chrise@ihuxq.UUCP (Chris Edmonds) (11/07/84)
[] This is a question which has been bothering me for years. Observing the direction of some articles in net.women makes me believe I might get a real response to my curiousity. The question is this: Do women who come to work in a blue or white collar environment dressed in blue jeans and a sweater that look like they are glued on, know what their appearance does to the normal heterosexual male? This question raises lots of others: What do they expect the response to be? Do they mind being looked at as sex objects? (I can't help it...that's how my body/mind responds... it's why homo sapiens isn't extinct.) Are they prepared to deal with an offensive response? (What IS an offensive response to "them"? Please don't misunderstand my thirst for knowledge. I am not refering to offensive remarks made to a professionally feminine (but quite attractively) garbed woman. Neither am I looking for an attack on people who stare but who need to control themselves. Chris Edmonds at AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL [this isn't anybody's work but my own]
ecl@hocsj.UUCP (11/09/84)
Reference: <1320@ihuxq.UUCP> Chris Edmonds asks: > Do women who come to work in a blue or white collar environment dressed > in blue jeans and a sweater that look like they are glued on, know what > their appearance does to the normal heterosexual male? For that matter, do men who come to work in a blue or white collar environment dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt that look like they are glued on, know what their appearance does to the normal heterosexual female? > What do they expect the response to be? Do they mind being looked at > as sex objects? (I can't help it...that's how my body/mind responds... > it's why homo sapiens isn't extinct.) I hope not--that *is* the message they are projecting. > Are they prepared to deal with an offensive response? No. Why should anyone have to deal with an offensive response unless they are offensive first? I'll undoubtedly get flamed for this, but I look at it this way--there is no reason for people to walk around in potato sacks at work. There is nothing wrong with trying to look good (this applies to men *and* women). It shouldn't be carried to extremes--disco dresses on women and unbuttoned shirts and gold chains on men (or vice versa) are not suitable for the work environment (unless, of course, you work in a disco)--but arguing about how tight one's pants should be is futile. (Haven't you ever discovered that you've put on a few pounds and the pants you want to wear are suddenly tighter than they used to be? And you're ten minutes late for work already and everything else is in the laundry?) Looking good should not be sufficient reason for having to field offensive remarks. If it is, we'll all work at looking ugly, and who wants that? Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!hocsj!ecl
geoff@desint.UUCP (Geoff Kuenning) (11/10/84)
In article <1320@ihuxq.UUCP> chrise@ihuxq.UUCP (Chris Edmonds) writes: >Do women who come to work in a blue or white collar environment dressed >in blue jeans and a sweater that look like they are glued on, know what >their appearance does to the normal heterosexual male? I have known at least two women who knew exactly what they were doing, and did it on purpose because they knew the men enjoyed it. In both cases, the women also tremendously enjoyed being appreciated for their beauty. One was attached the entire time I knew her, and was thus not particularly interested in receiving approaches. The other became attached while I knew her; since it was to a fellow worker I presume that approaches from interesting men were acceptable! I have also known a woman who was so strikingly beautiful that she had the same effect no matter what she wore, which was usually dress-for-success. In her case, she appeared to be more or less unaware of her effect on men (this stems from discussions as well as observations, but she was not always completely honest with me). I am quite certain that she was not trying to invite approaches. So I don't think you can generalize. Some individuals are doing it consciously, others not. I suspect "approachability" depends a lot more on whether the person considers herself "available" (i.e., single) than on what she is wearing. Me, I just appreciate their generosity in sharing their beauty, and make approaches based on other things. -- Geoff Kuenning First Systems Corporation ...!ihnp4!trwrb!desint!geoff