MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Scholarship abounds on the ways in which women’s bodies have been scrutinized,objectified, and forced into idealized shapes. Numerous scholars have written on the ways that culturally-sanctioned attire rigidly limits women’s expressions of self through clothing choice. This is particularly a problem for professional women in the workforce, who must walk a fine line between appearing too masculine in clothing that connotes tailored professionalism, and too feminine in conventional female ruffles and bright colors. What has been studied less often are the ways in which professional men face their own sets of boundaries and restrictions, many of which are more rigid than those imposed on women. Examining the restrictions on male attire is particularly interesting in the realm of the academy. It is a milieu where there is supposedly no dress code, and the professoriate as a group prizes the freedom to dress as one sees fit. However, our research indicates male faculty members actively monitor one another’s clothing choices, judging their colleagues’ decisions to wear—or forego—neckties, suits, jeans, sandals, and shorts. In a study that involves semi-structured interviews of thirty-two male professors and an examination of academic blogs, we explore the ways in which male faculty members anxiously patrol the borders of ‘acceptable’ attire.