Do men have to wear a "girdle" now to get a job?
I saw a commercial last night on cable for the "Slim-T," a slimming type "girdle" for men. One man in the commercial remarked that with the job market being so tough, the only way he got the job was the Slim-T. Good grief, who says men don't have to look good to get a job? We always hear from feminists that looks matter for women to move ahead. It seems to be the same for men....It's a hard life out there for men these days.
Watch the commercial and tell me if you would wear a "Slim t-shirt" like this one?
Watch the commercial and tell me if you would wear a "Slim t-shirt" like this one?
posted by Helen at 7:43 AM
22 Comments:
People are desperate for jobs right now. My e-mail is full of requests for help from people who truly would make great employees. They'll do just about anything for a job.
Unfortunately, it's true that fat people will find it more difficult to find a job. Equally unfortunately, the people who would buy this T-shirt won't be helped by it and certainly can't afford an extra $20 on a gimmick.
Evil HR Lady,
Thanks for your insight. I was actually thinking that using the slim-t as a way to obtain a job seemed like a reach, but if it improves a person's confidence, it might help a little.
Given the choice between wearing a Slim-T and having the credentials (education and experience) that I have, I'll choose the credentials every time.
I remember reading some survey result that female interviewers show greater bias in favor of good looking male candidates than the other way round (I am not able to dig up the link). I think this is likely true - while men are turned on by looks far more than women are, they are so frequently castigated for it that they are aware enough to make some attempt at correction. While, feminists even today write stuff like "boring old man" and get away with it. There is less awareness about female biases, and hence less correction for the same.
Helen,
If it will increase confidence, then it's not all bad. The people who it will work the best for, though, are those who aren't that overweight and wouldn't be hurt by the fat=lazy stereotype.
One would think that with the unemployment and underemployment rates so high for so long that the obesity rate in this country would decline. After all, it's not as if people can't use the excuse of not having enough time...
Personally, I'm going for the "losing weight for real" approach. It's not as fast, but it's much more varied in benefits and flexible in application.
I was invited to a company Christmas party over the weekend of a company that is 100% African American. Every single employee was dressed to the nines and there wasn't one fattie in the bunch. It was a very good looking group of people. Like it or not, looks seems to count.
Cham, maybe they were all wearing girdles!
Thag, I am sure there was a girdle or two in that room.
On another note, I'm always fascinated with television commercials. Comedic TV shows often depict people with faults. Charlie Sheen depicts a drunk, Mike and Molly weigh 400 pounds, etc, but commercials often work the other side: People the masses aspire to be.
I love the way TV commercials cast for TV moms. 5 years ago TV moms used to be slightly puffy chunky monkeys. But take a close look at the TV moms of 2010. I draw your attention to the Pillsbury Cinnamon roll commercial(not uploaded to the web yet). The mom can't weigh more than 100 pounds, yet she is serving calorie and preservative filled crud to her family. There is another 100 pound mom out there that is wrapping nitrite-laden hotdogs with crescent roll dough, for a tasty unhealthy treat for her kid. Depressed moms also never weigh over 105 pounds. They pop a few pills and then run outside to throw plastic balls to their kids.
The dads are slimming down as well, although they aren't getting any smarter. No more puffy dads for us. The guy dipping his kid in the liquid sock solution seems healthy, though he's in luck that his wife is smart enough to buy the Hanes sport socks at the store. Papa John has a smirk on his face, he's thin trim and healthy, and serving up his disgusting pizza to the unsuspecting masses. I am pretty sure Papa John doesn't eat his own product.
Women who may or may not be moms are pontificating on the wonders of wrinkle creams. Not only are these ladies not fat, there is not a molecule of puff on their faces. You can bounce a quarter on their cheek. I'm not sure any of them have vacated their 20s yet.
