Does Looking Sexy Advance Your Career (and even if it does, should you care)?

Bitter Lawyer has a post by a very modest writer known at least to herself as "Law Firm 10" (yes, her nom de plume should give you a sense of where the article is heading) entitled Erin Andrews, Esq.  Erin Andrews, TV sports reporter, is, according to Law Firm 10, a "(reasonably) stylish, non-overweight, attractive woman," and consequently "men love her and, surprisingly, even respect her," which Law Firm 10 credits as the reason that Erin Andrews' "career is blowing up."  Question 1: why do we need men to love and respect us in order for our careers to blow up?  Of course we need respect from our superiors, from the people who make the decisions about who gets promoted and who doesn't, who gets the best assignments and who doesn't, but are all of these superiors men?  They shouldn't be.  Hopefully they aren't.  But even if they are, does it really help women move forward to get ahead by pleasing men the old-fashioned way (you like what you see, throw a great assignment my way, and maybe I'll wear a tight shirt to the meeting and bend over in front of you)?  SERIOUSLY?

Is Long Hair Unprofessional?

I'm not alone in wondering whether chopping your hair off is a prerequisite for a woman's success. From politicians like Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, and Nancy Pelosi to well-known litigators like Jamie Gorelich, Sheila Birnbaum, Amy Schulman, and Maureen Mahoney, short hair is the status quo. Does it have to be that way?

I like my long hair. I've always received compliments on it; I like having the option to curl it or straighten it or put it up; and, I admit it, my long hair makes me feel feminine and attractive. But, is it holding me back?

Susan Ehrlich Martin and Nancy Jurik wrote an interesting book, Doing Justice, Doing Gender, and a whole chapter is devoted to women in the legal profession. The authors note that "by controlling the professional context, men behave in ways that show that other men are taken seriously and accorded respect. Conversely, the way men talk about women and their appearance treats women as invisible, devalues them, and affects their ability to perform effectively." If this is true, then does it make sense that women might try to "blend in" by wearing pants suits and cutting off their hair? Martin and Jurik give the example that if "a judge allows the opposing attorney to label a woman attorney’s appearance a 'distraction,' it signals to others that it is acceptable to use a woman’s looks as the basis for objecting against other women attorneys." So, do successful women attorneys instinctively know that the way to get ahead is to detract from their appearance and is short hair part of that?