The Standard Male

As almost everyone knows, yesterday was Snowcoming. This is basically a replica of Homecoming, but with "snow". While there are obviously some differences between the two, I noticed that one key aspect remained the same: the attire. Both of these events have people putting on their best blazers, heels, bowties, and more. Our group decided to take pictures at Somerset, as did pretty much every other group that went to Snowcoming. As I looked around at everyone there, though, something stood out to me. Almost every guy there was wearing the same thing, albeit with different colors, while all of the girls there wore an assortment of dresses. This reminded me about something we read in class this week - "There is no Unmarked Woman" by Deborah Tannen. In her writing, Tannen argues that women will always be "marked", or different from the norm, and that men have the option of being marked or unmarked.

However, the more I looked, the more I realized that there were actually many differences in each man's outfit. For example, one person was wearing a plain dark red dress shirt, while another was wearing the same color but with subtle patterns on it. I saw two black jackets, one with a silver collar and one with a red one. This made me realize that in our world today, no one can really be unmarked anymore. Tannen states that all of the men had hair of "standard length", but what is considered "standard"? Two inches? Three inches? Some people may think that standard is a short buzzcut, while others may argue that standard is hair down to your chin. Our society is seeing more and more diversity in the way we dress and present ourselves, so to say that someone is a standard, unmarked, male is no longer a statement that belongs in our ever-changing world anymore.