Gender Talk # 7: Outfits from a Feminist Perspective
Gender Talk #7-The Academic Activity on Gender Equality at Hoa Sen University (HSU) was held on January, 27 2021. The Gender Talk#7 seminar focuses on two themes-“Dress Professionally" presented by Doan Thi Ngoc (MSW & MEd in TESOL) – The lecturer, Course Coordinator, and the Founder of Gender Talk, Department of Liberal Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, HSU and “Building Personal Brand” presented by Ho Trung Chanh (MA) – Acting Head of Tourism Department, FPT University.
Opening
topic 1, "Dress Professionally ", Ms. Doan Thi Ngoc introduced on
three important points including: 100 years of feminist history through 10
women's outfits in America; why it is important to dress professionally;
Distinguishing between professional clothes and casual clothes” in business.
According
to Ms. Ngoc, firstly, women's outfits in the US go along with the three waves
of feminism in the world. 10 female outfits from Molly Greenberg's 2017 indicate
how feminist development has changed over the past 100 years. Women's clothing
has played an important role in each feminism wave and is directly related to
the gender roles of women in society and changes in social history around the
world.
Before the first wave of feminism, women were still confined,
limited in their rights, needs and style of dress. Especially, in the third
wave of feminism, women enjoyed the improvement of their social status, such as
more financially independent, more intellectual. Women’s rights and needs has recently
been fulfilled more and more equal in law and society. And because of that,
women's wear has also shown the position, freedom, comfort, and rights in their
own style.
Turning
to the second important point, Ms. Ngoc emphasized "Why do we dress pofessionally
important in the office environment?". Dressing is easy, but in fact, it
is not. Many people dress fancy clothes to work and this is not necessarily
suitable. Simple as that. Dressing is important because it will make a first
impression on the other person. We often have only one chance to make impression
on others. According to research, within the first 30 seconds, people will judge
individual based on five characteristics such as economic status, education
level, social status, level of sophistication, and level of success. At the
same time, dressing professionally when going to interview or work is also a
way for us to "sell ourselves". The costumes are the first thing
those around them see when they greet us. Therefore, no one wants to lose
points in the eyes of others.
The
last part of topic one, "How to distinguish between business professional
and business casual?", Ms. Ngoc gave three simple points. First, everyone
has the right to dress whatever they like. But it is important to dress
appropriately, for the right role, right culture, right context, right place,
right place, right time, right person. Second, if you do not know how to dress
or are confused in how to dress when working, please dress in the “conservative
style”. Third, you can call HR department to ask about the dress code, or go to
the company or organization to observe their staff in order to know how to
dress. Each of us should be careful because we often do not get a second chance
to impress the other person.
Switching
to the second topic, "Building Personal Brand", Mr. Chanh emphasized
five important points, including: 1. Appearance, 2. Knowledge, 3. Attitude and
morality, 4. Core values, and 5. Distinctive characteristics. According to Mr.
Chanh, building a good personal image takes a lot of time and is a process. HSU
students should start right here, right now.
Students
often pay little attention to their appearance, some of them wear flip flops to
school. They should build their own image and brand, so they need to pay more
attention in every action and dress because everything they show can be seen,
but if they cannot take care of themselves then who dares to employ them. Our
behavior, gestures, attitudes, and words are a "brand" of ourselves in
the eyes of others.
Besides
appearances, knowledge needs to accumulate over a long process. Learning the theory
is not enough, they need practice. When practicing, it is necessary to make a
difference. Sometimes the employer is not interested in a degree but the skills
first, for example, “I learn to make bread, then invite me to make bread for them
to see. If I can't make bread, they can't
hire me.” In this case, we can't say that we don't know how to make bread, but the
degree is good.
Qualifications
with good grades due to just doing homework in class sometimes don’t matter to
employers. So, learning theory must go hand in hand with practice to have real
skills and get things done right away. To do this, students also need to
participate in many team activities, participate in extracurricular activities,
volunteer activities, go to workshops, talk shows, seminars to learn more. In
the end, each student needs to be different from others, need to have specific talents,
have their own interests and write on a CV, and sometimes get hired thanks to
these individual talents.
