WARNING: I’m going to go on a bit of a rant about chivalry, gender roles, and social norms. You may be offended or disagree.
One frustration I have is women who complain they aren’t treated “fairly”. WTF is fair? If you want to be treated like a man, act like a man. I absolutely think people should be hired for jobs based on their abilities, regardless of gender, but when it comes to dress for that interview, it’s a completely different game between genders. Women dress is something that makes them look good. If they’re short, they wear heels. They have have ways to express their personality, and have it be socially appropriate. Men have to wear a suit. Not a red suit. not a looneytoons tie. Men are judged on their ability to conform to boring in their appearance. If you want to give me some tirade about ‘well, the interviewer shouldn’t be basing their decision on how attractive the girl is’ then I want you to not put on any make-up, show up at tell that to the person interviewing you. If you’re not willing to put your actions where your mouth is, I don’t want to hear your words.
What it comes down to, if you want to be treated fairly, sure, there are probably a lot of things that could be “brought up” to a higher standard compared to men, but there are certainly a lot of areas that should be brought down to be comparable to men. No more holding doors. No more ordering first at restaurants. Come to think of it, no more passcode entry into the work bathroom! Why are women’s privacy and security concerns greater than men?
I say put a lock on the men’s room door too. I say, men need to be allowed to wear khaki shorts to summer weddings if women are able to wear skirts and thin strapped dresses. Why are men at such a huge fashion disadvantage? Back to job interviewing, If I don’t normally wear a tie to work, but all of a sudden I show up to work with a tie on, chances are people are going to think I have a job interview somewhere. Women don’t have to worry about that. They can keep on wearing their normal dress attire for interviews and have no one be the wiser.
What I guess I’m trying to say is, there are some that think women in general are being treated unfairly. If their actions are to only empower women, their being unfair to men. The focus has to be on gender ambiguity, and I’ll leave that to you to decide if that’s what’s right for the whole world. Until you get all the women to agree they want stop wearing make up, wear uniforms like a polo and khakis every day, and keep their hair the same way every day – you will also have unfairness. I’m OK with that. I just think everyone could gain a little perspective by considering what you have that others don’t have before you start ranting and raving about what you don’t have that others do have. And if you’re still not happy, set out to make the world a better place for everyone, not just for yourself, whatever that looks like.
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