Clothing: a Gender Discrepancy
Clothing can be so difficult at times. With me, a lot of thought goes into who is going to see me and how will they percieve me. In Portland I didn't worry so much about what I wore, simply because genders are a little more balanced there than they are here. Here, it's a little bit more "old fashioned", the differences between male and female, though this can be counteracted a degree if you dress a bit more masculinely. Which is how I preferr to dress, but not necessarily a way some people preferr to see ME dressed. :P
At work, I basically just dress to the same level of professionalism as Chris and Gary. Well, to Chris, as Gary ALWAYS wears nice pants/Jeans, clean hiking boots, and a button-up long sleeve shirt (never ever rolling sleeves or anything like that). Chris'll wear similar but he'll wear shorts and sandals, roll up his sleeves, etc. Earthtones everywhere, we all look outdoorsey (because we are) like we're about to go on a hike.
And they're both totally "lefty" and open minded so it's not like I can't dress however. But I don't dress quite as consistently.
I usually have an "average" style that is pretty androgynous, built out of androgynous women's clothes from American Eagle Outfitters and random things that match. But sometimes, say, I'll dress just like Chris. With khaki pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt under a button-up flannel (non-plaid) with its sleeves rolled up. Basically a kind of relaxed sort of thing going on.
Last week, though, Wednesday I dressed down a *little* and lots of clients were coming in so I thought I'd dress up the next day. I wore near-white cool AEO pants with a pure blue button-up dress shirt, sleeves down and buttoned, and tucked in (I usually don't tuck my shirts). Clean-cut and crisp I felt over dressed and looked really really masculine. It was fun but I think it was a bit much (don't dress better than the bosses). Then Friday, I went in the opposite direction and dressed (well for me) more femininely. Tight fitting, flared AEO pinstriped pants with a white tight longsleeve girl shirt that has all these little decorative hole things in it. Agh, so girly (for me).
Point being, it was actually a little stressful to swing so wide between two days like that in how I dressed. I don't like dressing on the feminine side at work because people come in thinking I'm a secretary when I'm a GRAPHIC DESIGNER. I don't work for Gary, I don't answer phones, I don't know who the heck you ARE - quit talking to me like I'm gonna take notes. I don't wear feminine clothes the way feminine women do: I can't wear them with power, so I get talked to like I'm a bit more insignificant than if I wear more masculine clothes. Not in a huge way, mind you, just subtle sometimes.
And of course, my version of "feminine" is just to one side of "androgynous", mind you. And today it's gonna get closer as I want to get my hair cut before work - I'm gonna ask for clippers and get it really short so I don't have to mess with it for awhile.
TODAY: an AEO polo shirt and khaki painter pants with my usual hiking boots. :D
*Note: this post had a lot more thoughts for it but it some of my evidence for how I get treated depending on clothes is kind of random so it's often a way the clothes make ME feel moreso, I believe, than how it makes some people percieve me. I'm too tired to care right now.
At work, I basically just dress to the same level of professionalism as Chris and Gary. Well, to Chris, as Gary ALWAYS wears nice pants/Jeans, clean hiking boots, and a button-up long sleeve shirt (never ever rolling sleeves or anything like that). Chris'll wear similar but he'll wear shorts and sandals, roll up his sleeves, etc. Earthtones everywhere, we all look outdoorsey (because we are) like we're about to go on a hike.
And they're both totally "lefty" and open minded so it's not like I can't dress however. But I don't dress quite as consistently.
I usually have an "average" style that is pretty androgynous, built out of androgynous women's clothes from American Eagle Outfitters and random things that match. But sometimes, say, I'll dress just like Chris. With khaki pants, a long-sleeve t-shirt under a button-up flannel (non-plaid) with its sleeves rolled up. Basically a kind of relaxed sort of thing going on.
Last week, though, Wednesday I dressed down a *little* and lots of clients were coming in so I thought I'd dress up the next day. I wore near-white cool AEO pants with a pure blue button-up dress shirt, sleeves down and buttoned, and tucked in (I usually don't tuck my shirts). Clean-cut and crisp I felt over dressed and looked really really masculine. It was fun but I think it was a bit much (don't dress better than the bosses). Then Friday, I went in the opposite direction and dressed (well for me) more femininely. Tight fitting, flared AEO pinstriped pants with a white tight longsleeve girl shirt that has all these little decorative hole things in it. Agh, so girly (for me).
Point being, it was actually a little stressful to swing so wide between two days like that in how I dressed. I don't like dressing on the feminine side at work because people come in thinking I'm a secretary when I'm a GRAPHIC DESIGNER. I don't work for Gary, I don't answer phones, I don't know who the heck you ARE - quit talking to me like I'm gonna take notes. I don't wear feminine clothes the way feminine women do: I can't wear them with power, so I get talked to like I'm a bit more insignificant than if I wear more masculine clothes. Not in a huge way, mind you, just subtle sometimes.
And of course, my version of "feminine" is just to one side of "androgynous", mind you. And today it's gonna get closer as I want to get my hair cut before work - I'm gonna ask for clippers and get it really short so I don't have to mess with it for awhile.
TODAY: an AEO polo shirt and khaki painter pants with my usual hiking boots. :D
*Note: this post had a lot more thoughts for it but it some of my evidence for how I get treated depending on clothes is kind of random so it's often a way the clothes make ME feel moreso, I believe, than how it makes some people percieve me. I'm too tired to care right now.