It's dangerous for men to weigh in on women's professional dress. To be sure, many people hate dress codes, no matter who imparts the information.
When it comes to setting and enforcing dress codes in the workplace, it isn't the message but the messenger. What might sound like a mentor's advice coming from a woman can feel like oppression coming from a man. This is because what we are really dealing with here is power--the power of executives, who are often men, to inflict attitudes toward dress, professionalism and sexuality on subordinates, who are often women.
"Business casual" has opened the door to more questionable office attire. At the same time, people are more aware of discrimination and more worried about saying the wrong thing. Yet, learning the dress code of a workplace is a normal part of professional growth. When male managers avoid communicating with women employees, women are left unaware of unwritten rules.
Latent anger over men's continued dominance in executive suites can boil over when women feel that men are prescribing skirt lengths, hose, footwear and other details of appropriate office attire. "We often respond badly because we figure men don't know what they are talking about---or---that what they are really talking about is sex," says former television newscaster, Mary Civiello, author of the recently published book, "Communication Counts: Business Presentations for Busy People."
When a man acknowledges any awareness of a woman's body, his comments can be misinterpreted.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2008