Finally,
there was a lively and exciting discussion section on gender equality and
gender inequality through sexual harassment, victim blaming, women's rights,
judgments, gender stereotypes about men's and women's clothing. The audience
members asked about 10 questions and also discussed it back and forth between
the speakers and the audience. The whole group creates an interactive
atmosphere, multidimensional views, fun and lots of refreshing laughter.
Everyone parted and left with anticipation of the next Gender Talk #8.
FEEDBACK FROM AUDIENCE ABOUT GENDER TALK #7
Nguyen Quynh Anh – HSU Student: "After attending
Gender Talk # 7 by Ms. Doan Thi Ngoc and Mr. Ho Trung Chanh, I feel that this
seminar is very interesting. With the enthusiasm and inspiration of Ms. Doan
Thi Ngoc and Ho Trung Chanh, I left with the impression on how to dress
professionally and build a personal image. I learned that dressing
professionally makes the first impression on the opposite person and will be
the first image that other people or employers will see us and because dressing
is also the way I advertise and create my own brand. At the same time, I also
learned the difference between professional dress style and business casual
clothes, how to dress appropriately at work or in daily life. And to build a
good personal image takes a long time along with many other factors such as
appearance, language, skills, ability, attitude. Speakers’ sharing helped me
understand more about how important dress style and personal image building
are. In addition, at the end of the seminar, there were Q&A discussion that
helped me to better understand, raise awareness and have a multi-dimensional
perspective on Gender and Gender Equality along with professional dressing and
image building.”
Nguyen Tram Anh - HSU student of Social Work class: "I find Gender
Talk # 7 HSU very interesting and I have gained a more multidimensional view on
gender equality issue. With the first topic presented by Ms. Ngoc, she gave a
very enthusiastic presentation on the topic of Professional Dressing through 3
contents. Firstly, I think this is a very good content. Because before, I did
not think that fashion and the history of fashion could hide both the history
of feminism in the world as well as the process of claiming for equality of the
women. Secondly, why is it important to dress professionally? I have gained a
lot of knowledge here that before I was so vague about it. Now I know that
professional dress at work is very important because it makes a first good impression.
Within 30 seconds, people will have 5 impressions about us. Within 4 minutes,
people will judge it by apprearance and may qualities: honesty, compassion, trustworthiness,
intelligence, competence, humility, friendliness, confidence. And so, the way
we dress is the way that we are "branding for ourselves.” The third
content is the content that gives me a lot of new knowledge, because in the
past I did not know that when I went to work, there were dress codes, even for
the smallest things like the height of the shoes. The length of the tie or the
way to button the vest.
The
presentation of Mr. Chanh also helped me realize the importance of building my
image. I have to pay more attention in all my actions, and the way I dress because
at the present, every of my behaviors, gestures are a "brand" of
myself in the eyes of others.
In
addition, I feel that the Q&A discussion part of Gender Talk is also very
interesting and extremely practical. It touches on the familiarity that I and
everyone encounter. I especially am interested in the discussion about why
women are judged more harshly than men in terms of dress, as well as the deeper
reason for our parents' constant reminding, controlling the children's dress,
through which I also recognize a part of gender inequality.
I
was really impressed with the question of whether women in revealing or erotic
clothing are the reason, the source of men sexual harassing them? I also had a
lot of my own thoughts on this matter. In my opinion, the way to dress for each
a person in general, and a woman in particular is their freedom, because it is
their right and as long as they do not adversely affect those around them. No
one has the right to invade the right to choose their own style, just as no one
has the right to touch another person's body without permission. The way women dress
sexy is just how they beautify or express themselves. It does not mean that
they invite others to evaluate or abuse their body. The fact that a lot of
women are violated by men is not because they are overly erotic, making the man
unable to control his desire, but the fault is that the man has no
self-control, and I think this is partly because the inequality between men and
women makes men think that women must dress discreetly, while revealing means
that they are inviting and seducing men, so they think they have the right to
violate someone else's body. Because if we say that dress revealingly is the
reason for sexual abuse, we should have heard a lot of cases of sexual abuse of
homosexual people (lesbian) because they are also attracted to women. But no,
most sexual abuse cases involve male perpetrators. So we must ask the question,
is the cause come from revealing clothes? Or is it because men give themselves
the right to violate women?
