Girl Power!

Feminism.

Something of a controversial word.

Feminism means the "theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes."

I think that as we close out the first decade of the 21st century, everyone agrees in principal that women deserve "equal rights."  It's just that we all seem to have different ideas of what that means or the means toward that equality.

I am a feminist.  I used to not like to use that word to describe myself because of the negative implications.  Some people don't like feminists -- for some good reasons and some not-so-good reasons, I think.  Feminists of the past -- of my 1970-80s childhood memories, anyway -- seemed less pro-woman and more anti-man.  They countered misogyny with misandry.  They were hard and they were angry.  But, in ways, they had to be.  These were radical times and the world wasn't made for women who wanted more than to be homemakers.  Maybe they felt that they had to be aggressive in order to be heard.

Still, I think it left a bad taste in everybody's mouth for the word feminist, even for some women.

But there is no doubting that I would not be where I am now without the hard work and sacrifice of those women.  And probably their anger too.

There's no doubt that I believe that women should have equal pay, equal access to work, and equal status to men.  And we're getting there, I think.  I believe that women are as capable as men in all areas except, perhaps, physical strength.

And there's also no doubt that I have entered a traditionally "male" profession at a time when it is still dominated by men.  It's changing right before my eyes -- female law school graduates have out-numbered male law school graduates since, at least, the mid-90's -- but the dudes, the older dudes, still dominate the legal profession today.

There's something that I've noticed recently about the younger women of my profession.  A lot of the younger ladies are dressing pretty darned sexy.  There's cleavage.  Some of them will even let you get a peak of their very pretty bras.  There are tight pencil skirts.  There are super high heels with a slight platform sole.  There's a lot of make-up and, especially, red lipstick.  Take a look at this website to get an idea of what I mean.

The 20-somethings are bringing sexy back to the workplace.  I wonder if this is a consequence of the female graduates out-numbering the male graduates for the past approximately 15 years.  Maybe their numbers make them feel more comfortable being a little racy.

Still, I and many of my late-30-something-early-40-something female peers find this development a little disturbing.

Whereas my generation has, by and large, rejected the "bra burner/man-hater" brand of feminism, I think we all feel somewhat uncomfortable with the new sexy female professional.  We middle-aged gals like to be stylish.  We like to be pretty.  We even, and perhaps especially, like to be feminine.  But not sexy, not at the office.  No way.

I think that, fundamentally, we feel that a sexy appearance means that you are less likely to be taken seriously by your peers.  And, too, and maybe as a result of that feeling, we do not take a sexy woman in the office as seriously as we do a more conservatively dressed woman.

Is this fair?  Why should a sexy woman be any less of a lawyer than a mutely-attractive one?  Maybe these young women are pushing that boundary and are really getting to the heart of feminism:  it's not about what you look like, it's about what's inside your head.

But I kinda don't believe that.

Nah, I really don't believe that.

It's always going to be, a tiny bit, about what you look like.  Older guys command more respect than younger guys.  Guys dressed in nicely tailored suits get more respect than schlubby guys.  It's no different for women.  So this phenomenon of the sexy female professional baffles me.  Where did feminism make this crazy left turn?  Did we do something wrong?

I recently heard a new phrase:  "erotic capital."  This is what is really at work, here . . . in overdrive.

Catherine Hakim wrote about erotic capital in reference to the very attractive and stylish Christine Lagarde, the new head of the International Monetary Fund in this Wall Street Journal article (and discussed the concept of erotic capital at length in her book).  She said,

"Ms. Lagarde possesses an abundance of what I call 'erotic capital,' and she has used it knowingly and to great advantage.

"Women in the U.S., Britain and other outposts of the Anglo-Saxon world tend, by contrast, to resist the idea that their physical appearance should matter to their professional advancement. In our age of feminism and meritocracy, women who emphasize their looks are thought to be superficial; it somehow seems like cheating.

"But do we have this all wrong?

Beauty is not limited to supermodels and A-list celebrities. It can be achieved by wearing flattering styles, getting in shape, improving posture and putting some effort into choosing clothing and hairstyles."

But, to me, all Ms. Hakim is talking about is all we middle-aged ladies are already doing.  Ms. Lagarde isn't erotic; she's stylish and fit.  Perhaps she is unique for her age cohort (but I'm not even so sure about that).  Christine Lagarde isn't sexy, she's attractive.  She looks like this.  Not like this.

Now, granted, Lagarde is probably 30 to 40 years older than the DFW Law Lady (her name is Melissa Dubose, by the way, and she appears to have a thriving criminal practice), but so is Sophia Loren.

There's something fundamentally different going on with the younger professional women that I occasionally see around downtown Dallas than what Christine Lagarde is employing.  Is this sexier image merely an extension of the muted femininity of Lagarde and of women of my generation?  Is it something else?  Is it merely good advertising?  If it is good advertising, what, exactly, are they selling?  Is it costing the younger professional women anything to be sexy?  If it is good advertising, is that okay with the Sisterhood if these young women actually achieving success looking like the DFW Law Lady?  If it's not okay, how is getting clients because you're kind of hot any different from getting clients because you're a guy in an expensive suit with gray at his temple?  And why do I, nevertheless, sort of look down on it and reject it?  Am I an ageist snob?  Are these young women asserting some form of female power that we, the slightly older generation, are a little too timid to tap into in the workplace?

I don't have any answers.  Only questions and one observation:

Feminism isn't universal and it isn't easy.