As I was trying to get some work done today, I heard the director I report to talking with another woman on our extended team.
I like our director a lot. She's very bright, friendly and easy to talk with. She's only been with our group for a little over 5 weeks and has had to learn a lot about this new area. She picks things up quickly and consistently has good suggestions for how to improve work product.
I also love the way she dresses. She's in her late forties and dresses just right for the business casual atmosphere at the office. Women in management positions have to dress a little nicer than casual in a business casual environment and she hits the look just right. She usually wears dresses or skirts but her outfits are bright and fun. She dresses appropriately for her age and position but she seems to have fun with her outfits. She's in good shape and her outfits highlight that she is but never in an obvious way.
The woman our director was talking to is a very smart and nice woman but someone who I think I would be more like if I were a woman. A little shy, a tiny bit awkward (not horribly so, just not smooth), a very sweet and smart woman engineer. She wears mostly skirts and suits and pumps. Very much the way I would dress.
Today our director is wearing a floral dress that comes to just above her knees, She's wearing a cream colored blouse and wedge slingbacks in a kind of taupe / lightened coffee color. She looks just great.
She was complimenting the engineer on her cute shoes, admiring how nice they looked and remarking how the heel wasn't too high so they would be comfortable.
They talked a little bit more about their respective outfits. I wish I could have joined them. As a guy, I pretty much have to pretend to be clueless about what women are wearing. I would love to join in and be able to tell them how nice they look and say how much I admire a certain outfit or accessory.
Instead, I wind up talking about the weather or the White Sox (who are having a surprisingly not awful season, by the way).
I really like being a guy most of the time but it would be nice to live more comfortably in my two worlds.
This was a very interesting post with a perfect final line, "I really like being a guy most of the time but it would be nice to live more comfortably in my two worlds".
ReplyDeleteThis is the concept that I face in all of my interactions. I like who I am and what I do on a day in and day out basis BUT keeping my CD part stealth is a necessary hinderance to me.
I like to see what women wear. I enjoy commenting to my wife on styles of clothes and shoes. I do not have the freedom to let my interests become public.
We go throught life trying to eliminate the discord in 'our two worlds'.
I often envy the clothes that women can wear. Even during the recent heat wave there was ample basis for clothes envy. At work men have to wear long pants and socks. Women can wear skirts, sleeveless tops and do not have to wear any hosiery. Can you say 'double standard'.
Regards
Pat
I totally agree Linda. I would luv to talk fashion sometimes. Girl talk in general would be.fun to join. But alas, I must be male most of the time.
ReplyDeleteWhy not say something? Although I am out about being transgendered and try to raise awareness of transgender issues, there's no reason why you can't say to someone "I love your outfit, it looks really nice". That's it; women are not going to suddenly think you're transgendered because of it. They'll be happy you noticed.
ReplyDeleteI've written about the building up of barriers that we do as transgendered people over on my Tackling Transphobia blog at http://tacklingtransphobia.blogspot.com, and the reality is that people just don't mind any more (not everywhere, I realise, but the biggest barrier to being oneself is usually yourself!).
Danielle.