If girls rule the world then why are they being so stupid? Case in point; the latest party trend CEOs and Office Hoes.
Women have been fighting for centuries for equal rights, equal pay, and more importantly, equal respect. We’re trying to show our daughters that females can do anything: be President, run a huge corporation, do whatever a man does, not resort to ever using her looks or sexuality to get ahead. That’s why I was shocked at the hottest theme parties these days for college and high school (Yes, high school!) called CEOs and Office Hoes.
Let me explain in case you’re not aware of the trend. The guys dress up in power suits and ties and the girls dress up like a Playboy fantasy story come true. Short skirts, high heels, and an unbuttoned tight shirt with plenty of lingerie and cleavage showing. You can also add a pair of fake glasses, because they make you look, like totally smarter.
Before you think I’m making this up, I defy you to Google the term CEOs and Office Hoes. There are even Pinterest pages set up with helpful costume tips in case you don’t get the whole sexy secretary thing. I don’t know – maybe some of the girls grew up with mothers who were doctors or nuclear scientists and missed out on such misogynistic mindsets. Search the images for it and you will see countless pics of half-naked girls and guys in suits as well as ads for parties celebrating the theme all over the world.
In case you think the theme is being promoted or encouraged purely from a horny male perspective, I assure you it’s not. A popular website for college girls with chapters across North America offers tips like this, “…this party theme plays on common sexual fantasies and is a way of inviting girls to, um, unbutton your shirts. Definitely go to one your freshman year because it’s fun and a great excuse to wear a black bra under a white button down. Pro tips: tight fitting corset, a tiny skirt, stockings and high heels. Be as risqué as you are comfortable with.”
College education at its finest.
I don’t get why teenage girls feel it necessary to sexualize themselves to this degree with everything we’re trying SO hard to teach our daughters about work equality, pay equity, how not be treated like a slut, and how not to act like a bimbo. It promotes the exact mindset woman have been trying to erase for decades.
I found message boards dedicated to the party theme. And some of their posts made me laugh and cry at the same time.
POST: I’m 18. What would you wear to a party themed CEOs and Office Hoes? I want to stand out from the crowd a little bit because most girls will be wearing a collared shirt tucked into a tight bandage skirt with a blazer. Any ideas? Guys what would you like to see a girl wear? Thanks 🙂
COMMENT 1: You could wear black heels, a blouse with only the last two buttons buttoned or if you have big boobs you could show your boobs with a lot of cleavage. And a skirt with glasses. You can’t really wear anything but a skirt so I would change up the top.
COMMENT 2: What kind of freak place do you work at where they are inviting eighteen year olds to a party themed CEOs and Offices Hoes? Sounds like a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. I think the older CEO guys are gonna be taking advantage of you honey. If you don’t want to be ogled by middle aged rich powerful sleazy men I suggest you don’t go. Seems very very odd.
REPLY: Sorry I don’t think I made it clear…I’m still in high school. This isn’t a work party or anything haha.
Good thing she clarified that. I’m sure it made the responder feel so much better. “Oh, you’re only in high school! Then go for it!” Girls, do yourselves a favour, keep your shirts buttoned up. At least while you’re at a party. Susan B. Anthony will thank you later.
How to Say No and Not Feel Bad About It
I wonder what the appeal of this kind of dress-up is? Obviously it’s popular given all the Halloween costumes like “Hot Pikachu” etc.
I hope at least one girl wears a power suit.
This maddens me but also makes me very sad. WHY do girls feel they need to behave is way???
My favourite young woman – hands down – would be the one who assumes she is playing the role of CEO. Perhaps she could bring a teeny executive Zen Garden and use the small gardening tool (an actual – though admittedly tiny – hoe) to arrange the sand to her liking.
This is just so, so, stupid, otherwise.
Malala was shot – in the face – just so she could go to school.
Honestly, these students should be sentenced to a glimpse of real life.
*smh*
When I was in high school, I attended a party like this. When you’re young and stupid with a low self-esteem, these kinds of parties seem like such a good idea because, as a result of dressing up (or down, in this case), you get some sort of validation from boys who are equally as young and equally as (if not more) stupid.
Now that I’m in university and (mostly) past my adolescence, my view on these types of parties has changed enormously. Every invite I get on Facebook seems to be centred on themes that over-sexualize women (e.g. Yoga Hoes and Workout Bros; Pimps and Hoes; GI Joes and Army Hoes) and sometimes men too. It’s exhausting and makes me sick to my stomach.
Then again, maybe these women — and women from all walks of life, older or younger — feel like I did in high school and need their bodies approved by the male gaze, which is really upsetting. But I guess some things from high school really never change.
I agree that the whole theme of the party thing is weird and gross. However, I think the overarching theme of this blog misses the point entirely.
“I don’t get why teenage girls feel it necessary to sexualize themselves to this degree with everything we’re trying SO hard to teach our daughters about work equality, pay equity, how not be treated like a slut, and how not to act like a bimbo.”
Women like to feel sexy. With or without men around. Let’s raise our daughters to not be treated like sluts?
Let’s raise our sons to respect women as equal and to understand consent and the idea that a woman can wear whatever she wants, whenever she wants, as can he. I know tons of very stanch feminists who love dressing provocatively for Halloween or parties or whatever, with no intention of hooking up, and who are well respected in their workplace and have no issue with demanding equal rights and pay.
Articles like this are well intentioned, but really they are impeding the ultimate goal, which is gender equality. Feminism is not about buttoning our shirts up and acting like men in order to be respected. Feminism is about demanding the right to act the way we feel comfortable, and to be treated with the same respect as men without having to jump through hoops and inhibit who we are.
“Girls, do yourselves a favour, keep your shirts buttoned up. At least while you’re at a party. Susan B. Anthony will thank you later.”
Girls, do yourselves a favour. Go to these parties, dress like a sexy CEO if you want to, or like a garden hoe if you think thats hilarious. Educate yourselves about what it has meant to identify as a woman, and celebrate that however you would like. Whatever you do, do not let any person, male or female, tell you that you are incapable or unworthy based on the way you dress.
Self respect does not equal clothing choice.
“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations… can never effect a reform.”
– Susan B. Anthony
Hot Pikachu? Sounds interesting. Also, how did you know about that?
Not a clue. It seems pretty silly to me. 😉
Right? Girls need to stop dumbing it down.
Thanks for the comment! I think the point I was trying to make was that I hoped girls would see themselves in the role of the CEO, not in the role as the office hoe. 😉
Oh Claire. Now I’m Googling Yoga Hoes and Workout Bros! Sounds awfully sweaty though. Yikes!