 2008 - Main.MiaWhite
Line: 1 to 1
 
META TOPICPARENT name="WebPreferences"

Naked, But For My Intellect

Line: 56 to 56
 Having been in similar situations, I completely understand where you are coming from, and I think that Kate's comment about your accomplishments not changing because of a fool's statement is interesting too. It is a hard line to draw because while it is true that your corner office and your title have not changed as a result of the comment, the comment is still demeaning in a way that does affect one's own perception of their accomplishments. The comment, perhaps without intending to, implies that she would knock them out with her boots, but could not have done so simply by doing her job well. The problem is that the comments are made too often and are too accepted. It is hard to change something when the system is inundated with it.

It is interesting to hear what people's perceptions on clothes are as well. I too like wearing heels and skirts, but I was really interested with your take on things Barb. I had never thought of the pant suit for women as being more casual/step down. (The most common argument I've heard is one similar to Mina's that the skirt/heels is seen more as sexy and less as serious...an argument I find demeaning and overly-simplistic to say the least). It is interesting though because if your argument is true the skirt is still serving a purpose in an interview/workplace, although a different one, but maybe that is another discussion! -- Jennifer Burke \ No newline at end of file

Added:
>
>

Another comment...

Hey Mina. My first reaction is that you gave too much power away! If you felt like the s*it when you wore your boots, and when you got dressed that morning you felt it was appropriate then--barring any legitimate criticism of it's appropriateness-- wear it and rock it!

I just wanted to point out, that the skirt suit approach is generally thought of as the most conservative and formal dress for an interview. It is generally inappropriate to show any leg above the knee and most "tips" will suggest that you wear bland, boring conservative clothing so as not to draw attention from the content of an interview. I'm not an advocate of the skirt, just saying it may not be all about putting women in provocative clothing. Also, I thought this was interesting/helpful/worthy of critique dress-code guide. Missouri dress code Personally, I made a conscious choice not to hide my visible hand tattoo or avoid pant suits during interviews, because I knew I didn't want to work at a place that would rule me out for those factors.

The reality is, we live in a society where we are judged by our appearance. Dress codes exist and as professionals, we are held up to those norms. How much we allow that judgment to enter or intrude upon our sense of self-worth is a second step, left up to us. This reminds me of when J. Clarence Thomas expounds upon the harms of affirmative action, because his degree from Yale was constantly undermined. The likely truth is, his degree would have been scrutinized and undermined for any reason because he was black and smart. His degree is no less valid. You are a smart woman. Cheap digs at appearance are just an easy ploy to undermine your faculties. My guess is, if you were unprepared or incapable of handling the task at hand, you would have been shaking in your boots instead of standing in them confidently. -Mia


MiaWhite - 15 Apr 2008
 \ No newline at end of file

Revision 8r8 - 15 Apr 2008 - 05:09:06 - MiaWhite
Revision 7r7 - 12 Apr 2008 - 04:27:08 - KateVershov
This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platform.
All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
All material marked as authored by Eben Moglen is available under the license terms CC-BY-SA version 4.
Syndicate this site RSSATOM