FOR the past year, I've been conducting a secret revolution that can now be revealed. To protest the uncomfortable, purely cosmetic garment known as pantyhose, and in defiance of the double standard of dress codes for island businessmen and businesswomen, I've resorted to wearing casual shirts and shorts to the office. Reaction has ranged from amusement to puzzlement to thinly veiled disdain. Long and short(s)
of fashion standardsAt Rotary meetings, school presentations and even in the newsroom, people assume that I must be on vacation. Some folks ask if my legs are cold. One senior reporter said such attire wasn't appropriate for someone of my "stature" (which I took to mean someone of my 5-foot, 6-inch height).
But the sincerity of my rebellion was tested on Friday, when the governor's office called to announce that he would be dropping by to talk about the teachers' strike.
This editorial page editor is no fool (despite what Cayetano often says). If he had given me a day's notice, I might have been happy to don skirt and matching pumps as a show of respect for our great state's leader.
What a predicament. Should I go home to change, as suggested by a fellow columnist who said I didn't look "professional" enough? Or should I stand my ground?
I pondered the quandary for a good, oh, five seconds. Basically, it came down to that perennial puzzlement in paradise:
Why is it OK for Honolulu businessmen to wear wrinkled and untucked aloha shirts, baggy pants and scruffy-looking footwear in the office, but businesswomen must be immaculately decked out in silk blouses, linen suits, coordinated handbags and leather shoes (with nylons), and complementary jewelry in order to be taken seriously in the workplace?
What makes it acceptable for male executives to wear aloha shirts five days a week, but female execs can legitimately wear muumuu only on a Friday?
These are purely rhetorical questions, of course, because the answers are clear. In this alleged modern-day, enlightened society, the kane continues to be valued for what he does, while the wahine is still being judged on how she looks. In other words, the guy is instrumental; the gal is ornamental.
The legions of beauty contests for girls and women - aka "scholarship" pageants - are testament to that. Note the complete lack of interest in competitions measuring masculine attractiveness and demeanor.
Meanwhile, Hawaii's contender for Miss USA wins the national crown and is played up big on the front page of the morning newspaper - the very same day of the teachers' strike vote, which would affect hundreds of thousands of students, parents and public-school employees. What priorities are these?
THE same priorities that led the governor to critique my casual ensemble on Friday. When Cayetano walked into the newsroom with his entourage, he spotted me, furrowed his brow and remarked to my boss, "Gee, your people sure dress comfortably around here."
That's right, comfort is a priority for some women tired of conforming to a male-dictated, double-standard norm of body apparel. Since it's time to be more concerned about what we're doing instead of what we're wearing, let's say hello to comfy career clothes like shorts, pants, pullover shirts, vests and muumuu, and goodbye to L'eggs.
In fact, if you ever see me dressed to the hilt in three-piece suit, high heels and hose, it's a safe bet that I'm on a fashion vacation. It's such a nice change of pace.