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I wonder about the value in preserving Workplace status quo. Isn't there harm in it? The question is inspired by my experience with the question here, "Is being casual unprofessional?" My sensible answer was derided and then deleted: "Trousers for men are the dumbest taboo there is. Skirts are way more sensible and comfortable. So I suggest wearing a skirt to impress potential clients with your innovativeness." Is being casual unprofessional?

My answer is serious and I think quite worthwhile. In West European culture from ancient Rome to the French Revolution trousers were unheard of and skirts were normal. Pants were introduced as part of violent protests by working class. They were useful and ubiquitous as horseback riding became normal. Skirts for men are still normal for non-westernized cultures. T-shirts and jeans, unheard of for professionals until a few years ago, are now normal. Clothing designers, retailers, and websites, are seriously promoting skirts for men. Why is this website being so drastically conservative as to delete my suggestion??

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    Are you sure your response was deleted as opposed to moved to chat? Also how is this related to the workplace? Sounds more like a rant.
    – Dan
    Aug 19, 2016 at 17:48
  • My question is not a complaint. It is questioning apparently heroic efforts to preserve staus quo in the workplace.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 18:12
  • My question is not asking how people would react to me wearing a skirt. I already know that real workplace reaction to me wearing a skirt is very positive. It honestly questions heroic efforts to preserve status quo.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 18:25
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    And therein lies the issue. The real workplace reaction to a man wearing a skirt is most definitely not "very positive", and your refusal to even acknowledge the possibility that you might be wrong makes it difficult for anyone to take you seriously.
    – David K
    Aug 19, 2016 at 18:35
  • @DavidK Not all workplaces are created equal. xmarksthescot.com/forum/f100/wearing-kilt-work-33276
    – Lumberjack
    Aug 19, 2016 at 19:16
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    @Lumberjack I don't mean to say that the reaction will always be decidedly negative or that there don't exist ways to professionally pull off a skirt/kilt, but the blanket statement that the reaction will definitely be very positive is most certainly not correct.
    – David K
    Aug 19, 2016 at 19:21
  • Possible duplicate of Does 'back it up' apply 'round here?
    – gnat
    Aug 19, 2016 at 20:26
  • Dear David K, I am not wrong in my personal experience. I may be wrong somewhere in my understandings of history or whatever. It would be interesting for anyone to share any evidence of my being wrong. A few years ago wearing cutoffs would be scandalous. Now it appears to be universal except for salesmen. Various evidence suggests that in a few years skirts will be somewhat universal except for salesmen.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 20:40
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    @tamroi then you should present that evidence. We expect answers to back up what they say, not just assert things. (And, informally, the more outlandish the claim, the more important it is to back it up.)
    – Monica Cellio
    Aug 19, 2016 at 23:01
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    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Always. Everywhere.
    – keshlam
    Aug 20, 2016 at 4:23
  • "Clothing designers, retailers, and websites, are seriously promoting skirts for men." - they are? for work? In England? Your "sensible" answer was deleted. Do you consider this a "sensible" question, or are you just trolling? Have fun either way.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Aug 20, 2016 at 17:15
  • Do you folks realize we're being trolled? It's this guy under a new account. workplace.stackexchange.com/users/48356/…
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 22, 2016 at 12:15

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Your answer was deleted from community review queues, designed to allow community moderation - this is the link to the review queue.

Note that all six users voted to delete it.

Stack Exchange is not a discussion board. It is a Q/A site.

Some thoughts as to why people unilaterally deleted your answer:

  • The question has nothing to do with "what should I wear"
  • Your answer makes fairly... non-standard claims without attempting to explain them
    • "Skirts are way more sensible and comfortable"
    • "Trousers for men are the dumbest taboo there is"
  • Your answer does not attempt to explain why it is correct
    • This should also explain why the above claims, regarding sensibility of wearing a skirt, apply in England

Ignoring the first two bullets, the last is pretty fundamentally a problem with the answer that makes it not fit the Stack Exchange model. gnat's comment on the deleted answer summarizes this well:

without an explanation, this answer may become useless in case if someone else posts an opposite opinion. For example, if someone posts a claim like "Trousers for men are the smartest taboo there is. Skirts are way less sensible and comfortable. So I suggest to avoid wearing a skirt to impress potential clients with your innovativeness.", how would this answer help reader to pick of two opposing opinions? Consider editing it into a better shape, to meet How To Answer guidelines

If your answer is serious and edited to address these concerns, I suspect you would find community support in undeleting it. However, given the first - that it doesn't answer the actual question - requires a fair bit of edit.

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    As one of the 6 to delete it, I concur with this and would do so again.
    – Chris E
    Aug 19, 2016 at 18:39
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    +1, thank you for this answer. It completely addresses why the answer was deleted without getting bogged down by whether skirts are appropriate attire or not.
    – David K
    Aug 19, 2016 at 18:39
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    I think that we're seeing a sock-puppet account workplace.stackexchange.com/users/48356/…
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 19, 2016 at 19:49
  • Let me try to clarify. I work with GNU, FSF, consumer techie service, web design, and Google. Non-usual dressing in these jobs is a plus. Try it. This is the type of job that "Is being casual unprofessional?" seemed to be asking about. I have never sought a sales job. I suspect that is different, perhaps more like hotel doorman, and requires a kind of uniform.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 21:53
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    @tamroi do you live in England? Are you 17? Do you freelance with more traditional clients (which are the majority of companies)? Does wearing a skirt imbue you with a magical ability to know how to act around the clients (which was the OPs actual question)? And why are you assuming the OP is male? Your answer addresses none of this.
    – enderland
    Aug 19, 2016 at 22:19
  • You say my "answer makes fairly.non-standard claims without attempting to explain them". I will try: "Skirts are way more sensible and comfortable" than trousers partly because there is no rubbing of the inner thighs and genitals. "Trousers for men are the dumbest taboo there is" because of its wide spread, only current, and the previous answer. I do not understand and can not answer the third bullet statement about England. I am willing to try to answer any further questioning.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 22:34
  • @tamroi "Trousers for men" is not a taboo... it's de rigueur... If anything "skirts for men" is the taboo. So even your text doesn't make sense. A "taboo" is a thing that you are discouraged or prohibited by your culture from doing. As far as I know, no Western culture prohibits men from wearing trousers.
    – Catija
    Aug 19, 2016 at 22:39
  • Dear enderland. I do not know England. I am mature and experienced. I do not know whether you regard the clients I cite as traditional. My guess is that sales versus non-sales is the clincher. Yes, I think wearing a skirt does imbue me with a cutting edge appeal. I am not assuming any gender. I am hetero male with a beard. Skirts are presumably also fine for non-males.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 22:56
  • Dear Catija, Thanks for correcting my semi-grammatical mistake. You are correct that 'taboo' is something socially prohibited. More correct would be 'Skirts for men is the dumbest taboo there is'.
    – user56401
    Aug 19, 2016 at 23:11
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It was a ridiculous answer in terms of the question posed and was quite rightly chucked in the garbage.... I seriously doubt (being kind here) that it was intended to be serious, and you're wasting our time whinging about it on meta.

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    Sorry for the nitpicking, he wasn't whinging about it on meta. He was whinging on the main site, we "helpfully" flagged to migrate his whinging here. ;)
    – Masked Man
    Aug 20, 2016 at 17:12
  • @MaskedMan well done !, how do I upvote that?
    – Kilisi Mod
    Aug 20, 2016 at 19:25

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