Feminists just can’t stop talking about clothes these days, and not just when it comes to scientist Matt Taylor. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently explained his penchant for simple gray t-shirts:
I’m in this really lucky position where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than a billion people. And I’d feel I’m not doing my job if I spent any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.
But was this a straightforward statement about his own views on fashion, or an attack on women CEOs’–indeed on every woman who wants to work in the business world? Naturally, Alison P. Davis think its the latter:
Is it just me or does the mindset of the Silicon Valley Power-Schlub imply that caring about clothing or how you look invalidates your ability to work? Of course, male CEOs are far too focused on changing the world or building the next Big App to care about something as “silly” or “frivolous” as dressing professionally — they’ll just leave that to Marissa Mayer.
So which is more sexist… disregarding fashion for the sake of work, or assuming that no woman is capable or desirous of doing the same? Davis manages to make it sound like dwelling on the right kind of clothes is part of the essence of being female. How else could anybody make the leap from Zuckerberg’s comment to Davis’ conclusion?
