Abstract
Gender and social identity rank as high priorities for undergraduate students, putting significant weight on their choice of apparel and accessories. In a university, students must also navigate the pressures of academic disciplines, which have their own norms of appearance and gender. Credibility in a discipline often hinges on one’s ability to conform to those disciplinary standards, but people whose social gender role does not match the gender of their discipline, such as womyn in the sciences or men in gender studies, will find these two forces at odds. This study leverages statistical observations of clothing and accessories to examine how the gender performances of undergraduate students are affected by the gender of their discipline of study. The results go beyond prior work and reveal a depth and complexity to the system of gender influence that challenges simplistic narratives about pressure to conform to disciplinary gender norms.
Recommended Citation
Lockhart, Jeff FCRH '13
(2014)
"Gendered Classrooms and Gendered Attire: Doing Gender on a College Campus,"
The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://research.library.fordham.edu/furj/vol2/iss1/4