Femininity vs…?

13Apr07

I’ve encountered a really strange point of view as regards academia lately — namely, that to be ’serious’ regarding something (an area of study, in this case), you can’t present yourself at the same time as being feminine.

On a predominantly female messageboard I’m involved with, the subject had come up yet again — people seemed to think that showing up to classes dressed nicely (okay, not clubwear-nicely, even I can see that is pushing it) meant you weren’t going to focus on the subject matter of said classes. So, presenting a feminine exterior equals a frivolous interior?

I had to know more — these were women, surely they understood that they could be serious about coursework without having to present themselves in a predominantly masculine or slobby manner? A few people did agree with me, which was reassuring, but the majority seemed to hold the viewpoint that “college is for seriousness” — which was apparently totally incompatible with dressing nicely.

I like to dress nicely for my classes. I shower, and I make sure that I haven’t chosen unfortunate color combinations, and, yes, I do accessorize. This, far from making me not want to focus on my classes, in fact makes me concentrate harder on what’s being taught. If I showed up unshowered, in sweatpants or what have you, I think I’d be focusing more on “I’m so tired” or “I smell” than on the lesson.

I’m joking, a little, but I’ve found that I cannot work to my full potential while dressed like a slob — that extra twenty minutes of effort in the morning allows my subconscious to make the distinction between “oh I am so tired” just-out-of-bed time and “time to focus like a normal person” time. More power to those of us who can work that way, but it just doesn’t work for me. And I’m a little tired of being brushed off as ‘not really serious about the class’ because of it — after all, who is waking up early to make the effort to be fully alert in class here?

So much for that. I also find that I like to present myself in a more feminine, put-together manner in other aspects of my life — including and not limited to gaming or geekiness. Part of it is that I greatly enjoy being a walking contradiction, shocking the predominantly-male geek groups I tend to hang out with (until they get used to it, of course). My cellphone rings the Star Wars main theme — everyone’s looking around all, ‘Where’s the geek?’ and then it’s me. This is the sort of thing I thrive on; let others do as they may, but I’m going to continue dressing however I want.

And trust me, I take my major — and my geekery — damned seriously.

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