Ancestry.com…go away.

This is a placeholder for the rage I plan to let loose on Ancestry.com.  Those fucking commercials are really starting to piss me off. 

The New Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Great strides have been made to reach equality in the workplace.  In 1963, women earned 59% of the wages earned by men – this has improved to 77% of men’s wages.  And even more significant improvements have been made in the younger workforce with women under 25 making 93.2% of men’s wages (2005 figures).  Although we’re not completely equal yet, we’re getting there.

Although pay may be getting closer, there is one area where we are taking significant steps backwards – and it’s not where you might think.  Women have moved past men in summer workplace comfort.  That’s right, men are being discriminated against in the summer wardrobe department.

The societal expectation that men wear suits every day regardless of weather is outdated and must be revisited.  Women have managed to rebel against traditional expectations of wardrobe and can get away with wearing sleeveless blouses, skirts and sandals.  You know what that boils down to?  Formal tank tops, shorts and flip flops.  It’s like a business suit for the beach.  And they love it.  Men?  We don’t get that pass.

Wearing a suit with tie in 90+ degree weather is simply cruel.  It doesn’t matter how breathable your fabrics are, when you arrive at the workplace you will be drenched, and after cooling off, you’ll be a little more ripe than you were when you got out of the shower.  If you are lucky enough to stay in your office building the entirety of the day, it’s not so bad and you can remove the jacket, maybe undo the top button and settle in to whatever comfort you can find.  However, if you are required to leave the building and enter the outdoor furnace, the sweat starts all over again.  And it is none too pleasant.  This can be compounded by metro cars with no air conditioning that are slightly over crowded so the real temperature on board is somewhere in the 135 degree range and there’s no room to take off your jacket so you stand there with your arms over your head holding on to the clammy metal bar for balance, shoving your ever increasingly moist armpit into some unsuspecting transit neighbor.  Not. A. Fan.

By the time you arrive at your meeting place, you are soaked from head to toe, the handouts/papers/notes that you brought with you have smeared because of your clammy hands.  You are hesitant to shake the hands of those in the meeting because you haven’t been able to stop sweating as your body temperature is still hovering somewhere around 110 degrees. This is not conducive to a successful meeting.

Women, on the other hand, have their minimalist outfits that allow them to perspire and cool down as nature intended.  I don’t hold that against them.  I mean, I’m all for acceptable business attire for women that, shall we say, let’s their skin breathe.  I just want business attire equity.

I do hereby submit for consideration a revolution against societal norms for summer business attire.  On days with no formal meetings, men should be not only allowed but encouraged to wear polos and khakis.  On business meeting days in the summer, ties are optional but  jackets are prohibited if the temperature is above 90.

Men will never be able to wear skirts in the workplace or sleeveless shirts, and that’s fine.  Women get the upper hand there.  I’m not asking for full gender equality of summer wardrobes, I just want to make strides towards equality.  How many more dress shirts must we ruin with sweat stains before someone will take notice?