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Does Clothing Control Gender? 03-25-2004 02:46 PM
In the late nineteen seventies to early nineteen eighties, women adopted the suit as office wardrobe. During the height of the women’s liberation movement, women were struggling in the newly opened workplace and it was believed that dressing like a man would accelerate women in the corporate ranks.
This proved to be a questionable, at best, answer to the problems that women dealt with in the workplace. There was little benefit to women wearing a suit in the office, except perhaps that with more covering there was less beauty for a man to see. This might have led to women being listened to more carefully, but again this is questionable.
What was gradually discovered was that the suit did not make a woman into a man, nor did it improve a woman’s chances for promotion. The issues at hand were workplace standards that men had created and expected women to adhere to. Gradually the standards changed to somewhat match the changed workforce and women were able to climb the corporate ladder, albeit not as easily as men.
During the late nineteen eighties the skirt suit became fashionable. The skirt suit practically replaced the newly named pants suit for some time and now women may have both types of suits in the closet.
The clothing that we wear does not and never has controlled our gender. A woman in pants is still a woman, just as a man in a skirt is still a man. We create our social norms and it is up to us to change them when they need to be adjusted. This was shown in the changes in workplace standards as women joined the workforce in greater numbers.
Take care,
Troy
bravenet.com