Comments on: What your male co-workers really think of you

By: Pat Elliott

Pat Elliott — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:19:47 +0000

Linda – When you have a wide variety of clients you invest in temporary tattoos.

By: Linda VandeVrede

Linda VandeVrede — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:14:42 +0000

Pat – you gotta meet with clients face to face sometime! If you have a tattoo, please hide it from me.

By: Pat Elliott

Pat Elliott — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:56:45 +0000

The photo for this post is from a movie that came out nearly 30 years ago. We’re in a time where you may rarely see your employer or a client in person because you work remotely most of the time. Who needs to worry about what a co-worker thinks of what you wear, male or female? The virtual world is removing barriers not only for women but also for people of color, disabled workers and others. Now that’s something to talk about.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:42:25 +0000

could we just concentrate on the first part?

“amanda is right”.

after that it was started to sound a little like charlie brown’s parents.

By: Len Gutman

Len Gutman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:27:23 +0000

Amanda is right…women are going to be judged no matter how they dress. Dress provocatively and we’re going to pay more attention to you…but take you less seriously. Dress dull and we’re going to think you’re dull. So you might as well wear what you want.

We’re shallow. It’s our nature. We really haven’t come very far as a gender since cave man days.

And by the way, my wife says I still look pretty good in shorts!

By: Linda VandeVrede

Linda VandeVrede — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:36:35 +0000

Jen – Talbots is a great example of classy, stylish clothes. It’s where I have bought most of my business clothes the last few years. The big difference in me from when I lived in Boston vs. here is that I still dress conservatively, but I choose brighter colors here, and less “functional” shoes – traipsing thru the Boston snow, sleet and road salt really did damage to anything but the most serviceable footwear.
Amanda – I like to work with both women and men who dress stylishly. That’s my pet peeve. If someone is dressed like a garbageman or a Hooters waitress, it makes ME feel out of place – selfish? Maybe. It also makes me think less of them. Prejudiced? Maybe. As PR people, I think we should be held to a different standard, since we’re representing clients. It’s like being head chef at the cooking school – you need to pass muster. Or pass the mustard.

By: Marketing $ociologist

Marketing $ociologist — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:25:02 +0000

As a man, I’ll throw my 2 cents in. Don’t know about most men, but I am as critical of other men as women are of other women. So critical, I once wrote a Republic article that opened, “The ugliest thing in the world has to be a guy in shorts.”

As they repeatedly say on “Two and a Half Men,” time to go for the big boy pants instead of shorts. A large part of companies I visit men dress like they work a garbage truck – and these are the company chiefs. Yuk.

Thankfully since I wrote the Republic article, fashion seems to have come back to the Scottsdale mall that inspired my article.

Leave with this quote and the article link, “As a reporter, I’ve seen accidents where people where missing body parts, wounds from guns that were horrendous, but nothing prepared me for the sights of all these men wearing shorts.”
http://republicarticles.blogspot.com/2009/03/cant-get-date-guys-look-at-man-in.html

By: Jen Zingsheim

Jen Zingsheim — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Having lived in Missouri, I’ll add my .02 on that–I think there’s a reason one of Talbot’s largest mall footprints in the country is in St. Louis. Most of the women I worked with wore fairly conservative but up to date clothing for work. This was ages ago though (mid-90s-2001).

The reason that this is a conversation we are having, in my opinion, has a lot to do with the popular culture/TV component, I think. I used to laugh when seeing the outfits Ally McBeal wore to work, no one dressed that way at work. That’s not the case anymore. This isn’t an issue at the office I work in, but when traveling, some of the outfits I see on women makes me wonder what kind of office they work in, or why they think it’s appropriate to wear a skirt that is shorter than most shorts to the office. It’s a matter of getting taken seriously, I suppose.

Also, the puritanical dark garb of the east coast is functional (says the woman wearing a black turtleneck and gray slacks). It’s cold here, and in a few weeks, dark colors will hide the (sigh) snowy slush we get on our clothes…

Interesting post…

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:47:56 +0000

You don’t think men do what? Look, if we’re going to be judged regardless of how we dress, and fail at least a portion of the men judging us, why not just dress as you please anyways? Impress yourself. If you’d LIKE to dress professionally, great. If not, don’t.

That this is even a CONVERSATION proves that women are objectified. Otherwise, no one would care.

By: Rosa

Rosa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:34:52 +0000

I thought answer #2 was pretty good, and I :am: something of a feminist (equality for all, not necessarily horning in on men’s clubs). I think he’s got a good grasp of what the reality is for women in the workplace.
Amanda, I agree that we do sit in constant judgment of each other, especially women to women. But I don’t think regaining our “power of sexuality” is something to strive for in the workplace. I don’t think men do that …