Thomas Hart Benton/William Pannapacker has a First Person column in The Chronicle this morning, titled "The Year of Dressing Formally." That pretty much explains what it's about - about a year in which he revamped his wardrobe and went from dressing "like [he] worked in a bait-and-tackle shop" to sartorial splendor.

It's a perfectly fine column, but there's one bit that got me. Assessing his year (now over), he writes:

Although it got out of hand, I think my year of dressing formally was a worthwhile experiment. In general, professors at liberal-art colleges are encouraged to be nurturing. But I found that a higher level of formality improved my students' learning. My larger classes ran more smoothly. I had fewer disruptions, less chatter, more note-taking. I had fewer grade appeals, even though I graded more rigorously and made larger demands. I saw fewer bare feet, boxer shorts, bed hair, and pajama pants in my classrooms. E-mail messages to me almost invariably began with "Dear Professor" instead of "Hey."

I read this part, and wanted to say, Well, DUH! And I also wanted to say, Any woman professor could have told you that. Well, okay, maybe almost any is more accurate. Because while I know there are lots of women out there who teach (brilliantly and successfully) in very casual clothes, I have also had the same conversation with lots and lots of women faculty - the conversation in which we agree that in order to project a certain authority in the classroom, we dress formally for teaching.*

And those of us who feel this way have reached this conclusion long before our first post-tenure year.

Because we've HAD to figure it out - because students respond very differently to men and women teachers. I've certainly known students to mock male professors' clothing (usually when such clothing consists entirely of jackets produced in the 70s, or rotation between the same three outfits). But it's different from when they mock women professors' clothing. Bad dressing doesn't seem to undermine male professors' authority - in fact, it might enhance it: oh, look, they're so smart they don't care about clothes. If you're a woman, however, and you don't care about clothes, you're just a mess, a slob, and unworthy of respect. And if you do care about clothes, then you're frivolous and not serious about your work, and unworthy of respect. Or, god forbid, you're a slut, and obviously unworthy of respect.

I realize I'm painting with a broad brush here - I am overgeneralizing somewhat. But I don't think the reality is that far off. It's not so different from the way people respond to the presidential candidates. Sure, everyone criticizes all the candidates, because that's what you do - you pick apart their performances. So the male candidates are getting criticized, sure. But Clinton seems to get criticized no matter what she does. 

I don't mean this as a criticism of Benton/Pannapacker, either - he's just writing about his own experience. It's just funny how that one paragraph above made me grit my teeth, because he has had the luxury of figuring these things out in a different way than I had.

*I'm also not entirely convinced that his wardrobe change is the only factor at work here - he is describing his first year of teaching post-tenure, which is in itself a big change. And I'd speculate that things like "grad[ing] more rigorously and ma[king] larger demands" can themselves inspire more respect in students and improve their learning. But for the sake of both our arguments, I'll accept that it's the clothes.

Comments

[Notorious Ph.D]

"Any female professor could have told you that." Right-fucking-on, sister. They've been telling us that since day one of being a T.A., haven't they? And yet, when a man does it, it's a huge pedagogical/group-psychological discovery.

::sigh::

(Although I can't help but wish that some of my male counterparts would GIVE UP THE HIPSTER WARDROBE, ALREADY! YOU'RE ALMOST 50!!! ::ahem:: Sorry 'bout that.)

[Anastasia]

I wonder if dressing differently didn't have a larger effect on how he felt/thought about himself.

[lifexhistory]

"And those of us who feel this way have reached this conclusion long before our first post-tenure year."

Yes! I figured this out my first semester of TA'ing. I will probably never stand in front of my students in jeans and a t-shirt to deliver a lecture. Nuh-uh, no way.

[DR]

There's actually an article in yesterday's LA Times about Clinton and clothing -- and powerful women in political and corporate America and clothing more generally. It's a catch-22 though, isn't it? We can't look as though we think too much about our clothes, but we also can't look as though we don't think about our clothes.

rrrrr.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Anastasia - yes, definitely! important point.

[Chuck]

I'd imagine that most male professors could have told "us" the same thing about dress. I figured this out two or three years into my career as a grad student (although it took me a while to adjust to dressing more formally).

But your larger point about gender is important and has been playing itself out in horrifically ugly ways during the election. I can't imagine Clinton being "allowed" to wear the equivalent of an open-collared shirt and blue jeans as some male candidates have on the campaign trail. I've been calling it the "Tracy Flicking" phenomenon after Reese Witherspoon's character in Election. Really frikkin' annoying, even if I like Obama better.

