#for real though:#the skin gap probably explains a lot of Thermostat Wars#women's clothing is often a LOT more revealing (and made of much flimsier material) than men's clothing
Huh, you know I never considered that but come to think of it, The Skin Gap could be a major contributing factor to these gendered "thermostat wars" you hear about.
Not only that, but I remember a few years ago everyone was talking about these studies coming out showing that the temperature of most office buildings is actually a more comfortable temperature for men, but slightly too cold for women. Again, can't help but wonder how much The Skin Gap contributes to this discrepancy. If you look at the difference between the average business casual outfit for men vs the average business casual outfit for women, it's not just that the skin gap is at play here and the woman's outfit is more likely to be showing skin, but also the woman's outfit is more likely to be made of thin and flimsy material.
Seriously!
Let's use some random Google image search finds to compare the amount of bare arms and legs, low/wide necklines, low-cut shoes, etc in this "business casual" wardrobe:
vs this one:
Yes, and it's not just that you can see the skin gap at work here (in all of the men's outfits the legs and chest are fully covered, and the same cannot be said of the women's outfits) but also even from a picture you can see how the material for the women's outfits looks so much thinner and flimsier than the material the men's clothing is made out of.
This isn't shaming or berating the women who wear these outfits by any means, this is directed at the clothing industry for marketing and pumping out clothing made of thin flimsy material that leaves large parts of the body uncovered for women, while marketing and pumping out clothing made of thick sturdy fabric that gives full coverage to men (as well as the social norms behind all of that enforcing all of this).
And also, it really can go both ways. I've worked with so many men over the years who do lament that they can't wear shorts to work, especially in an office setting, without either getting looks or straight up being told their outfit is unprofessional and they need to put pants on, and they'll come right out and say they're jealous of their female colleagues who can come to work in shorts, or skirts above the knee, and have that be accepted as a professional outfit suitable for the workplace.
If a woman wore a short sleeve skirt suit like this to work, most people wouldn't think much of it:
...but if a man wore something like this, people would think he had lost his mind!
#also may i recommend a YA novel called The Obnoxious Jerks#about a group of guys who protest their school dress code by wearing skirts because shorts are forbidden
I just might add that to my reading list, thank you.
As for the examples here, I could see something similar to the bottom outfit being an acceptable school uniform in some places, especially for primary school aged boys.
As for an adult man working in an office? At the very least he would almost definitely get some weird looks and/or snickering from his colleagues, but the chances that he'd get taken aside and told her needs to dress more seriously and professionally would actually be quite high.
This is despite the fact that the top outfit, when worn by a woman, would be perfectly acceptable in the same setting (despite actually having less coverage than the bottom outfit).
if you want more examples of the skin gap, I think this video also does a good job of demonstrating more examples of the skin gap.
#I didn't think that the skin day explains all the temperature gender discrepancies#but it sure does exacerbate the problem
Indeed, that's why I was saying "contributes to". As someone else pointed out in the comments, androgens do tend to make one run hot, so I would totally believe that men generally do have more of a tendency to run hot.
However, if androgens do tend to make one run hot, that means that the skin gap if anything should run the opposite way than it does in reality. If men tend to run hot, men should be the ones in shorts or skirts (including in formal/professional settings) to help the legs keep cool, wearing clothing out of thin gauzy material for more breathability, and wearing low cut tops to help the torso keep cool.
I think if we swapped the skin gap from what it actually is in reality it would probably make it a lot easier to find an office temperature that makes everyone happy.
It's also important to mention that, yes, women *could* dress warmer... but there's limits to that, too, in a professional setting. There's only so many layers you can add while still maintaining a professional look. Everyone always talks about how business casual (and other office dresscodes) "allows" women to wear lighter, thinner, more-skin-showing outfits, but it's also the opposite. If I wore the same outfit as some of the guys at my office, I'd be considered overdressed and dressing too seriously/severe.
Of course, I can just say "fuck that" and do it anyway, but women are judged (pretty harshly at times) for what they wear, so the pressure to wear the lighter, thinner, colder clothes definitely is there.
It's also not so simple as 'woman COULD dress warmer/more modest' because those types of clothes are simply not being sold. I went shopping somewhat recently with my sister to find clothes for a job interview, and every store we went to only had button-ups that were also mesh. Short sleeves. Peekaboo necklines. Tank tops.
Warm, covered clothes straight up just aren't widely available.
