ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relations between the social and aesthetic aspects of gender and authority. It provides a few glimpses into the history of the suit. The chapter explores some of the challenges that women may face in their encounters with the normative and gendered character of this outfit. Today, the suit is commonly understood to represent a cultural and aesthetic tripwire for women who seek to take up positions for which the suit is the dress code. The chapter discusses the significance of clothes and authority, and the roles played by femininity and masculinity in a symbolic sense. Statoil is a large international oil company, with the Norwegian government as its main shareholder. The chapter also explores the conceptual distinction between 'authority' and 'power', to serve the purposes. The signs and connotations of masculinity can nevertheless be carried by people with gendered bodies – despite the fact that women's consistent masculinization of their attire conflicts with cultural expectations.
