Workplace Fashion Freedom for Women

[crfriend]

There is something that seems to be getting skipped over in this discussion.

Women have a choice between a skirted outfit, and pants.

Men? Not so.

That's actually reasonably recent; not all that long ago women did not have the freedom to chose whatever mode they wanted to when they saw fit. So compulsion cut both ways, and in this case the rising tide did not lift all ships as it's supposed to.

We (men, that is) are part of this problem, and in many ways it us that has to change; no, not "us" in the context of the SkirtCafe community, but men in general in the larger world around us. And bringing about that change is likely to be damnably difficult and take a very long time. The interesting thing to note is that the women saw a need for change, fought for it -- commendably -- and ultimately won it; I do not believe that men see any need to change the standards of attire -- especially with something of so dramatic a change from "convention" as skirts for men -- so there's not likely to be anything close to a "critical mass" to get a change effected.

I do not intend for this to sound defeatist; many of us have already demonstrated that blokes in skirts are usually perfectly well accepted in the outside world, that the general public usually doesn't seem to care very much, and if they do care to comment or inquire it's frequently positive. So, there's quite a bit of hope right there, and represents an indication that we're moving in the right direction. But, this is for the world of "leisure time"; injecting the notion into the "professional world" is going to be vastly more difficult without the look being widely accepted in the "leisure time" world and with the understanding that it's possible for a man to properly "pull off" a skirted look in a professional setting. This is why I argue for full acceptance in the "off-hours" sphere first; it'll help "grease the skids" in the "on-the-clock" world.

If the foregoing paragraph looks like it's been "wordsmithed", that's because it has been. Instead of "leisure time" I originally used the term "casual world". It turns out that that phrase did not convey my message properly because "casual" has other baggage associated with it, and it is perfectly possible for a guy to put a heck of a skirted/kilted look together that is anything but "casual".

I think this is a double standard that is due for extinction.

I'll second the statement, mainly though, because I don't like double-standards in general. They're an administrative nuisance and are better ferretted out and swept away.

[Departed Member]

There is something that seems to be getting skipped over in this discussion.
Women have a choice between a skirted outfit, and pants. Men? Not so.

Isn't this just the crux of most of the arguments, though? By and large, in the UK at least, women wear exactly what they choose in 90% of (non-uniform) workplaces - totally regardless of anything written, or even implied, in official "Dress Codes". Men, on the other hand, are likely to be harrassed to the point of stupidity, to unthinkingly comply with a (often) very rigid set of 'rules'.

One bonus of over protective Health & Safety legislation, is that "Dress Codes" can be legally challenged. The problem, UK-wise, is that it is often the Trade Union which has sought to implement "Dress Codes", in the first place. I remember taking great delight, when told we had to sign for a "Dress Code" update on one occasion, pointing out that it would now be examined in fine detail by my personal legal representative, before submitting my response. "You can't do that!", they said, "It's purely a private document and cannot be taken away from the office, or shown to anyone outside the company!" "Nope!", said I, "It's now a contractual document. By all means pop over to your legal department and they'll confirm it!" Oh dear! Headless chicken mode! Twist in the tale? Virtually all of the backing for my stance came from - the womenfolk!