Fowl language: Gander Sauce

I couldn't stop the little thrill coursing through my veins. The NY Times printed an article in the Fashion Section about the new cut of skinny suits for men: Slim Suits: the attraction is physical.

It's not that I'm fascinated by what the author called the slow-moving world of men's fashion. Whether paired with pantyhose or a tie, suits are a damned uncomfortable fact of professional life. No, what resonated with me was this comment: The change underscores how influential the more slender, body-conscious man has become to mainstream fashion. Anorexia, bulimia & hair dye, not just for women anymore! The chickens have come home to roost. Finally, men have to craft their bodies as finely as their credentials. Yay, parity!

I feel a little vindicated now that my fellow chubsters are being asked to get it together with the body image, or get out. You see, I'm not the sort of fatty whose prow cuts a broad wake through the food court at the mall. I'm the sort of fatty about whom guys say, I'd ask her out if she weren't so fat. My fatness is only close to the edge of unacceptability, where men are starting to nest as well.

Can you hear the but? The but is that this is a just another form of lowest common denominatorism. Quantity over quality. Charismatic physicality over content legibility.

You see, the chickens have come home to roost.

My friend Bob is a 1st class IT - programmer geek guy. He's unspeakably hot. Tall, well-muscled, thin waist & legs with broad shoulders. Bob dies his hair, to cover the gray. And he's noted the results. He gets consistently more job offers when interviewing with uni-colored locks, than with salt & pepper ones.

I have another friend, Walter. (not that walter, American Walter) He's also a computer techy wizard type. Who just last week didn't get hired (after a trial period) to be IT person at a company that mainly employs women to make products made for women. He did good work, they had no complaints. But they opted to hire an untried woman instead.

This is the but. Discrimination is flourishing, alive and well. It's evolving, becoming more subtle. It's less about race and more about color. It's more about ability to speak the local accent, and less about how much information you can impart. It's more about how similar you are to the hiring party, than about how good you are at what you do, or how motivated you are to do good work and be successful.

I'm starting to think I'd like my Geese unsauced, taken as they are, without being covered up to make them more palatable. This kind of equality just tastes bad.