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Suit & Tie = Incredibly Sexist?

I had a thought today whilst in college. I noticed the female staff are allowed free reign to wear whatever they fancy, and in summer most wear sandles of some sort. Yet the men are expected to wear a suit and tie year round, despite the inpracticality in this heat. It just bemuses me that we can allow this level of sexist favour!

And I don't see the big deal with suits. Employers have the right to force male workers to wear them to "look presentable". Does it make them work any harder? No. Does it make them more competent at their job? No. Does it improve their intellect? No. In society we are taught to never to judge a book by its cover, so why do we teach that clothing chocies can make a difference to a persons capability to do their job?!

If I was buying something from someone (a salesperson etc), as long as they were friendly and approachable, confident and knew what they were talking about it wouldn't make a difference how they were dressed. Obviously they must be hygeinic, but thats got nothing to do with fashion.

Now Im not saying men should be able to wear T-Shirts and jeans to work, there has to be a line of course! And I recognise that Uniforms are needed to help tell staff from customers. But why can't a shirt and trousers alone be enough?

(Awaits harsh criticism for views)

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Reply 1
It's your prison uniform. Wear it with pride.
Reply 2
Totally agree with you. Espeically about how women slide so easily. People go on about that alot at 6th form where boys are forced into suits whereas girls don't even need buy any new clothes as they can wear pretty much anything that is slaggish.
Reply 3
Well in terms of organisational psychology it can be argued that uniforms (whether that would be suits or a Macdonald's dress code) maintain the culture of the organisation in question and keeps everyone on an "equal level". Of course this is debated but certain people believe it maintains focus within a business and helps to maintain rules and regulations in the company.

But yes I agree about the point you made. I remember in college female teachers wearing allsorts of weird and wonderful clothin while the men were stuck with a shirt and tie on a hot Summer's day :p:
I can kind of understand what you're saying since the boys arent allowed shorts in my 6th form but the girls can wear skirts, but men look much smarter in a tie!
employers are so scared of enforcing rules on women in fear of being faced with a court case for sexual disrimination. Teachers are supposed to wear "what they wore to their interview". Women wouldnt wear brightly coloured t shirts with skirts and sandals to intervew.

If i was a teacher i would complain.

In our end of year photo - the head was wearing a suit and tie, the head of sixth (female) was wearing a white skirt, red low cut t shirt and sandals. And she had the cheek to make us all wear our ties etc.

Yet another example of men being discriminated against
Reply 6
If it's too hot for men to wear shirts and ties, then why don't they ban school uniform too? I used to hate wearing a shirt and tie in the summer. We were also supposed to get permission to take our jumpers off which just seemed wierd.
Edit: to clarify a bit and also add on...
Society has different judgements of what is 'smart' on a man or woman. In this situation it works out in favour of women, but I'm sure in other situations societies traditional views work against women. At my 6th form college many of the (mainly younger) male staff wore jeans with shirts but no tie, and that looked smart enough.
Reply 7
I like wearing a suit. It makes me feel much more confident than usual (and I am a pretty confident guy), I look poo hot in it and handsome as hell (so I have been told and judging by the admiring glances I get).

i think men get it easy tbh, as all we have to do is put on a suit, whereas women have to find something different for every day of the week, if not every day of the month.
At least by wearing a suit, men don't have to buy as many clothes. Don't complain, you're saving money!

Besides, a shirt and tie aren't impractical in the heat. I've never known a school that forbade male teachers from taking off their suit jackets and rolling up their sleeves in summer, to keep cool.
Male teachers at my school and college wore jeans/t-shirts/casual trousers/whatever in addition to suits and ties if that's what they preferred.
I like wearing a tie though, I feel more focussed.
Reply 10
The teachers at my college are pretty much allowed to wear what they like. Though, my Politics teacher got told off the other day for wearing shorts. :laugh: At my secondary school, the male teachers had to wear a suit & tie all year & the female teachers had to wear tops with sleeves covering their shoulders at least in the summer. :s-smilie:
Kittten
Under the same logic, why don't they ban school uniform too? I used to hate wearing a shirt and tie in the summer. We were also supposed to get permission to take our jumpers off which just seemed wierd.

I think you're missing the point... it is about women seemingly being able to wear whatever they like but men not. At my school (and, I would guess, most schools now) the girls had to wear black jackets and ties and had the choice of wearing trousers or a skirt. Interestingly enough plenty of girls wore trousers but no boys wore skirts but there was nothing stopping them. Uniform is not sexist, in fact if anything it is the opposite as boys and girls have the same dress code.

I think they were more strict on female dress code at my school anyway (possibly because it was a school so a slightly more formal atmosphere?) The teachers seemed to wear pretty much exactly what you'd expect in a business environment, with the obvious exception of PE teachers.
Reply 12
thefish_uk
I think you're missing the point... it is about women seemingly being able to wear whatever they like but men not. At my school (and, I would guess, most schools now) the girls had to wear black jackets and ties and had the choice of wearing trousers or a skirt. Interestingly enough plenty of girls wore trousers but no boys wore skirts but there was nothing stopping them. Uniform is not sexist, in fact if anything it is the opposite as boys and girls have the same dress code.


The OP was saying it's unreasonable to expect men to wear a shirt and tie in the summer because it's too hot. If this is the case then it's also unreasonable to expect students to, hence my reply.
not at my college, though most men wear trousers and a shirt! shorts become less acceptable on both sexes after a certain age, but men probably wouldn't want to be a teacher that wears a pencil skirt, for obvious reason...
Oh yeah, I've noticed this before. The men have to look smart (though not always with ties, usually though) but the women can wear whatever. I can't remember what it was like at primary, but at the primary school where I do my voluntary work the teacher of the class I work with, who is male, just wears whatever-not a suit. But then primary teachers are generally seen as "friendlier" and a teacher in casual clothing seems nicer, and it's all about niceness in primary schools.

And it's the same with uniforms as people have mentioned. Boys (after primary school) have to wear trousers all year round, however girls can wear skirts. However girls may have to wear skirts all year round, hence get cold in the winter, like at my school.
Reply 15
Agreed. I'm sitting in my office where there's only about 7 or 8 men and about 40 women, sweating my arse off while the women wearing strappy tops and skirts complain that the fan should be turned off because they're getting too cold! :mad:
I wouldn't be in favour of getting rid of uniforms in secondary school (Although that was a distant memory now :p:) We already have enough bullying in schools, judging a fellow students by the clothes he/she wears will make things 10 times worse unfortunately.
Just saw this and thought it was quite interesting as I always thought it was strange how the female teachers all dressed smartly, but all the men had to wear ties?! But then I got talking to one of the female teachers that was wearing like normalish clothes (more comfortable top, but not jeans - still wearing trousers) and she basically said that there weren't any rules around it, so they COULD wear what they wanted, but it was expected that the dressed smartly. Then a male teacher came in without a tie, and he wasn't reprimanded either. So from my experience, it was what was expected of them that was influencing their clothes
Male teachers at the school where I work wear jeans, t-shirts, and trainers.

Teachers are supposed to wear "what they wore to their interview". Women wouldnt wear brightly coloured t shirts with skirts and sandals to intervew.


They are? Why? Because you said so?
suit and tie = phwoar!

but yes...i know what you're saying. there should be strict rules for both sexes. at my 6th form, us girls HAVE to wear business suits. it's not that hard to do, but some of the girls push the boundaries A LOT. Maybe men should take this up with employers? As a female, I wouldn't take offence if the men wanted to say something about our clothing!