Skintern
In American workplaces, "skintern" is an informal term for a summer intern, usually female, who dresses in clothing more revealing than that which is common for the field in question.[1][2]
The term is a
The phenomenon is sometimes a deliberate sartorial strategy, but more often is believed to result from ignorance of accepted
History
In the mid-2000s, Washington-area media began reporting[8][9] that the congressional staffers who manage the intern programs in the United States House of Representatives complained that while most of the young women showed up for work in the same conservative professional attire that the staffers and members did, some chose more revealing clothing. Chad Pegram, a coordinator of Miami University's intern program, recalls that when he took a group to lunch with one member of the state's congressional delegation, one young woman stood out by wearing "a skirt that was way too short" and flip-flops. "It reflected badly on her because everyone else looked great," he recalled. "She embarrassed herself."[3][6]
Other staffers, many of whom themselves began their careers as interns, reported later that they had seen young women come in for internships wearing "gold
In June 2005, as another group of summer interns began their weeks on Capitol Hill, Betsy Rothstein wrote an article about the phenomenon for The Hill. "We were talking about this at dinner the other night, about how some interns show up in some of the skimpiest clothing," she quoted an unnamed female press secretary as recalling. "One of the boys called them skinterns, which I thought was hilarious."[3]
Another term came from an unidentified "female Republican aide," who claimed she kept and shared a list of "daily offenses" such as young women wearing metallic shoes and handbags as well as wifebeaters. "If you are going to wear stilettos or heels, no complaining about how they hurt. Interns need to learn to walk in them." She continued "My favorite term is the Saturday-night intern, one who always dresses like it is a Saturday night. They are all over."[3]
When the
Four years later, in 2010,
By the middle of the next decade, the skintern phenomenon was no longer limited to Capitol Hill. Articles advising interns on how to dress appeared on popular websites in June, when most internships start. " ... [B]efore long, the annual summer parade of skinterns will begin," wrote Katherine Goldstein, editor of
A 2012 blog post by GlobaLinks Abroad suggested the phenomenon had spread overseas as well. For the organization, Monika Lutz advised young women headed for internships abroad to eschew "
On some issues, sartorial choices of skinterns became accepted for all Hill staffers. In 2014, the
Causes
Some observers think at that least some of the young women whose choices of clothing get them labeled as skinterns are doing so deliberately, in order to stand out from more conservatively dressed colleagues. "Maybe if you can get noticed, you might get a full-time position," Wonkette editor Alex Pareene told ABC News in 2006. Nicole Williams, who coaches women entering the workforce, agrees that in some cases the skintern look is exactly what the wearer intends. "You've got the summer to prove 'I can work here' or 'I can't work here,' so to get noticed, why not?" one intern told Good Morning America.[6]
It has also been suggested that most misattired interns, male or female, are not familiar with
They may also misunderstand what is meant by vague instructions on how to dress. Carol Vellucci, director of the Career Center at the University of Baltimore, told The Baltimore Sun that many students seem to her to think that "dressing up" means wearing outfits they would typically wear to a nightclub or bar. "It seems to be something that especially younger students aren't quite getting," she said.[5]
Interns may also not have the kind of established wardrobe one would expect from an older adult. "These are young men and women, and they can’t be expected to be decked out in
Responses
When the word first started appearing in Congress, many staffers were cautious about counseling the skinterns in their midst on proper dress. "You have to be respectful because chances are they are a donor's kid or a friend of the lawmaker," one male staffer told Rothstein about dealing with interns in general Instead, they often used indirect means, such as
Sometimes more direct pressure has been used. In another incident, a young woman in overly transparent capris was made to stay seated at a desk until the congressman's wife had left the office for the day.[3] Johnson wrote of an intern being given a tie and told to put it on. In another case the other interns staged an "intervention" during the local bar's happy hour after the workday.[13]
In the wake of media attention to the phenomenon, many members of Congress began instituting stricter
Colleges have also been trying to prepare interns ahead of time. At the University of Baltimore, Vellucci teaches a course on "Personal and Professional Skills for Business" which is a requisite for business
In 2014,
Criticism
"I wince every time I hear the term 'skintern'", a pseudonymous female intern complained in a 2010 post on the Feministing blog. Why, she asked, were male interns who dressed inappropriately merely labeled "sloppy", while young women who did were sexualized? "'Slutty' has a very different and much more harmful repercussion for an intern's career than 'sloppy,'" she noted. "As a result, I am sometimes paralyzed in the mornings, worried that that my sweater seat is too tight or my button down is too low cut. I know that just by being a young female intern, I could be considered a 'skintern' regardless of my dress; and, my male co-workers will never worry about being reduced to a 'skintern.'"[7]
She also felt that it needlessly divided women who should be working together:
Furthermore, labeling someone a "skintern" or "that girl" pits aspiring young professional women against each other. Instead of focusing on how to improve our skills and abilities, we focus on how "trashy" she looks and how much "better" we look. In order for us to not be "that girl," some other "skintern" must be there. As Gloria Steinem famously said, "all women are Bunnies," every young woman on the Hill is a "skintern."[7]
Fashion website
Another response to Goldstein's piece took the opposite view. Elissa Strauss asked if Goldstein's sartorial advice was
"I see the logic here," Strauss admitted, recalling how self-conscious she had felt during
A young female intern wearing a miniskirt and very high heels "might be able to convince herself that these fashion choices are truly her own," Strauss wrote. "More likely, she has absorbed the many ways in which porn and strip-club culture have infiltrated mainstream culture—and what she takes for empowerment is really rooted in the commodification and degradation of female sexuality. Somebody needs to tell her this. They also need to tell her that it is way easier to walk in flats."[16]
See also
- Dress for Success, 1970s bestseller about ideal attire in a professional setting
References
- ^ a b Stafford, Diane (June 1, 2014). "Summer often means casual work attire, but don't be a flip-flopper or a 'skintern'". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c Goldstein, Katherine (May 14, 2013). "Don't Be a Skintern. What Not to Wear to Your Summer Internship". Slate. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rothstein, Betsy (June 22, 2005). "The bad rap of Capitol Hill interns". The Hill. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Allison, Julia (September 26, 2006). "Internizing—Like Womanizing. But Younger". Juliaallison.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
The term 'skinterns' has been around for years – they were using that back when I was working on the Hill in 2000-2001.
- ^ a b c d e Rosen, Jill (July 12, 2010). "From booty shorts to belly shirts, some intern fashions make companies cringe". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Canning, Andrea (August 12, 2006). "Skinterns: Shedding Clothes in Hopes of Landing a Job". ABC News. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c "All Young Women on Capitol Hill Are 'Skinterns'". Feministing. February 26, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b Hume, Mike (August 10–16, 2006). "DC Interns Are Hot and Everyone Wants a Piece of Them". Falls Church News-Press. Falls Church, VA. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- ^ Washington Times. July 5, 2006. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ Lutz, Monika (June 22, 2012). "Avoiding the Skin-tern, and other Professional Fashion Crimes". GlobaLinksAbroad. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- Huffington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ^ Yeager, Holly (May 25, 2014). "It's summer in Washington. Don't put your best flip-flop forward". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b Johnson, Jenna (June 28, 2011). "#THATintern: The 'What dress code?' intern". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Korn, Melissa (June 18, 2014). "Where Interns Learn How to Dress". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- ^ Wright, Jennifer (May 15, 2013). "How To Dress Like A "Skintern"". The Gloss. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
External links
- "examples of skintern dressing habits". Pinterest.