Who is todays white-collar man? The world of work has changed radically since The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and other mid-twentieth-century investigations of corporate life and identity. Contemporary jobs are more precarious; casual Friday has become an institution; and telecommuting blurs the divide between workplace and home. Gender expectations have changed; too; with mens bodies increasingly exposed in the media and scrutinized in everyday interactions. In Buttoned Up; based on interviews with dozens of men in three U.S. cities with distinct local dress culturesmdash;New York; San Francisco; and Cincinnatimdash;Erynn Masi de Casanova asks what it means to wear the white collar now. Despite the expansion of menrsquo;s fashion and grooming practices; the decrease in formal dress codes; and the relaxing of traditional ideas about masculinity; white-collar men feel constrained in their choices about how to embody professionalism. They strategically embrace conformity in clothing as a way of maintaining their gender and class privilege. Across categories of race; sexual orientation and occupation; men talk about "blending in" and "looking the part" as they aim to keep their jobs or pursue better ones. These white-collar workersrsquo; accounts show that greater freedom in work dress codes can; ironically; increase menrsquo;s anxiety about getting it wrong and discourage them from experimenting with their dress and appearance.
2015-10-15 2015-10-15File Name: B0176RGTZ4
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