slugger wrote:you misunderstand, and i didnt try to disguise anything i said. It has been my experience that women physics students appear to be more representative of the general population in terms of their appearance (i.e. grooming, fashion, etc.) than their male counterparts. the dudes more often than not roll into class not giving an f and look like hell whereas the chicks more often than not just look like normal chicks. dont get so touchy about the implications of that sentiment. sometimes a brotha needs to spend his friday night throwing dice and killing orks or whatever, and i respect that. my best friend plays DnD, he just didnt seem to need to dress the part the rest of the time. and no one really believes that appearance dosnt matter, even in academic circles, thats why we all don our sunday best when we go to conferences.
Sorry to high jack the thread, but there is way too much to attack here.
Not sure what conference you go to, but I was dressed better than anyone at the AAS conference meet and greet for undergrads and professors from different schools. I certaintly didn't have any more or less people talk to me. No one cared. However, that is not even the point. Nobody dresses up for class or work; in fact, a grad student wearing a nice button down shirt will get more looks at Harvard than someone with a t shirt and jeans. As for class, most guys roll out of bed and show up for class looking like hell regardless of major; maybe your school was different.
Perhaps I did read too much into what you were saying, but you are still saying there is "acceptable" fasion for class/work. Your lifestyle and passions dictate fasion a lot. You are saying that its okay to game, but just don't advertise that. I ask the same question as before: if the guy came into work/class with good hygene, in shape,
and the objectionable shirt, would you still have a problem with that (its okay to say yes, a lot of people would)? It has been my experience that the unshaved, fat guy with a beat up Paul Pierce jersey gets less dirty looks. Actually, a better example is a shirt I saw some guy wearing which had something to do with getting wasted, no one had a problem with it. Again, its okay to advertise that I like bar hoping (either through fasion or conversation), but if I said I enjoy gaming eyes roll.