ABSTRACT
This chapter uses narrative story as a methodological approach to theorizing a lived experience of sexism in the academy. It investigates notions of "professional dress" through implicit academic dress codes, ultimately arguing that all dress codes are sexist. The chapter offers the idea of "ethical reading" as a methodology to engage with other people—people who write their stories on their bodies and discusses the idea of "feminist microaggressions" as potentially productive spaces. The author posits that while all microaggressions are rooted in moments of unbalanced power, a feminist microaggression might be a moment when we purposefully enact hetero-patriarchal practices in order to call attention to these very same practices. She is able to be subversive in her dress practices because she carry an enormous amount of privilege—she is White, young, middle class, able bodied, and cisgender. Not everyone is able to inhabit the same moments in the same way—this is her concern for her staff.
