Yes and no... my point is that a lot of things can cause a crowd not to react to something. You could write probably 15 different stories on "variable X makes people not react." They just happened to choose the one that makes us look most like assholes.
If you prefer, I can change my point to "dressing conservatively improves a woman's chance of getting assistance."
Truthfully, I don't have a big problem with most stereotypes and generalizations, because that is how people learn. For example, if you are attacked by a black bear, you are supposed to fight back. If you are attacked by a grizzly bear, you are supposed to play dead. We are generalizing and playing probabilities, but because the subject of our analysis is a bear and not a human, no one cares. But the mechanism is the same. People learn by taking mental shortcuts so they don't have to reinvent the wheel all the time.
If we apply this to fashion, when people see certain types of dress they form a preconception in their head. It's a shortcut so we can recognize the businessman or the doctor or the plumber or the SP.
I used to do some teaching of high school kids, and learned very early that kids were much easier to manage if I wore a full suit vs just a dress shirt and slacks. I decided then that I can either rail against how judgmental people are, or I can learn from it and learn to work with it.
If you want to try an experiment, try changing the pictures on your website to pictures of you wearing regular business clothes, maybe some pajamas, or jeans and a T-shirt. No lingerie, no tank tops, no bustiers. See if that impacts your business. Should it? No. Will it? I'm certain it would.
I realize this but the conclusion the ladies' came to, that the couple were hooker and pimp and therefore they just needed to be kicked out? That's just something we need to learn? Don't be mistaken for a hooker with her pimp if you want people to believe you are deserving of their help?
I realize it's easier to work with it and wear a suit to work. But on those mornings, you knew you were working in a school, you knew kids listened to you when you wore a suit, so you wore a suit. You didn't have to start wearing a suit all the time, in case you might at some point during the day or night might suddenly have to get some kids attention. You didn't have to decide whether or not to wear a suit to go swimming because you pretty much knew that wasn't when you were going to need it. You
only wore the suit when you were working at that school and you wore it for a specific reason. Whether or not it's actually true, you're using the knowledge that a suit is more intimidating to these kids to your advantage.
You also knew that
if you didn't wear it, the difference would be that you'd have a harder time getting their attention. Or, worse case scenario: you wouldn't be able to get their attention at all, which might be annoying and perhaps stressful...but that's about it. And pretty different than not receiving help when physically abused, in danger or threatened, wouldn't you agree?
I understand the concept, I realize in most cases it's best to go along with it. If I'm going for a job interview, I realize my general appearance and the way I choose to dress is going to influence how the person sees me and that even with the same answers I give, it could be interpreted completely differently. Fine. There a specific goal in a specific situation where I want the interviewer to view me as professional and to take me seriously etc..
The problem here is there really isn't any way to isolate one scenario where one can expect to be abused and in need of help from strangers. So what exactly does this "knowledge" do for me or any other woman? Should we dress conservatively everytime we are in a public setting where we
might end up needing strangers' help, should we be victim of abuse? And if a woman has an abusive spouse (or just in case he might turn out to be), she should just "learn" to keep herself covered up because it will make it more likely that someone will help her if her spouse is abusive to her?
Forget skirts or heels or anything form fitting. Especially anything that would reveal cleavage and don't wear bright lipstick or makeup either, lest you be confused for a hooker - the horror! - because otherwise, you probably won't get any help? Is that the message?
The suit sends a message that says "I mean business" and results in kids paying closer attention. The lingerie is pretty appropriate in this situation considering the nature of the services being offered. It says "oooh baby come on over" and hopefully that's what ends up happening. lol But what does wearing a dress that is more sexy (but in no way inappropriate or out of place) convey? And how does that result in concluding that this woman doesn't deserve any help as she is abused? I don't see how that leap is made. Or what women are supposed to "learn" from that situation. Wear turtlenecks and baggy pants at all times, even out on a date or else don't expect anyone to come to your help, should you need it? Is that really what you're saying?
So am I to interpret the position you're all taking to mean that if you had things your way, we would all behave according to social norms, no matter how unfair and bigoted and we would accept this is the way things are so we would never, ever question them, challenge them or call them out on it. We would simply keep things just the way they are, follow along without a word and certainly never suggest changing the way things are done to be more fair. Well, that's nice.
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