Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!daemon
From: marla@Sun.COM (Marla Parker)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: The issue of physical appearance
Message-ID: <11885@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 8 Jun 89 00:11:19 GMT
References: <52240@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <5041@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Sender: ambar@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: marla@Sun.COM (Marla Parker)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
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Approved: ambar@bloom-beacon.mit.edu


In article <5041@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> tan@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Greer Hsing Tan) writes:
>Here is a little pet peeve of mine.  Physical appearance ... 
>
>Question, what is the appropriate "dress" for a woman in the office?  My
>mother thinks I ought to wear light pink, light blue, beige ... 
>......(I'm a Software Engineer), 

I, too, am a Software Engineer.  My belief is that I am paid to use my
brain, not to look pleasant in the office.  I dress for comfort.
Occasionally I will dress up for fun or because I have plans for the
evening, but never just for work.  I cannot bring myself to pay the big
bucks required for a well-tailored, executive wardrobe.  If/when I go
into management I'll maybe consider it.  There is a well-respected &
popular female manager here whose style might best be described as "dumpy
housewife".  Obviously her wardrobe isn't holding her back.

Also,  I make a point of not wearing sexy things at work, even subtle
sexy things.  When I am talking to another engineer, I want them to be
listening to me, not admiring/abhoring my outfit.

How do your male peers dress (assuming they outnumber the females, as
they do here)?  If they all wear ties every day, then I suppose that
you ought to wear tailored outfits to fit in.  In my group, nobody
below a Director wears a tie,  so I never wear stockings, much less a
suit.


Marla Parker		(415)336-2538
marla@sun.com