August 2006 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Re: WDYT? Sexism or not?
I believe it's this:
A supporter listens to Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during a rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 8.
You see her bare legs because she wears skirts with her bare legs showing. I'm not sure you can pin the bare leg thing on the photographer.
I don't have anything against women who wear skirts, but I personally prefer not to wear a skirt in a professional setting. Day to day at the office sure, but we also wear jeans and shorts in the summer even. But if clients or potential clients are going to be there, I will not pick out a skirt. I feel slightly unprofessional with leg showing. Men don't show their legs. I'm also very conscious of necklines.
"As of page 2 this might be the most boring argument ever. It's making me long for Rape Day." - Mouse
That's funny b/c although I hate skirts and hardly ever wear them, if I'm going to an interview (or something important) with a man I always wear a skirt suit b/c in my experience, people take me more seriously when I look more feminine-professional.
I agree. I worked for 8 months in a very conservative law firm. There was only one woman attorney of the 12 in the firm. I usually wore pantsuits to work, but whenever I would wear a skirt suit to work, the men would all ask why I was so dressed up.
No joke.
It was a weird place though, that was the tip of the iceberg in terms of the weirdness there.
I never thought of it that way.
Skirt suits look like Avon lady uniforms to me.
"As of page 2 this might be the most boring argument ever. It's making me long for Rape Day." - Mouse
I never wear skirt suits to an interview, but I have no problem wearing them around the office... Lol.
Career services at my law school routinely told women to wear skirts to interviews. We told one of my female professors about this, and she freaked out. It seriously pissed me off, too.
I don't understand why some people think skirts are more professional. I don't think Palin looks more professional is a bright pink jacket with a skirt than Clinton did in a black pantsuit. As long as it's a professional suit that fits well, it shouldn't matter. I usually wear pants to an interview because I'm more comfortable in pants, and comfort = confidence. But I'm sick of fretting over what the doods will think of my outfit. Harumph!
LOL
I try to find jacks that don't look like button-up mumus but I know what you mean. I hate wearing them, but for some strange reason it works.
ESF- Is it common for female lawyers to wear skirt-suits instead of pant-suits? I only ask b/c the female DAs on Law & Order always wear skirt-suits but that could just be hollywood (although I remember an episode where some jackass judge told the female ADA not to wear pants in his courtroom.)
My female boss's have all been corporate, so they never went to court, but I did assist a restructuring partner. The associates would meet at his office before heading to court, and the female associates would always be in skirt suits for court. On non-court days they still sometimes wore skirts, but not as often.
I've been told that focus groups results say that the most powerful ensemble a woman can wear (all other things, like fit, constant) is a navy skirt suit. The next best thing is a black skirt suit. I think there's just something badass about doing hard work while also wearing a pencil skirt and 3" heels. (Oh, and the professional women here definitely wear 3"-4" heels... a la Lipstick Jungle).
I think it depends. That 8 months was the only time I've ever worked anywhere that required suits every day, and the one woman attorney there was really strange so I don't know what's normal in the big, more conservative law firms.
Most women will wear skirts to court though. Some judges are VERY old school, and you just don't want to tick them off, especially if it could hurt your client.
I generally try to wear skirts to interviews though. And I think my law school recommended it to the women to do so. They also suggested we remove our wedding/engagement rings too, so as not to look like baby factories.
Booo... What about brown skirt-suits? I just bought one last week. Did I miss ultra-powerful by one color hue?
I agree with you about the badassness of the pencil skirt & high heels - except 1" heels or less for yours truly
If I had known that's what rings meant I would have opted for a tennis bracelet.
Ugh. I wind up with this whole dilemma concerning this. The reason I'm here is that my husband is here. I have no other connection to the state. Now that I have a job here, it should be easy enough to find another one (I hope). But everybody always wants to know how I ended up here. I don't really want to say it's because my husband is here because I don't want them to think I'm about to pop out babies (not happening any time soon) and stay home (never happening), but if I don't mention it, then I have no connection. It's so frustrating.
Haha, I feel there are exceptions for women 5'8" and taller
I think brown suits are third best. I might be making that up, though.
crap.
well, Ronald Reagan rocked the brown suit. I'm taking it back! 1980 yo!
"As of page 2 this might be the most boring argument ever. It's making me long for Rape Day." - Mouse
I guess I'll be the lone dissenter here. Although I'm usually the first to get up in arms over sexism, the photo doesn't bother me. I actually like the symbolism - a male constituent looking up to a female politician, rather than vice-versa.
As for law firms, I worked at a large, conservative city firm for years and while we had business casual, it was common knowledge among the women that if they wore a suit to court, they would be well-advised to wear a skirt. There was even one instance of a judge - a federal judge - chastising a female attorney for not wearing a skirt.
Navy suits were no. one, although I always preferred black suits. I also had a red suit, which definitely pushed the envelope, and I wore it when I would go to depositions and was trying to make the statement that I felt pretty darn good about my case. It didn't stop many secretaries and (male) attorneys from assuming I was the court reporter.
I'm actually a fan of skirt suits, though I think I own about equal numbers of each: 1 light gray pant/skirt, 2 charcoal (one pant, one skirt), 2 black with both pants and skirts, and 1 black pinstripe with pants. I'm on the lookout for a navy one, though, probably a skirt.
And thanks, MD, for reassuring me that the 3-4" heels are a-ok here in the city. Because I'm not giving mine up!
Oh, and as for the OP, no, I don't find this sexist - precisely because we've seen photos of male candidates in the same pose. It's Palin's perogative to wear skirt suits (and more power to her - I think they're awesome - especially that black one that she wore to the debate
), but it does mean that we'll *gasp* occasionally see shots of her nude (I hope - down with stockings!) legs. That doesn't mean that the photographer was attempting to turn her into a sex symbol.
Oh, and ditto the comments about wearing skirt suits to interviews and to court. I've actually come across a judge who demanded that women wear skirts in his courtroom. As much as I hate to say it, it's better to be safe than sorry until all of these old sexist fogeys retire from the bench.
You are far more diplomatic than I. I like to say that I'm waiting for these guys to drop dead. Perhaps I can speed things along by wearing pantsuits to court to induce heart attacks.