I was aware of it from grade school. We didn't have a school uniform, but I played in the band, and we were required to wear a white button-down shirt tucked into black slacks or skirt. Naturally, we had to buy our own.
At 12, I was overweight and, uh, well-developed. To this day, there is barely a button-down shirt that will fit over my boobs and look flattering, and with more limited shopping options back then, there were exactly zero. I ended up looking naturally more dishevelled and slovenly than the other children in the band. Since then, I was aware of just how "neutral" dress codes are intensely gendered, and how much harder it is for women to appear professional.
And I'm now a medium-sized cis white lady, albeit an "ethnic" one. For larger women, women of colour, trans women, the standard is basically impossible.
no subject
At 12, I was overweight and, uh, well-developed. To this day, there is barely a button-down shirt that will fit over my boobs and look flattering, and with more limited shopping options back then, there were exactly zero. I ended up looking naturally more dishevelled and slovenly than the other children in the band. Since then, I was aware of just how "neutral" dress codes are intensely gendered, and how much harder it is for women to appear professional.
And I'm now a medium-sized cis white lady, albeit an "ethnic" one. For larger women, women of colour, trans women, the standard is basically impossible.