Bewitched: Reinterpreting Witch Hunt as a Wizard!

To my students and friends, thank you for playing along—and also keeping an open mind.

One Lesson: In a large cafeteria, people approached me and said they like the wizard outfit. I get it—but I never thought that my consciously female outfit would be reinterpreted. Indeed, I would likely see myself as a wizard. So, not to make too much of this, but a lesson for me is that sex-role conformity is so strong that we reinterpret gender cues and signals to fit our preconceptions.

Another Lesson: No one is hassling me in the men’s room (maybe because they see a wizard), but it is an uncomfortable experience. That’s on me. Wearing a female outfit to a men’s room feels different. My simple point is that UIUC has gender-neutral bathrooms. I like privacy in the first place; but today, dressed with fingernail polish, lipstick and a confirmed witch (not wizard) outfit, I was grateful for the privacy.

Last Lesson for Now: The prompt for today’s dress-up—apart from Halloween— are two employment discrimination cases. A fire fighter was disciplined for dressing like a woman (he was undergoing gender reassignment), and a woman who looked like a “tomboy” was fired from her hotel clerk position because she did not have a gender-conforming appearance.

Both employees had excellent work records—they simply didn’t conform.

My challenge to us: Spend a day (or even a couple of hours) dressing like someone from the other sex. It isn’t easy. And for me, I have to say, whether we look one way or another, it doesn’t matter. Who we are matters, not how much we conform in appearance.

Final note to friends who do not like this: I hear you, but supposing you are a grandma or a grandpa, your granddaughter might want to be an NFL referee (barely a female occupation today), your grandson might want to be a nurse (slowly become more gender-mixed)-- and think back on how surprised you were when you saw your first male flight attendant (speaking for myself, I was surprised). Why should gender appearance matter for most jobs? Let your kids and grandkids pursue their dreams without the unnecessary baggage of gender conformity. Your acceptance is the greatest love you can give.