[Rokeya]

I think even if women dress formally, it can still work against them. I remember (much to my horror and shame) a young-ish female professor from my undergrad days who wore a black suit (with slacks, not a skirt) the first day of class. I remember thinking "She's trying too hard--she looks like she is trying to look like a professor." Her outfit actually made me think of her in less authoritative ways. (I got to know this professor, taking two more classes with her, and grew to respect her immensely.)

I typically do a collared button down shirt with slacks the first couple of weeks, then slowly transition to non-collared shirts with cardigans (less formal but still "professorial"), and won't do jeans except maybe the very last week/day. If at all.

[Flavia]

Absolutely, NK. I couldn't quite locate the source of my irritation at this essay when I read it, but I think you've identified at least part of it.

The larger part, maybe, is his tone and the sense that THB gives of just having discovered a big secret that he's graciously going to let us all in on. I think that's why I tend always to react negatively to his essays, even while appreciating him as a better and more interesting "first person" columnist than most at the CoHE. He just sounds condescending, in a way I'm sure he doesn't intend or notice--but as a reader of so many thoughtful, tonally sophisticated academic blogs, *I* notice! And it pisses me off!

[Evan]

As a non-tenured male who dressed more formally right from the start, I still get emails addressed to me as "hey, about that grade". I guess I will have to wear a suit and fob watch to get respect.

[Barb]

I find this discussion really interesting, because I always dress pretty casually (chinos and blouses or t-shirts), and I've *never* had a student email that addressed me as "hey." I think institutional culture plays a big role in this. I spent a year as an adjunct at a really crappy state school that insisted the faculty dress like bankers, and my current institution wants us to do "business casual." But the state school did not emphasize titles - it was one of those "I'm not just your prof, I'm a buddy" departments. My current job, however, is at a school where students address faculty as Dr. X. I can still be friendly and approachable, but the title ensures that students recognize my authority.

My teaching clothes (chosen to blend in with my department as a whole) are fairly formal and mildly frumpy -- suits, skirts, trousers and blazers in boring color combinations, mostly black, navy and gray, "livened up" with a little red now and again. Nobody ever comments on my clothes, either pro or con, and my students seem to respect me as much as they respect anyone else. Maybe when I get tenure, I'll teach in T-shirts and jeans for a semester and write a column for the Chronicle about it.

[Feminist Avatar]

I dress very casually by most people's standards (I make an effort not wear things which are torn or have paint on them, but I suspect most people wouldn't consider that an effort!) and have never had a problem maintaining authority with my students- even when in jeans and a t-shirt. It is a relatively causal department anyway and I think I get away with it as I am still relatively young. I think it's all about attitude and if you feel confident in what you are wearing.

I also think that dressing casually works with my teaching ethos, which is that my students are my equal as human beings and that they are adults responsible for their own learning. Of course, I still expect them to treat me with respect, as I do them, and comply with deadlines etc, but thus far I haven't had a problem. I am in the UK so I don't know if that makes a difference.

[Ancarett]

I find that my students differentiate male and women teachers instinctively -- I'm "Miss" and my male colleagues (even much younger!) are "Sir". (That's why I ask that my first year students address me as Dr. Ancarett so that I hope they'll learn to appreciate that I'm a trained scholar.

I believe that differentiation reflects a bit of their social background and expectations -- my students come from a more sheltered demographic than the big-city students I encountered as a grad student, for instance.

Dressing formally -- well, I'm a living, breathing example of both formality and casual. I've tried 'em all and I've found that a bit of formality does help. For me, the jeans and tees, while comfortable, don't help me, personally, feel prepared and in charge. Having some more polished and professional outfit choices makes me feel a bit more prepared for things at the office.

I'd say that Anastasia hit upon a very important factor, though -- as we present ourselves we influence others and we raise the expectations in a lot of unwritten ways. It doesn't have to be about dress or even control, but it does start within if you're going to change the classroom experience for everyone.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Yeah, I think a lot of it is the expectations we ourselves bring to our clothing - which is why for me, dressing formally helps me feel like the teacher and act accordingly, and Feminist Avatar (and others), you can have a different feeling about dressing informally. (Again, I totally didn't mean that one has to dress formally to be a successful teacher, just that there is often a gendered dynamic to this. And funnily enough, I started dressing formally exactly because I *was* young, and needed something to distinguish myself from the students!)

