Saturday, July 21, 2007
Lappland chick!
If you want to see something funny, come to Annankatu 20. So here's the update. When I was told to bring black shoes and stockings... well, ... guess what? I got to wear a traditional Lappish outfit!! I am SO going to take my camera to work tomorrow and take a picture. The place mostly caters to Japanese and Russian tourists... few brits (who ask for advice on where to go out from me, who hasn't been back to Finland for 4 years - I told them to walk up and down Eerikinkatu... ooops!).
The outfit got me thinking though... well... all the wait-staff were female. So what I asked a colleague was this: "Do they take any male employees? I mean, I can't really imagine many guys being happy with the Lappish dressing."
What was the answer? Well... The guys get to wear a t-shirt that says "Lappland" on it.
Hmm... it brings to mind what one lecturer had said about women's rights in SE Asia. E.g., Thai Airways. The women wear the traditional looking outfit, whilst the men wear the western suit. The role of the woman is to 'uphold tradition' whilst the men 'venture forth into the modern world'. Perhaps I should buy a pair of handcuffs along with me to work tomorrow and take a picture chained up to a stuffed reindeer or something (not that there is one at work or anything).
But is it necessarily so bleak? Ok, point taken, that when it comes to work uniforms, the female role is entirely constructed. But on the other hand, I really like the fact that I can keep in touch with my roots, AND stay in touch with my roots at the same time. For example, the NLCAC conference ball in 2005 and was comfortable both as a student leader and as a person proud of my roots. What so wrong with that? Could it not be said, in a counterargument to certain feminists, that women have that additional choice then?
And do I not have the right, and the opportunity to walk away from the job that I'm doing now? Yes. I do. Whilst that may seem simplistic, and one may argue that I may find it more difficult to get more jobs in the future... I also think that the more jobs I find unacceptable, the more trouble employees will have finding workers that will bend to their established rules and norms (even if it's only by a small percentage).
The point to all this is that every action we take, we are encouraging some sort of behaviour. I like my new work-uniform, so I'll wear it. It gives me the freedom to recognise my roots. But if someone were to force it upon me, perhaps I would not be so happy. And the only thing I'm unhappy about is that maybe it's the men who are restricted by having to hide their backgrounds in order to succeed in the world. They have to be scared of pink. They have to avoid bright colours. They have so many norms and rules to fit into... maybe we can view this as a global repression of men, as opposed to a culture-specific conformation of women. Just a question. What do you think?
This is a traditional Lappish outfit. Mine's the cheap version - to be seen tomorrow!
fon @ 5:32 AM link to post * *