Besides,
I learned about the Bundy Museum's exhibition “What were you wearing”. This
exhibition is special because what it shows the audience is not art, but the
naked truth about sexual abuse. The "works" here are the clothes of
people who have been sexually abused, both men and women of all ages, and from
what I observe there are many and most of the clothes here are very discreet,
very casual clothes, some are so tight that they do not reveal any part of the
body other than the neck, there are even children's pajamas, innocent skirts.
And then, I asked myself: Is there anything erotic about these clothes? Can
these clothes make a person lose control? And can it explain that making the
perpetrators of sexual abuse just "momentary instinctive"? When I saw
the pictures and information about this exhibition, I felt quite shocked and
surprised, but at the same time, I also realized that being sexually assaulted
was not the victim's fault, it was not the way they dress or behave, it's the
perpetrator's loss of humanity, and we can't blame the victim because how they
dress is not a reason for others to violate their human rights.
After
hearing about gender equality, I also remembered that recently, there was a
petition that high school boys should wear ao dai when going to school. And
then there was a lot of controversy over whether that was a good thing. I have
seen many opinions that guys wearing ao dai are uncomfortable, entangled,
inconvenient because boys have to run and play while the weather is very hot.
Not to mention, many people worry about funding issues when sewing an ao dai
just to wear on the second day. However, if looking at the opposite aspect, the
girls have preserved the tradition of wearing ao dai for quite a long time and
become a school culture. There are also some girls who like to play, like to
run and jump, many female students are willing to tie up the ao dai to
participate in sports activities, why can't male students do the same? In
addition, many people believe that the personal hygiene of women is "more
difficult" because of the gender factor, but female students can still
wear ao dai. I did not think much about this issue, however, after attending
the Gender Talk, I suddenly remembered this issue and realized that deep down
in this controversy there is probably an inequality in gender. Because although
wearing ao dai is probably a lot more inconvenient for girls for biological
reasons every month, and you also have to pay a lot of expenses, but girls have
kept this tradition for a long time and everyone praise the high school girl
wearing ao dai as a traditional beauty that needs to be preserved. But when
someone suggested that the male student wear ao dai, which I felt was very
good, very beautiful and was a way to preserve the traditions of our country,
people broke out such a big controversy, and a lot of people, mostly male
students, have given many justifications for boys not to wear ao dai. And I ask
myself why when a female student is obliged to wear traditional ao dai every
day, no one would object or give such reasons? But only when this was being
imposed on male students did people break out such controversies. Are men
always more privileged than the weaker gender, even in their dress?
Gender
Talk # 7 left me not only with a lot of knowledge, but also left me with lots
of reflection on life and gender inequality that I did not pay attention to
before. I would like to thank the teachers and staffs together with everyone in
the organizing commitee for creating such an enthusiastic, exciting and helpful
discussion, helping our students to have a more multi-dimensional view of life.
I hope to be able to attend the next Gender Talk on the topic of Vietnamese
brides in Korea so that I can learn more new things and in a more objective way".
Pham Thi Kim Uyen – student from HSU: "Today I want
to send to the organizers some of the things I like most at Gender Talk # 7. I
personally feel very happy very proud of being a student of Ms. Ngoc. She is
the most modern-thinking lecturer that I have ever met. She discussed the most
painful issue in society today which is gender inequality. Before, women were thought
to be on the weaker side and people always thought that women were both
physically weak and has low social positions. Long ago, women have to bear on the
rules ò three subordinations and four virtues themselves. The way
they dress must always be discreet and they have to pay too much attention to
the eyes of others looking at them. Inequality between men and women exists in
a male-dominated society, I realize that women suffer too much injustice when
only taking into account the role of women, regardless of their position in
society. Until now, they always see the role of a woman is to give birth, take
care of children, do housework, … but seems to have forgotten that deep down
inside the women there is always a hidden power such as: ability, will and
confidence able to help society. Or when looking at the appearance to judge a
person, they always look at their hair, clothes or even beauty to judge the
person and her personality. Today, people don’t use the word "weaker
sex" to talk about women, they instead use the words "beauty" or
even "women of steel", because modern women mean fighting, standing
up for their rights. However, the idea of patriarchy has existed for thousands
of years, so it's very difficult to completely eradicate that thought, so I am
very grateful to speakers like Ms. Ngoc, who have brought so many lessons and
knowledge for everyone at the seminar, and especially the men present in the conference
will appreciate the women around them.
