Dress Code

[Daniel Lupo <LUPODJ%PUCAL -dot- BITNET -at- UICVM -dot- UIC -dot- EDU>]

        Like Barry Maid, I, too, am relatively new to this list, have
        been lurking, am an academic, and believe as he does that there
        IS a "rhetoric to issues of dress and culture."

        The research that I am interested in is how writers learn and
        deal with the constraints of the workplace for which they com-
        pose.  One of the constraints that has been identified is the
        physical environment -- location and type of lighting, ergo-
        nomic configuration, access to colleagues, cubicle vs. office, etc.
        Another constraint of the workplace that affects the writing done
        is organizational culture, which includes the policies that both
        explicitly and implicitly constrain what and how we write.  One
        policy we are discussing in this thread is dress code.  It is
        fascinating to hear/read of all the discomfort, anger, frustra-
        tion resulting from these policies.  A recent note on this list
        spoke of a worker who changed his (I *think* it was a he) work
        behavior bears out how organizational culture/policies affect
        us writers.

        I would be interested to hear about other policies imposed by
        your organizations that you feel affects your writing, and in
        what way.  And you may want to send your thoughts to me directly
        or keep this tangent to the dress code thread going publically.

        Dan Lupo, Purdue University Calumet
        Department of English and Philosophy
        Bitnet: LUPODJ -at- PUCAL