On Dresses And Breasts And Authoritativeness
The whole thing of boobs+ruffly top = not serious because that = feminine and feminine = trivial whereas male = authoritative (ergo for a female to seem authoritative there is a pressure on her to be masculine) is stupid and outdated . We know it's stupid and outdated. But still, there you have it.
You know what I think will change it? More women, who look however they look, doing authoritative things in public... Until some day authority does not by default = white man in suit.
Which is not to say that presentation counts for nothing, or even that women don't judge both women and men by the same or similar standards. Looking "nice" and "respectable" carries more weight than looking slovenly or (dare I say it?) poor. Or rather, fitting into the cool/rich stratum yields a social advantage to those who conform and/or are able to confrom. I doubt that will ever change.
But still, the most effective, and maybe only way to change this is by having a diversity of authority figures who look like themselves.
Authority looks like whatever the people in charge look like.
Where most of the busboys are Mexican, Mexicans all look like busboys. Where most of the rules are made by old white guys in suits, old white guys in suits have the advantage of looking powerful. (While the poor Mexican guys are always having to explain that they're not busing tables.)
An awful, recent example of this, racial rather than gender: at the hotel where our program retreat was held, all but a few of the participants were European, Indian, or Asian. The staff were almost all Afro-Hatians. To the point where I caught myself noticing that the one new black student was not wearing a waitress uniform. To the point where I wondered if the one or two black students felt uncomfortable. I would have. I bet they noticed, if even I - the middle-class white poster girl - noticed.
These things can make me feel very squeamish but I think they are important to always be thinking about.
You know what I think will change it? More women, who look however they look, doing authoritative things in public... Until some day authority does not by default = white man in suit.
Which is not to say that presentation counts for nothing, or even that women don't judge both women and men by the same or similar standards. Looking "nice" and "respectable" carries more weight than looking slovenly or (dare I say it?) poor. Or rather, fitting into the cool/rich stratum yields a social advantage to those who conform and/or are able to confrom. I doubt that will ever change.
But still, the most effective, and maybe only way to change this is by having a diversity of authority figures who look like themselves.
Authority looks like whatever the people in charge look like.
Where most of the busboys are Mexican, Mexicans all look like busboys. Where most of the rules are made by old white guys in suits, old white guys in suits have the advantage of looking powerful. (While the poor Mexican guys are always having to explain that they're not busing tables.)
An awful, recent example of this, racial rather than gender: at the hotel where our program retreat was held, all but a few of the participants were European, Indian, or Asian. The staff were almost all Afro-Hatians. To the point where I caught myself noticing that the one new black student was not wearing a waitress uniform. To the point where I wondered if the one or two black students felt uncomfortable. I would have. I bet they noticed, if even I - the middle-class white poster girl - noticed.
These things can make me feel very squeamish but I think they are important to always be thinking about.
posted by Joolya at
4:24 PM
4 Comments:
It's true, no one likes to think about these things, but it's reality.
As one of the few Black students/scientists, I am acutely aware of the fact that the majority of Blacks in my environment are either in food service or on the janatorial staff. And yes, it does make me uncomfortable at times.
For one, I worry that the non-Blacks (mostly White) associate Blacks with service/cleaning roles. I'd like to think that someone could get past that and see that me as a scientist, but I'm sure that there are a few who can't. The ones who think Black = service person. White/Asian = scientist.
The other side of this issue is that I worry that the Blacks on the cafeteria/janatorial staff will assume that I'm stuck-up or something. I try to be friendly and speak (as I would with anyone regardless of race or occupation), but I feel like more is expected of me. Like I should have some sort of bond or report becuase we are of the same race.
~EH
BTW, I just found your blog. It's great! I needed to find some science people on the blogosphere.
~EH
I find it amazing that even in the sciences, where we're supposed to know better, that appearances hold so much weight.
Granted, it's not always true. When I was job hunting and having real trouble with it, one of my old professors suggested I leave off the nose ring in job interviews (he somehow equated it with a yarmulke, which I guess I can see, but I can't actually sue someone for not hiring me because of a nose ring, but I digress). In any event, I decided I wasn't going to do that. I got my nose ring when I was 18, it's been a part of my face for as long as I've been a "grown-up," and I would hate to think I was hired because they thought I was something I'm not. So I got a job, even with the nose ring, and nobody ever once said anything about it. So neener neener. AND at my performance review, my boss told me I was bright and a good worker and that my company needed people like me. HA.
Of course, this bunch of geologists and engineers probably wouldn't really notice if I wore the same outfit every day, but still. (The only reason I bother to try to dress nice is so the other women in the office won't think I'm a slob. Seriously!)
Willow -- I have no idea where he was coming from with that. He's Jewish himself, and his exact comment was something along the lines of "I don't wear my yarmulke all the time, even when I'm feeling more observant." Which was also an odd way of putting it. I was really baffled by the whole exchange, really. Does he think he is discriminated against as a Jew and wants to minimize that? Does he have some kind of persecution complex? I have no clue.
Luckily, I don't have to deal with him that much anymore, since it turns out that he's one of those professors who thinks they're helping you while really pressuring you to do what they think is best ('cause, you know, they know what's best for everyone).
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