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 Peg's
Polemic
Every
month, philosopher Peg Tittle casts off the calm, measured and qualified
style of her profession to deliver her opinionated and impassioned
column, exclusively for the TPM philosophy café...
Number
12. Grub
Day at The Office
Every
second Friday is 'Casual Day' at the office - the principal lets
us wear jeans to school. I need two degrees to do my job, but apparently
I just can't seem to dress myself.
In
addition to that of infantilizing the subordinates, Causal Day underscores
a tradition of hypocrisy, a tradition of pretending: financial advisors
who work on your portfolio at home probably do most of their work
in jeans and a sweatshirt; they just change, they just put on the
facade, the uniform of authority and competence, when they're in
their office. Do they think we're idiots? Do they think we judge
a book by its cover, do they think we're fooled that easily?
Well,
yes, they do. And they're right. Behold the power of a suitcoat
and tie: it says 'I'm to be respected'. Anyone up on charges who
borrows a suit for his day in court knows that. Oh, but the judge
would be a fool to be suckered in by that. Yes - and so are we.
We
also fall for the laser-printed essay or resume over the manual-typewritered
one, the custom-made business card over a name and number written
on a piece of paper, the bass voice speaking with grave pauses over
the soprano who inflects upward at the end of each sentence. We
even have a word for prioritizing pretence over substance - professionalism.
Another
disturbing thing exposed by Casual Day is that the more formal the
attire, the more gendered it is. Formal dress is rigidly male or
female: three piece suit and tie or dress and high heels. Less formal
attire is less gendered: slacks or jeans and a blouse or shirt.
The most casual is completely ungendered: the old 'sweats'. The
thing is this: a suitcoat and tie outranks a dress and high heels.
(Women wear pseudo-suits; men never wear pseudo-dresses.) So as
long as formal attire is required, men will outrank women. A male
teacher once said he was so very grateful for his suitcoat and tie
during his first year of teaching. It didn't occur to him that female
teachers can't depend on attire for the respect and attention they
need to effectively teach their classes. Nor did it occur to him
that perhaps that contributes to their 'inability to control the
class.' If they were allowed casual dress, so men and women wore
the same stuff, the gender gap would decrease. No one could control
their classes then.
As
one who has often been reprimanded, and even suspended, for 'inappropriate
attire', let me just say that I think the whole thing is rather
pathetic - what does it mean when the word 'subversive' can actually
apply to fabric choices?
Peg's
Polemic will next be updated in mid-November 2001
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