appropriate attire

There were lots of rumors on social media yesterday, to the effect that Paul Ryan had made a rule preventing women from wearing sleeveless dresses to the Capitol. What is actually the case is that the rule is old, but being enforced. Men have to wear jackets, and nobody is allowed open toed shoes (so no sandals, even in DC in the summer). It's just for the Speaker's Lobby. I didn't know there *was* a speaker's lobby, but apparently reporters hang out there, and from interns on up, they are told about the dress code. I think it would be better to have a positive statement (jackets will be worn) across the board, rather than a negative for women. I have long wished for a similar rule for TV news and weather people. And talk shows, as well. The men without exception have suits on. The women almost all have tight-fitting dresses. A couple of years ago when discussing what we were planning to wear to a family wedding, I said that I was thinking of being out of character and wearing a meteorologist dress. This was confusing to some people, but immediately clear to others. In the end, I wore a rayon flowery shift and blue jacket. I look at female meteorologists on TV squished into tight dresses and high heels, thinking to myself "all those years of physics, and it's come to this." When I'm flipping through the cable news channels, I have noticed that all the women on Fox News (sic) who are on sofas rather than behind desks are wearing knee-length dresses with the right leg crossed over the left. Really. Rachel Maddow apparently has one suit jacket that she wears all the time, but at least it's a jacket.

July 11th
saw a couch-full of women on Fox news with left leg over right. Maybe it's the uniformity that matters.