What Your Hemline Says About You

“Judgement” a starkly eloquent photo taken by first year university student (Rosea Lake, Capilano University in Vancouver) has received worldwide attention recently. In the wake of several shocking and internationally condemned acts of violence against women, it makes us pause and reconsider the built-in biases we all have.

In a perfect world, you shouldn’t be judged by what you wear, and no woman or man should be on the receiving end of sexual abuse or harassment because of their clothing choices. BUT… the world DOES make assumptions about you from your clothing choices and everybody needs to pay attention to that initial, often subconscious decisions that others make about you before you’ve even opened your mouth or given someone a chance to know about you as a person.

Select your clothing with care for the appropriateness of the situation –  are you going for a job interview, lunch with Grandma, or clubbing with friends? Are you in your own country, where you generally know the standards and expectations, or visiting another country where the cultural norms may be very different? And within a given context (eg, clubbing with friends), recognize that the degree of tightness, shortness, lowness, bagginess, skin showing, etc. does indeed have an impact on how you are perceived in the world, says something about how you expect to be treated, and attracts either the right or the wrong people to you.

Read the full story here:

http://www.therecord.com/whatson/artsentertainment/article/871028–perceptions-of-the-hemline

Photo credit: therecord.com (via Rosea Lake)