Next,
I would like to talk about the topic that Ms. Ngoc also brought to me which is
the right way to dress. This is an issue I also need to learn a lot, and after
going to the Gender Talk, I understand and know a lot more. For example, what
is the style of dress when going to school, going to the office, going to the
movies, supermarket, going out in a suitable way. And my favorite is that when
you talk about not wearing high heel shoes that should not be more than three cm
and having to cover the tip, or the way a man's tie is tied. I really felt that
it was worth attending the Gender Talk.
I
would like to continue with my feelings about Mr. Ho Trung Chanh’’s topic
"who are you?", How to discover yourself. Each of us should try to
make ourselves different, just do what we like, try to study and work seriously
so that we can build our image. I personally love it when I know that every day
I work harder, more confident, more daring and that become one of the ways I
can build my personal image. Of course, each of us needs to learn the theory to
have more knowledge and skills, but in conjunction with learning, there must be
practice. And a saying from Mr. Chanh that I really like is "Are you sure
a good classmate is better than the classmates who participate in many
extracurricular activities, talk shows" from which I learned the lesson
for yourself that is to try to be active, don't just take knowledge from theory
but also take knowledge from action. If you learn a language, develop that
language. If you have any talent, develop that talent, if you have any skills,
develop that skill. No one knows me because I haven’t yet to build my own
image. Last words, I would like to thank Ms. Ngoc and Mr. Chanh for giving me
useful knowledge and lessons. Thank you, Ms. Ngoc, for passing on the fire,
transmitting energy to me so much, I wish you a lot of health and joy, and
success in the career of planting people ".
Nguyen Thi My Hien - Student HSU: "Gender Talk #
7 is a very practical and useful academic activity for a student like me. I’m fascinated
of the topic of Gender Talk, through which, I acquire a more multi-dimensional
view on gender equality. In the first part, Ms. Ngoc presented 100 years of
feminist history through 10 women's outfits. I think this is a fairly new and
unique content because she has used the history of fashion to share the
development in dressing as well as the process of demanding gender equality in
society.
In
the second part: "Why is professional dress important", I opened up
to my understanding that used to be very vague before. I know that
professionally dressed at work is very important because it makes the first
impression on the other party the first time they meet. However, the first
impression is very difficult to fade. So, if we take care of our appearance,
the other party will have a friendly impression of us. But if we neglect our
appearance, it will make a bad impression later on. Within 30 seconds, people
will make 5 evaluations about us, and those evaluations include: economic
status, education level, social status, level of sophistication and level of
success. Within 4 minutes, people will give assessment of: honesty, compassion,
trustworthiness, intelligence, competence, humility, friendliness, confidence.
And so, the way we dress is the way we are "advertising or branding"
for ourselves. Finally, the third part is the content that gives me a lot of
new knowledge, because in the past I did not know how to dress properly in
places like the workplace environment. Thanks to you, I was enlightened that I
have to be presentable starting from smallest things like the height of the
shoe, the length of the tie or the way to button the vest.
The
presentation of Mr. Chanh also helped me to realize the importance of branding personal
image. It helps me to realize that I myself have to pay more attention to how I
dress, because nowadays, all my behaviors and gestures are a brand in other
people's eyes.
In
addition, I feel that the Q&A discussion at the end of Gender Talk is very
interesting and meaningful, and the questions are very profound and close to
us. I confess that I find it essential in a talk show, very practical and
allows each audience to share their personal views. Everyone can discuss the
everyday problems we face together. And Gender Talk has become a welcoming
space for sharing and discussion. I especially enjoyed the discussion about why
women are judged more rigorously than men in terms of dress, as well as the
deeper reasons for our parents giving advice and controlling children's dress.
Thereby, I also recognize a part of gender inequality, from the smallest things
such as dress, behavior, attitude, and manners, it seems that a woman always
has to be discreet, shy and must always "keep it to themselves" in
all situations, they must always be careful and can be scrutinized by people
around a lot.
