I don't actually have any inherently uncomfortable accoutrements of corporate dress, so I can't comment on the comparison. My bras and pantyhose aren't uncomfortable, my makeup is optional and minimal and I certainly can't feel it, and I don't wear uncomfortable heels.

I believe the guys who have told me that they are uncomfortable in ties. I cannot see why any of them would lie to me about it, especially since none of them were making any sort of comparative points. They were just saying they felt strangled wearing ties, period.

My DH had to wear a suit and tie to work every day when he worked at William Morris. He HATED it and got rid of all his suits (except one for funerals and the like) when he left. He didn't loosen his tie until he was ready to take it off because it wrinkled it and who needs the drycleaning to smooth it out?

There are guys who want to argue that ties are as bad has pantyhose, heels, bras, makeup and all the other uncomfortable accoutrements of corporate dress for women.

Yeah. It's not that I disbelieve the discomfort of a tie, but it's far less of an imposition than the traditional accoutrements of femininity are, at least in Western culture. Even if we enjoy wearing skirts & hose & whatnot, the expectation in professional quarters is that we dress with more creativity and variety than men do, and that we wear makeup and jewelry, none of which men are obliged to do.

Women are obliged to wear jewelry? I buy makeup, although even the most conservative places I've worked have had plenty of women (including myself) go face-naked, but jewelry?

Obligated? Nope. But it's part of the general package, like Teppy mentioned upthread.

I once told someone I hadn't been on a date in a while, and she protested that I wore earrings. I think she thought that wearing earrings was a signal that I was both female and straight.

None of the rules are requirements these days, and most of us ignore a lot of them when we feel like it. But they're still out there, in the air.

I once told someone I hadn't been on a date in a while, and she protested that I wore earrings.

Heh. That's such a sitcom kind of line.

"But you wear earrings!"

I once told someone I hadn't been on a date in a while, and she protested that I wore earrings. I think she thought that wearing earrings was a signal that I was both female and straight.

hahahha! Earrings are pretty much the only jewelry I wear. Otoh, I have been known to wear earrings that are more "dykey" as part of my general style.

I'd put jewelry for women almost on a level with cufflinks or tie-pins for men. Sure, they are part of a package, but really quite optional. Something that you wouldn't be surprised to see, but also wouldn't put as a requirement for presentability in the way that makeup might be, or hose.

Total change of topic: did anyone share these graphics about sex from OKCupid?

[link]

Kinda cool. I am fascinated by the one with the slider, charting age, body type, sex drive, and self-confidence.

The rough/gentle sex one makes a hell of a lot of assumptions about a lot of things. Smokers are more inclined to rough sex? In, what, Rebel Without a Cause? England is equated with gentle sex? Really?