NOT kilted at work -- your thoughts, please?

[ChubRock]

And, really don't see that much difference between a wool pleated tartan skirt that a woman can wear to work any day of the week she chooses and a wool pleated tartan kilt - a type of skirt - that a man could wear.

Stand a woman in a wool tartan skirt next to a man in a wool tartan kilt - what's the difference?

Seems a power and control issue over a very tiny thing.

Your milage may vary

Ron

Here, here, now more topless female lifeguards.

[HarborSpringsPiper]

Ain't it a shame though?

At the core is the freedom of females to choose between a wide range of bifurcated or unbifurcated garments in the workplace while some weird convention denies males the same freedom of choice.

Why is it an issue?

Thank you to those men who are bit by bit, step by step, risking in the workplace and helping make kilts a legitimate choice for men in the workplace.

Ron

It is a shame. I used to think we had resolved most of these issues in the 1970s but clearly not. It seems in fact like there has been a backslide on many fronts.

I certainly support the notion that employers have certain rights and expectations when it comes to employee dress and this makes for an area that will always be somewhat murky. I suspect that the discomfort many people have with "different" is the basis of most of the problem, as others have already noted.

Wearing a kilt to work isn't something I see myself doing except for maybe a rather special occasion. It would be impractical for my primary setting, an Emergency Department. I tend to think it would be a distraction for patients in the other, which BTW is also a Community Mental Health organization (makes three of us with ties to CMH in this thread!).
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amendment: I do not mean to imply that I think it would be a distraction for anybody else's situation, just my own.

[Riverkilt]

Hmmm, not sure how we got from a philosophical view of the world and our culture at large to my personal shortcomings.

Thanks for the heads up though. I'll go talk to my AA sponsor about it and see if I do need to do some work.

Ron

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

My response was, “Jim [has a positive response ever started out with one's name like that?], we're really going to be hopping at the exhibit tomorrow. You should wear a polo shirt and slacks.”

Did she mean you would literally be hopping? Because if so, she may have a point. If not, then you should get confrontational if you think she can handle it. There is a professor at the school where I work who I avoid. He really respects people who confront him, assuming of course that you are right. I have had people that get really defensive in those situations (female, if that means anything). Gauge your supervisor and her personality and make a call. Fight or hide, but don't do nothing.

[Phogfan86]

Gauge your supervisor and her personality and make a call. Fight or hide, but don't do nothing.

In that spirit, I plan to hide. I'm headed for Selkirk Forest, like Robert I, to wait for my next opportunity. This isn't a battlefield to die on.

I went out of my way to look professional on Tartan Day and our workplace cultural diversity day. I have St. Andrew's Day in November to do it again. Ultimately, I'd love to propose wearing kilts on casual Fridays, but her quick reaction last week surprised me. I'll bide my time, wear it on St. Andrew's Day and see how it goes over. With all the fall colors, it seems like the perfect time to wear that new SWK Mackenzie weathered.

[Highland Logan]

Around the end of the year, I submitted a proposal to wear my kilt to work twice a year: Tartan Day (April 6) and St. Andrew's Day (November 30). My supervisor and her supervisor both reviewed it and said okay, but it was made very clear that as soon as it became “a distraction” and kept me or anyone else from getting work done, I wouldn't be allowed to anymore.

Ultimately, I'd love to propose wearing kilts on casual Fridays, but her quick reaction last week surprised me.

I think I'm a tad confused. You had some issues at first and worked out a deal to wear it twice a year. Your 2 immediate supervisors agreed. To continue down the road of pestering them you are becoming the distraction they warned you not to become. You have your 2 days, many more than some on the board.. why keep pushing till you have none?

Just something to think about.

Frank

[NewPiperinNY]

After reading this thread, I am thinking that there may be a lack of 'insight' going on. He asked his boss about wearing a kilt to a function that presumably is going to attract a decent amount of attention for the organization. He was told no, but not really given a reason. I would have to believe that if the attention was supposd to be elsewhere, the most prudent course of action was to keep the kilted gentlemen at bay.

As the leader of the organization, I would not want all the attention on one specific person because of what they wear. While unbifurcated garments are great, they are far from mainstream. Depending upon the community, it could become more of a distraction to the event then is necessary. It's not a 'power to the people' sort of issue, it's about being a teamplayer. The answer may have been abrasive, but is that the person's ordinary MO?

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

In that spirit, I plan to hide. I'm headed for Selkirk Forest, like Robert I, to wait for my next opportunity. This isn't a battlefield to die on.

Good plan.

[Merlin]

Wolfhawk is wise beyond his years.
I'm a firefighter so I wear a uniform. During the Scottish festival, the Chief has allowed firefighters attending the event on duty to wear a kilt but on the job...you wear what they say.
We also have a Cultural Awareness day and I plan on being kilted that day also.