Indeed. It is unfair. So should we not come together and make it understood that a dress code, and a uniform, should be universal?
If there is a school uniform, for example, should it not be open to both genders to choose the parts of the school uniform they wish to wear?
I very much doubt that any woman on here will care overmuch if a man decides to wear high heels, make-up, skirts and dresses. I can assure you that I could not care any less, for one. The abuse these men would face would not come overwhelmingly from (albeit for sure, there would be some, maybe even a lot) a female population. It is not women who would feel sexually threatened by men living in accordance to such preferences.
However, does the fact that men are submitted to restrictive dress codes justify women having to wear, in certain fields of work, clothes that are not adapted to the position they hold, or that are uncomfortable, or that threaten their wellbeing and health? In no way are mandatory high heels, tight and short skirts adapted to any line of work that I can think of. Least of all in the service industry where women and men are expected to be nimble, quick on their toes, mobile and strong. And yet, it is in the service industry that such policies are most applied in. Some women can pull it off, some women are willing to make the sacrifice of their health for aesthetics, but this should at all times remain their personal choice! Not an expected, a demanded norm!
@DokiDokiTsuna has specifically been referring to women's attire and obligatory full make-up. She hasn't attacked men in any way, she just mentioned that men don't need to wear make-up! In some situations, make-up is horribly handicapping. Would you want your surgeon, who has been breathing into her mask for the last five hours, operating on you, to be wearing mandatory make-up? Let me tell you what happens to me when I spend hours behind that mask, I produce hot, moist air that ends up being pushed through the gaps around my nose, right onto my eyes and forehead. What do you think mascara, eyeliner and foundation plus hot, moist air give you? The answer is a blurry view and burning eyes. You wouldn't want your surgeon who's been playing with your heart for the last fives hours to be hindered in performing her job because someone decided she had to wear make-up, right?
So why would you want that for your flight attendant or your waitress? Both of them have to be walking around for 8+ hours, both of them need to offer you service, both of them are sweating to make sure you are comfortable and receiving the service you believe you deserve, often not getting the wage that their hard work deserves, both of them might be constricted by tight skirts or dresses and yet expected to lift and carry heavy loads. Those mandatory high heels are going to destroy their backs, their hips, their knees, their ankles and their feet. That leaky make-up that ends up in the eyes, mingling with sweat day after day, might cause some horrid eye infection. You wouldn't wish that suffering and pain on your worst enemy, trust me.
Shouldn't the desire of some men to wear skirts, dresses, heels and make-up and not be allowed to make men more empathetic to the desire of women not wanting to be forced into restrictive clothing that does not permit them to live up to their potential in the workplace?! That might endanger their health. And who knows, maybe yours. Going back to the flight attendant. I want her to be able to save my sorry ass in a dangerous situation, not break her leg because of her super-tight skirt and her dumb heels.
And I know we have been tiptoeing around this subject and didn't want to touch it because it is sure to cause a shitstorm. I'll have to do it though. When men are forced into tight and constrictive wool dress pants at 40°C, that go so deep up their bums that they feel like they are about to cough out wool, it is done to preserve the illusion of their professionalism, their knowledge, their elegance and self-confidence. When women are forced into high-heels, tight and short skirts and full make-up, it is to give the impression of their sexual availability.
This all goes back to obsolete ideas according to which men are insecure beings driven by their hormones with very little self-control who, to be comfortable, always need to be served by a multitude of sexually available females. And that, as they hold financial power (they did, indeed, all the way into the 70s), these specific insecurities should be satisfied as to get the most money out of them. We, women and men on this thread, don't believe that. At all.
On the contrary, we believe all humans to be efficiency-driven beings, looking for an optimum that will improve the overall state of society where productivity in the workplace is concerned. And as such, we believe that all humans would want those who guarantee a service to be dressed in such a way that makes them efficient, as long as that way is in accordance with the concepts of cleanliness, professionalism and respect.
TLDR: This ain't about who between men and women got it worse. Nor is it about the war of the sexes.