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{"id":17555,"date":"2015-09-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=2380"},"modified":"2015-09-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T00:00:00","slug":"casual-conformity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/09\/casual-conformity\/","title":{"rendered":"Casual Conformity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

Erynn Masi de Casanova observes in her forthcoming\u00a0Buttoned Up<\/a> that since the surfeit of books on white collar conformism in the 1950s, \u201cmainstream social science has largely ignored the world of white-collar work and the identities of the people who perform this work.\u201d And in particular they have ignored the satorial choices of those white collar workers.<\/p>\n

The findings of her interviews with white-collar men in various American cities are somewhat surprising. Standards of dress have relaxed in the culture generally, including the workplace. Yet she discovered a high degree of conformity among the men\u2019s clothing choices. Business casual is in, but everyone <\/em>goes business casual.<\/p>\n

She suggests several reasons for this. The first has to do with the changing landscape of white-collar work. In the 1950s, the \u201ccompany man\u201d was a recognizable entity, but today \u201cformal white-collar work has become less stable and predictable.\u201d This \u201cabsence of job security makes people who are fortunate enough to be employed avoid risk.\u201d Whatever freedom they have to dress as they please is too risky to use.<\/p>\n

She also points to the increasing attention to male fashion in the past decades: \u201cmen\u2019s bodies and appearance are increasingly subject to social scrutiny and presented in mainstream popular culture as sex objects (in ways previously associated with women\u2019s bodies). This new visibility heightens pressures on men to maintain a socially acceptable physical appearance, including in work settings.\u201d Increased scrutiny and increased choice \u201ccan be paralyzing. The shift to a business casual dress that is sometimes not as well defined as business formal dress (suits and ties) increases the options potentially available to white-collar men,\u201d and that increases the possibility of a damaging sartorial faux pas. Again, best to play it safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Men end up strategically choosing conformity because conformity \u201censures their continued access\u201d to the various privileges they enjoy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"