I was recently in a meeting where I was asked advice on what to wear if you have to dress business professional. To the general audience, I gave my usual reply: If you are a woman you can wear a pencil skirt with a blouse, heels, a nice blazer, and pull your hair up. If you are a man, you can wear a suit, a button up shirt and, if required, a tie. No tennis shoes.

Immediately after I said that, a young lady that was seating on my table protested. She said that my suggestion was completely gender biased and feminized and that I should not be giving out that kind of advice (for the ladies, that is). To which I replied: “Well you should take a Dr. Saba class.” I did not go into a further discussion with her because it was not the time or place to talk about skirts. However, her daring disapproval of my opinion, knowing that I am the president of the one women-only organization on campus, stayed prickling in my head until, well, today. So, in the hopes that she reads this and changes her mind, and at the same time shed some light for everybody else, here is my answer to why a woman should wear a skirt if she has to dress business professional.

To put you in context, Dr. Saba is the Advisor for the Business and Professional Women of Woodbury organization, adjunct faculty for the School of Business at Woodbury University, licensed psychologist, teacher of the year (two years in a row), and a fashion icon. She teaches global enterprise, an international relations class, and she encourages women to wear a skirt whenever they have to dress business professional. In fact, at Woodbury, you have to dress business professional for most of your presentations (at least in the business school). The school’s mission and her class, especially, teach students to be global citizens. We are being taught to conduct business in the global arena, and in the global arena, there are cultures, religions, countries, and laws in these countries, were a woman cannot wear pants. There also are cultures were a skirt too short will be disrespectful, or it is simply not allowed. You never know who you are going to be doing business with, and if you want to do business as a global citizen, you need to be culture rich and understand the importance of each culture’s customs. In order to show respect to these other cultures, you should wear a skirt to your next business meeting. My suggestion was a pencil skirt just because of personal preference, but a regular skirt that is not shorter than 2 inches above your knee can also work. Moreover, it goes without saying that what you pair up the skirt with depends on a variety of factors/ The weather, the environment of the meeting, and how casual the meeting is can influence your top half choices. That said, I always encourage women to cover their shoulders for the same exact reason.

I am not condoning the pants. You can still feel feminine and girly wearing them, and a nice pair of high waisted slacks can hug your beautiful body as much as a pencil skirt can. However, if conducting business in the global arena is not enough of a reason for you, well then let me tell you how incongruent your disapproval of me suggesting a skirt is. As a feminist and leader of a women’s organization, I believe in the equality of the sexes; I believe in breaking the glass ceiling and in being allowed to wear whatever we, women, want. However, we live in a sexist society were women are still patronized and objectified, to the point that wearing a skirt will make you responsible for your own rape. You believe that we should be allowed to wear pants; I also believe that we can wear pants and still look business professional. However, I also believe that we should be allowed to don a skirt and not be blamed if we get raped. There are countless cases in countries like Canada, Italy, and India, and another handful in college campuses were female victims of rape have been and are blamed for their own violation. Their skirts, or dresses, were too provocative, too short, too tight. You are right, my advise on what to wear to a meeting is gender biased because I believe that a woman should be able to wear a skirt and not be stereotyped, underestimated, or raped. I wear a skirt because I want to stand out in a men-dominated world were women get paid 78 cents on the dollar. I wear a skirt because it is as flattering as a pair of trousers. I wear a skirt because I want to conduct business in the global arena. I wear a skirt as a protest to women being raped for wearing a skirt. I wear a skirt because it is not an invitation to rape. My “suggestion” once again, is you should too wear a skirt.