And Rokeya, I wonder if that plays into your reaction to your prof's suit - I understand your point about how people can react badly to anything, which I think is very true; I also think some people wear a suit and look like they're dressing up, whereas others look like it's their second skin. It's funny, because when I've seen job candidates at the AHA, while they're always stressed out and have that distinctive "job candidate" look, and are frequently dressed more formally than anyone else at the conference, I can definitely tell a difference between the ones who feel comfortable in a suit - even if they are dressing up - and those who don't; the latter just scream I JUST BOUGHT THIS SUIT FOR THIS CONFERENCE!!! to me. (Not that I've been able to verify this or anything though!)

(Feminist Avatar, I do have to say that at the one conference I've attended in Britain, I definitely thought the British academics were more casual than the American/European ones - though obviously I that's one data point. But I saw a number of Brits present papers in jeans, sneakers, and tees or equally casual shirts, and I would never present in jeans and don't see very many Americans do so, and if they do, they've usually dressed them up a bit. Actually, to be more precise, I saw a number of British women do so, and American women almost never do. Again, totally not a criticism, just an observation - maybe there are cultural differences. Though really I think I haven't seen enough to generalize.)

I should probably add that I realize there's a disciplinary thing going on here, as I know that people in a lot of the sciences, esp. the lab sciences, find this whole discussion kind of funny. If I were working with chemicals or doing other lab-type things or out digging rocks as a geologist or whatnot, I doubt I'd look at teaching clothes in quite the same way!

(And Chuck, the "Tracy Flicking" phenomenon is practically driving me into Clinton's arms, it bugs me so much! In practice, it doesn't actually matter as I forgot to register when I moved here and missed the deadline for our primary. But still!)

[Addy N.]

Well, if my wearing nice clothes for teaching is supposed to be putting my students on their "best behavior", I'd hate to see what they do if showed up in jeans. I also get plenty of "Hey, did I miss anything" emails. I look young for my age and dressing nicely for work doesn't seem to have much impact.

[Another Damned Medievalist]

Started writing, realized it was a blog post. So all I'll say here is that I totally agree, NK.

[Feminist Avatar]

You are probably right about British academics being more casual! I think, especially for women academics and maybe more widely, we tried the power suit thing in the 80s and it didn't really increase the respect we had amongst our peers or bring us equal pay etc. And it was expensive, uncomfortable and for those of us with 'irregular' figures (or just boobs) we often looked dreadful. Yet, we haven't quite figured out what the alternative is, so we dress in what makes us comfortable and makes us feel in control, and over the years that has became increasingly casual (which in part reflects general fashion trends).

I would add there is some institutional variation. I have always been amused at how formally the Oxford/ Cambridge crowd tend to dress compared to many of us. Most American academics (and for that matter students) that I meet in the UK are very conservative dressers, for my taste. I just assumed it was a reflection of American fashion, but perhaps it reflects different ideas about appropriate clothing in academic environments.

There is also some subject variation. I am historian, but my sister used to work in an international marketing dept, and they all dressed in power suits. She explained it was because their dept had a lot of ties with the business world and they often had 'clients' and 'business partners' coming in for meetings. Also a lot of the academics had long careers in the business world before coming into academia so were comfortable dressing that way.

[Historiann]

There was an article published in the Chronicle in 2005 by James Lang that was even more clueless about clothing in the classroom than this recent column by Benton. It drew an immediate response from Pamela Johnston who made many of the points you all have made here. (Namely, that an academic could be so entirely clueless about clothing, gender, and power.)

http://chronicle.com/jobs/2005/08/2005081001c.htm

(It includes a link to the original column by James Lang.)

[Mary]

If you have a strong sense of yourself and can convey that in a classroom, large or small, you don't need to worry about what you wear. I wear what I want to wear (generally casual) and what is comfortable, not what others wear or what I hope might improve their opinions of me. The idea of doing the latter makes me cringe because it feels like giving away part of yourself to others, whether students or anyone else. I have very mixed feelings about teaching students that clothes make the person, and especially about encouraging the widespread idea that the lower you are in a social hierarchy, the better you must dress. Secretaries wear better clothes than their bosses. Community college profs dress better than those at state colleges who in turn dress better than those at the research universities. Minority group parents have always sent their kids to school in their idea of "good" clothes so the teachers will treat their kids better. It all sucks.

