I really shouldn't complain. Nobody told me I couldn't buy that cool boy's Tshirt, after all. And only $5.69, at that. I wore it today, complemented by silver shoes and a lovely Celtic hair doodad given me by the daughter and SIL.My complaint isn't that of the feminist crowd, really. No, what I learned early in life is that boy things tended to be interesting, while girl things tended to be, well, sort of wimpish. Boys' bicycles were more comfortable to ride, in my experience. Later in life, I discovered that boys' shirts were less expensive to have laundered than exact copies for women ; yes, of course I bought the boys' shirts -- I'm not stupid!
Oh, yes -- there's a reason that boy's (or men's) levis were adopted by many female type people -- they ride low on the hips, which is a helluva lot more comfortable than tight waistbands! Even for me at my extended age.
Further, I became aware quite early in life that careers for boys were much, much more interesting (and varied) than the usual openings for females. Therefore, I made sure that I didn't learn learn to type when I was in high school (a move I regretted much later, but at the time I resolved not to become a secretary!)
I deliberately did not become a teacher or a nurse or a social worker. Tried chemistry, but found I wasn't cut out to be a scientist. Journalism, of a sort, fit. I wasn't tough enough for the rough and tumble world of the daily newspapers, but found magazine work just right.
There it is. My life in a nutshell. I still buy boys' clothes when I find the right ones. The daughter points out that I am small enough to fit the dang things. Good fortune for me. I sure like that tiger with the pair of silver dragons up top.
Nice post. I took typing in highschool because girls were in the class. I don't regret it.
ReplyDeleteNow there's good thinking, Steve. Unlike me, my daughter thought that typing was cool so she taught herself using a series of lessons on tape. And she does secretarial work -- in a pinch. Otherwise, she does computers. As for T-shirts with dragons, if they made them for girls, do doubt they would sell for at least double the price of those lovely, cheap boys' tops.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely yes to all of the above!
ReplyDeleteI actually filed a complaint in New York, on Long Island, back when I was still doing high-grade *temp* work, before I went on SS Disability. So, say 1993.
I had with me a pair of men's Levis. I took them to the hotel cleaners to be cleaned.
They saw how small they were, realized that they were being worn by a woman, and charged me around twice the price to launder them as they charged for men's. The price list was right on the sheet they checked off, so you could see the tremendous disparity in prices for all clothes between sexes. How's that for evidence?
I objected. I said, Jeans are jeans. Women tend to be smaller so your cost is LESS to launder women's jeans than men's. You have no business charging more. Even by your OWN rules you can't charge more because these are MEN'S JEANS!
Well, they wouldn't budge. They thought I was the nastiest b they ever saw, too. This in New York - and me displaying my quieter brand of courteous complaint discourse, as learned from living so long in the Deep South.
I complained to the State, got my cleaning money back and another $50 from the hotel's Legal Department, and felt quite happy.
See, New York had a law in place that they couldn't pull that crap any more.
Hee! Fun.
Never had that problem since I wore the blue jeans on the plane & had the hotel services dry clean my dress-up work clothes that I usually just dumped in the suitcase at the last minute when heading out of town. (It was all on the old expense account-o-roony)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I can certainly understand your fury at the hotel, which over-charges for any cleaning service, refuse to even look at the label on a pair of jeans.