Neuroscience students are sluuuts!

I thought I’d share this amazing (and timely!) email that was sent around to all the students in the Program for Biomedical Sciences.  It comes from a faculty member who saw a problem and had the guts the midriff to address it.

It is summertime in Michigan and sometimes in our excitement over the warm temperatures we forget that when we are at work in the laboratory we need to be professional.  So, I have been asked to say something about appropriate attire in the laboratory.  Your appearance influences how people relate to you, and whether people take you seriously as a scientist.

My bottom line is no ‘cracks’.  To clarify that: no plunging necklines, no midriff or navels showing (undershirts may be worn under the blouse or shirt), and no pants that ride extremely low on the hips.  If you are working with hazardous chemicals, biohazards or radioactivity – no toes cracks either (no sandals, no open toed shoes).  If you get dressed in the morning thinking you are covered and you discover that your clothes have shifted and too much is exposed – put on a lab coat and keep it on while you are in the lab.

And you know what?  This isn’t just about not looking like a whore in lab.  This is a safety concern.

The more exposed skin the greater likelihood of allergies developing from antigen exposure and injury from toxic chemicals.

Duh, everyone knows that’s how allergies work.  They stick to your skin and not to fabrics.  Plus cotton has been show to hold up against virtually all corrosive chemicals.  

Apparently, some graduate students, post docs, undergraduates and select faculty members found this email unwarranted and offensive so thankfully she clarified.

…it was not my intent to make women feel unduly targeted by the guidelines for attire I put forth.  If men were wearing shirts that exposed parts of their chest, crop tops, and/or low slung pants it would be equally inappropriate in the laboratory.  It’s not right for the laboratory on men or women. When a faculty member refrains from scientific interactions because of how a student is attired (and it happens) it is the student who is hurt by the loss of that interaction, not the faculty member.

That’s right.  I’m sick and tired of staring at man-muffin top, hairy man-cleavage and man-midriff, and by sick and tired I mean sick and tired of trying not to stare down your shirt and of being super turned on during meetings.  Hello guys, it’s distracting and makes it really hard for me to concentrate, treat you like a human being, take you seriously and evidently even be willing to talk to you.  

I was wondering just now if maybe it wouldn’t have been such an offensive email if the author had also addressed the cornucopia of male scientists who come to work unbathed, unshaved, in sweatpants, wearing socks with sandals as also wearing potentially unprofessional workplace attire.  At least dressing like a whore requires some time and attention to detail.