But seriously...

[la_marquise]

So, I have a question for my female friends and female-presenting non-binary friends.
For those of us who present as 'feminine' in the more traditional sense (can be having longer hair, wearing skirts or other 'girly' clothing, being soft-spoken and so forth): do you find people are more ready to question your knowledge than they do that of women who are seen as less 'girly' in presentation? It was noticeable in my last academic jobs that my female colleagues with short hair who dressed in suits tended to be taken more seriously than the rest of us, and were less likely to be asked to undertake extra admin jobs and to do emotional caretaking.
I'd be interested in hearing the experiences of others about this.

Skirt of the day: Blue-tiered the 2nd (as distinct from the beloved, much worn, fragile blue tiered the first.)

Comments

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Though now things seem a lot different. But then, maybe I found my niche? Also I interact with a very many African American women and men, and they all dress and never are afraid to present as who they are and what they feel. Bright colors, wild hair styles, etc. Which you sure can do when you're head of the African History Department, African American and Gender Studies dept., or the Social Justice Institute for Slavery Studies. Academia in these areas is a little different, at least these days, and more so all the time for the 'high end' institutions.

I mean, rather different for me, in how I'm regarded and responded to. Best of all, for the first time, the WOMEN have been very much there for me, with respect and support.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I would imagine that for women of colour, there are many environments in which their presentation is monitored and policed in really damaging, racist ways (I'm thinking of the recent issue over hair-styles in the military, for instance).

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, particularly in the corporate environment (and muslim women as well -- men are forever concerned with how women present!).

But in academia it's quite different, at least here, and at the institutions at which we frequent -- either poor, black predominate in student body, or the elite very expensive competitive ones, which means every African American woman there has had to be at least 4 times as good as anybody else, white (male and female) and black (male) to be where she is. Not to mention that tenured, full time faculty positions are becoming fewer and fewer.

And there you see the class difference again: adjuncts simply can't afford that kind of presentation.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

:-(