now i understand why
i don't have a lot of 'work clothes.'
1) the office gig shit is, as i've said thousands of times, for the birds. i'm no turkey.
2) i don't ever want to put on a suit or anything similar ever again in my life for the sake of being someone else's minion
3) i don't care about how i look when i'm in a place where i don't wanna be
4) the clothes i would wear to work are not friendly to my income
5) fuck them, who cares what i have on?
6) i know better than to wear some fly shit when i'm in the trenches, filing
7) the file room is disgusting, & i can't wear good clothes when battling paper mites
8) i don't plan on being there long enough to get good wear out of anything "work-appropriate"
9) i know deep down this is to be my last full time permanent office gig
10) fuck them, who cares what i have on?
i have an interview w/ the division mgr tomorrow... so let me get some damn sleep.
3 comments:
Yeah, I had a hard time with the work clothes aesthetic when I did governmental and corporate work. Just didn't like the uniform. Always felt like I was dressed like my grandmother. But damned if I haven't ended up wearing a square uniform to navigate past the classism of people who see me, a black mother walking with one or two children on the sidewalk. They see middle-class conservative and step aside, opening doors, smiling, saying good morning and shit. It reminds me of what happened when I dressed "appropriately" for work. They control by offering or withholding validation. Good for you for being clear about what you want to do and why.
some of my students have asked me how i get away with wearing jeans and a t-shirt to school. "miss, don't you have to look, like, all teachery?" to which i replied, "it should matter more what i'm teaching you, not what's on my body."
so tell me why there's a "personal appearance" section on all professional educator evaluations. like, the shit that decides whether or not we get tenure. tell me the priorities aren't all jacked up.
"they control by offering or withholding validation."
basically. i mean, since i work in city government it's a little different. we essentially don't have a dress code. you can't be naked, dirty, smelly, or otherwise nasty by community standards. that is, if you've a bladder control issue but dress in diane von furstenburg, someone's gonna step to you about being gross. conversely, if you wear dirty sweatpants & ratty tee shirts but are a receptionist, there's gonna be a concerted effort to get you to improve what you're wearing. it's a slippery slope primarily because folks'll call the union in on the dumbest little things (to me, appearance is not nearly as important as getting the performance reports for the laborers' [clerks & custodians all lumped together, even] union, etc.) so there's a lot of unspoken shit swirling around based on appearance.
then there's the classism, the inherent racism -- not so much of the system itself, but the internalized racism on the part of the brownies & the overt racism of the few white folk in positions of esteem -- that you get regardless. it's a real tricky mess. thanks for commenting, tenacious one!
mel: girl, come teach here. you can wear a bulletproof jumpoff over whatever tee shirt and cheans you like! just playin. i think the professional appearance thing is a joke. it's also an insult to teachers who can't afford to "look all teachery." some of us are just starting out & really haven't got the ends to wear ann taylor (not even loft) or overpriced polyester-chic lane bryant or whatever. what a mess.
as a final point: i didn't get the job. not because i didn't think i deserved it our could/ should have the thing. but because the job description, though i could have done it, is essentially that of the other candidate's current work. she deserves that job just as much as i deserve a better work situation for myself. i bought her a cookie as a congratulatory gesture, lol. she's a sweetheart & i genuinely hope this opens up her road to better opportunity. i, on the other hand, kinda bombed the second part of my interview when i expressed my career goals without including one single solitary phrase regarding career expansion with the city. lol! i'm over it. i don't mother freakin wanna be there.
so *shrug*
off to the plantation i go...
Post a Comment