This is the new world order where the TV population looks nothing like reality, although it is a heck of a lot of fun to watch. I laugh I laugh I laugh.
i`m lucky i have my abs still at fifty, but i resist the urge to eat whole pizzas and donuts.
i also play soccer twice a week and throw weights around most days and ride a bike unless there is snow on the ground.
guys would ask me how i did this and so i would tell them and they would go...oh.
now i don`t explain so much.
commercials are designed to make us feel bad. it`s only the upset and depressed that would need to even begin to think that a girdle would actually "work" in any meaningful way to get a job.
if you are happy you don`t buy any of the ridiculous shit that piles up in the mall waiting for your visa card.
I think that is for the babyboomers who never thought age would catch them. First of their loves to die, the saying "Don't trust anyone over 35". It went downhill from there. They are infatuated with a youth many of whom do not even really remember. They lost what they never really enjoyed, and love it in spite of having been so miserable in it that they did everything they could to escape it. Reality, as always, is catching up.
As for me, my paunch is my retirement policy, give or take. Plus, I hate glamboys. Sure, they might look good, but how many of them would survive a serious situation? Looks are indeed deceiving. Many of them are on supplements I would not feed my dog, if I loved it, and a regimen that requires complete support from others. Sort of like male anorexia, that lifestyle. I'll keep my paunch.
No...! All false. I'm just trying to be cheery! :p
This is not all that is required to obtain a job. You have to have excellent social skills.
http://www.n0rm.net/LifeIsntFair.htm
Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
If this is true then why do I need these nebulous, ambigious, and vague social and salesmanship skills to be able to obtain any type of job these days or am I missing something here?
Apparently, based on Chris Matthew's comments about Chris Christie, it is an issue in running for the Presidency. I'd start a fund to buy Christie a supply of these, but something tells me he wouldn't be bothered to wear them.
I would.
In the UK there was a Fashion TV Show where the hosts were always extolling "magic knickers" for making women look good in clothes.
Perhaps that's why I thought that shapewear might help, when I traveled to a conference and then discovered that I'd accidentally brought an old suit with a too-small waist.
I'm not talking "can't get buttoned" too small, just "not fitting quite right" too small.
Since had to walk past a department store to get the the meeting, I thought I'd see if they had anything like this. They did. It made the suit look like it fit, and it made the trousers more comfortable to wear.
And then lots of people who know me at the conference complimented me on how fit I looked.
It made my confidence quite high for that day.
On the one hand, I've lost 100 lbs over the last year, and I know that my boss is more sexually attracted to me than before, so that can't hurt.
On the other hand, I'm self employed.
...oops. Past ** TWO ** years.
Most of the models in the ad are wearing trousers that are too small for them. They'd probably look as good as the "after" photos if they were just wearing the right size clothes to begin with.
Cham said...
I was invited to a company Christmas party over the weekend of a company that is 100% African American.
Just how do they get away with that? If I ran a company that was 100% white, I'd have the EEOC on my ass in a hot minute.
Whoa! Men have always had to "look good" to get a job...at least to get any entry- or low level white collar job. I know it's been that way since at least the 1980's.
Speaking of the 80's, go back in your mind to imagine, say, Al Haig and Lawrence Eagleburger, as we came to know them during the height of their respective careers. Now imagine them as brand new baby lawyers applying to a prestigious law firm for their first job. Say that Eagleburger is somewhat more accomplished academically than Haig, but not by a great margin. Now, you don't think the hiring partners will ignore the difference in academics as insignificant, and choose the razor-sharp-creased, hard-as-steel Haig over the perpetual slob Eagelburger, who always looked as if he was doing his impression of the Pilsbury Doughboy? Of course the "sharp" guy wins: that's even the way he will be referred to by any men involved in the hiring.
Now once you establish...if you establish...your credentials, make your bones and get a rep, then looks are less important, because hirers have something else to go on. And it works that way for women too, for whom killer looks become less important as they establish a record showing what they can do.
Human bias in favor of sexual attractiveness/virility is very real, but it certainly doesn't affect women only.
Not for me unless it were made of some kind of hybrid Spandex-Kevlar with ceramic inserts. And perhaps a chain maille overlay. After all, it is a tough job market out there. *heh*
Call now and we'll include the free testical-constrictor! So natural-looking, no one will even know you have them!
Man-up and lose the weight, guys. I know it's not easy. That's why it's called being a man.
Post a Comment
<< Home