Finally,
Gender Talk # 7 left me not only with a lot of knowledge but also left me with
a lot of reflection on life and gender inequality that I did not think about
before. Because time does not allow so I have to leave reluctantly without
being able to fully attend, I'm very sorry! Gender Talk is an academic activity
that can be said to be very useful, practical and knowledge-enhancing for Hoa
Sen students and possibly many other students from other schools. Gender Talk
shares stories I have never heard and asked about. Gender Talk covers both
academic knowledge and practical stories. It can be said that this talk show is
the place that inspires everyone, especially HSU students, to raise awareness
about gender equality and promote a civilized, developed and enduring society.
I would like to thank the organizers and Ms. Ngoc and Mr. Chanh for creating a
"burning passionate" discussion as the MC said. Honestly, the talk
show that day was also the first talk show that I attended at Hoa Sen
University. A very enthusiastic and exciting discussion, very helpful, it
helped us to have a more multi-dimensional and deeper view in life. I really
hope to be able to participate in similar talk shows presented by Ms. Ngoc. I
think the other students have the same expectations as me ".
Ho Ngoc Phuong Ly – HSU Student: "My feeling
about Gender Talk is fun, comfortable, meaningful and useful. Ms. Ngoc gave a
lot of vivid pictures and specific examples which helped me understand the
problems that we face in out lives. Ms. Ngoc facilitated us to ask questions
and answer them thoroughly. After the talk show, I learned what it means to
dress professionally and why it is important, 100 feminist histories are
explained through 10 women's outfits to understand women’roles and statuses in
society ... as well as how to impress the recruiter or the people around by the
first impression. The knowledge combined with the discussions in the lsecon
section is great and given me a lot of practical knowledge that I can use in my
life.”
Huynh Mach Nha Ky: HSU student-Social Work Class: "After
attending the Gender Talk by Ms. Ngoc and Mr. Ho Trung Chanh, I’m fascinated
because this is the first talk show that I attended. Thanks to the impressions
from the talk, this shows that I will continue to participate in the next talk
shows to equip me with more knowledge as well as gaining experiences and ideas
from everyone. I have learned how to dress professionally at work, how to dress
when going out, going shopping and how to act to be a professional through your
detailed explanation and description. Thanks to attending the Gender Talk, I
have learned professional fashion knowledge, from which I will build my
personal image professionally. Thank you for sharing your passion and useful
experiences and knowledge with me. I sincerely thank you! ".
Giang Nha Linh: "Through the Gender Talk about professional dress and
personal image building, I felt it was very interesting and helpful. Through
the talk show, I have come to understand how to dress for the right situation
and time to impress others. Besides, I know more about the importance of
building my own image. Each person needs to make changes from the smallest
thing because it makes big impact as Ngoc said. With the extremely detailed,
profound and humorous presentations from the two teachers, they change my
opinion on how to dress. In the past, I thought that I could dress whatever I
want, but after this I need to rethink and be careful about what I put on. I
learned that the way of dress and our personal image are also just as important
as other factors because others' first impressions of me are hard to fade,
forget or change.Through the Gender Talk, I have gained more experiences than I
think and that is a very necessary part for me to go to working society in the
future.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan shared - Gender Talk # 7 is an interesting academic
activity at HSU. I attended the Gender Talk for the first time. Presentation is
very practical and necessary not only for students but for anyone who has the
desire to improve themselves. As for the story of how to dress: Everyone thinks
it's simple, but it's not that simple if you want to become a professional and polite
person in the eyes of those around. More importantly, the contents of Gender,
gender equality, or human rights, ... have been naturally and skillfully
integrated into presentations, shared stories, and questions from the audience.
At first I thought this might be dry issues, but it is turned out fantastic and
go beyond my expectations via every topic.
Ly Thi Kim Phung: On the topic of 'Dressing professionally' by Ms. Ngoc: I feel
that you lead everyone with a gentle, humorous but sometimes rigid way of
speaking in unqual issues of male and female power. I learned how to use
clothes properly in the working professional environment and this will help me
improve myself and help me in my future career. On the topic of 'Personal
branding' by Mr. Chanh: I also see that you have a humorous way of talking,
hilarious, he gave specific examples of famous people so people could
understand what it is to build an image how important it is. Both topics are
aimed at improving and developing the image of each individual to everyone, and
that will create a good impression and a professional manner for us in the
future. I feel both topics are very useful and interesting. I hope both
teachers will continue to carry out more activities like this with many
attractive and practical topics in life".
By Doan T. Ngoc
Translated by Nguyen N. Huy Hoang