[wiccachicky]

I find I stage my clothing -- I will eventually wear jeans, but only with button down shirts, blazers and classy shoes (in a What Not to Wear sort of way). But the first few weeks I make a point to wear more formal clothing until they get used to me.

[Susan]

I tend to dress at least semi-formally on campus(nice trousers, skirts)partly to signal students that I'm taking what I'm doing seriously. But I've also realized that I feel uncomfortable going in to an office where the staff have a pretty rigid dress code wearing clothes they could not wear to work.
The US-UK dress differences are always interesting. I've always connected it with political differences, but I'm not sure I can completely figure it out.

[Letty]

Within Europe, there are differences, too. I taught in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Germany tends to be semi-formal Even the students usually wore formal clothes, except for a few hippies and punks (some really interesting hairstyles in my class).
Ireland is very casual, except for a few older academics who seem to go for the same tweed jacket every day. The students are super-casual, wearing things I would only wear for sports: trainers, tracksuits, even some kind of terry-cloth suit (bright green...). The Dutch are in between. Teachers not terribly formal, but perhaps more so in the lecture halls than in the tutorials. Students may wear trainers, but they won't come in tracksuit bottoms.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

I have very mixed feelings about teaching students that clothes make the person, and especially about encouraging the widespread idea that the lower you are in a social hierarchy, the better you must dress. Secretaries wear better clothes than their bosses. Community college profs dress better than those at state colleges who in turn dress better than those at the research universities.

Mary, I get your point here and it's a good one, but I'm not sure I agree with especially the bolded bits across the board. In my own experience, higher prestige institutions *have* often entailed fancier clothes - sometimes mediated by urban/rural differences; I just think there's way too much variation according to local culture to generalize in this way. Most of my teaching colleagues everywhere *have* dressed more formally than the secretaries. And in Former College City, class/status was *definitely* signaled by clothing - there was a lot of poverty and the well-off *definitely* signal their position by dressing very expensively. Which isn't quite the same thing - and it still requires people at the bottom of a social hierarchy to dress better if they want to be taken seriously - but I don't think it's just that the upper-class have the luxury of not dressing up.

I also think that a strong sense of one's self can take you far in the classroom, but that there are limits, depending on the context. Students at Former College had VERY different responses to clothing/classroom persona than they did at Rural Utopia (these are the 2 places I've worked), despite me being the same person doing the same kind of teaching. You really can't always control how people respond to you.

As for teaching students that clothes make the person - I'm torn about that, because while you're right that there are a ton of awful class things tied up in that, my feeling is that in the world as it is, clothes often *do* make the person. And I'm much more about teaching my students how to function successfully in the world as it is, rather than to change it - which on the one hand sounds awful, but on the other hand, I think reflects the fact that most of the students I've taught (prior to Former College) are using college as a way to get ahead, not to maintain a privileged position. I realize I'm probably maintaining the status quo in terrible ways, but I'm also a change-things-from-within type, and tend to think students need to know how to get into the system before they can change it. So I, personally, don't have a problem with sending certain messages about appropriate clothing, although I understand why others feel differently.

[Christine]

I started teaching college in my mid-20s and 8 years later still get taken for a student. In the beginning I dressed really formally to appear older, but have now since abandoned that idea, since it did not work for me due to my discipline, art. Personally, I hate dressing down and it feels very unprofessional. My motto is, "if you can couch out in front of the TV in what your are wearing, it is not professional." Right now I let my creative side dictate my clothing style. The students seem to assume that one is more creative if one dresses creative or original. I don't agree with the theory, but it does work in the studio.

[Rokeya]

Ha, I like your comment about the urban setting and clothes, NK. Not too long ago one of my colleagues was talking about someone who was visiting to give a talk. She said something like "She was dressed straight from New York" and a number of us rolled our eyes. ;)

When I went for a campus interview at Small Midwest U, I asked my advisor for advice on how to dress. "Just make sure you don't look like you're dressed for New York." I responded with "That's so not me and I hope it never is" and we had a good laugh over it. The thing is, if I taught there, I'm sure I'd feel pressured to look the part!

If it affects how I see other scholars, I guess it's not surprising that how I dress would be read in certain ways by my students. It has so much to do with where you are and I don't think it's universal (like you were saying).