Who knew payscale practices were still stuck in the stone age?

Depending on your gender the results of a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in October, recently gaining online popularity, say yes – or no.

The theory behind the study is that society holds very different body standards for men versus women. Research indicates that the consequences of defying these social norms may not be linear. After examining the relationship between weight, income and the degree to which the relationship varies by gender, the findings support the hypothesis that the closer women are to media defined versions of attractiveness, the more value the person will find in the labor market. In simpler terms, if you’re a woman, the thinner you are the more money you make. {Morning Quickie} Even more depressing, as women celebrated as attractive by the media have become thinner, so have perceptions of average and overweight.

Numerous tests have been done and theories discussed throughout the years regarding this very topic. Stigmas, stereotypes and prejudice can all play a role in the bias against physical appearances. For example, a woman considered “very thin” (25 lbs. less than the group norm) makes an average of $22,000 more per year than her average size counterparts. Could it be that thinner women are actually just better at the job? Maybe at an individual level in some cases, but considering the size of the study it seems unlikely that every average to overweight woman was that much worse at her job than her thinner counterpart. The results were drawn from two separate studies in the US and Germany, and each study tracked more than 10,000 participants.

At an average or higher than average weight? Value yourself highly, even if others don't. Once in a while, that works out really well.

The same study indicates the opposite holds true for men. “Men earn more as they pack on the pounds – all the way to the point where they become obese, when the pay trend reverses”. In fact, very thin men can earn an average of $17,000 less than their bulkier counterparts. {Wall Street Journal}

There are reasons for hiring someone on the thinner side, but there are a very small number of jobs where weight has a direct influence on a person’s ability to do the job. Even in our thin-obsessed society it is shocking to see such a difference in pay scale for something most people don’t have control over. If a man is naturally very thin, he shouldn’t have to spend hours in the gym bulking up to earn money for a job well done (unless that job is something like body building, of course). If a woman is naturally not very thin, she shouldn’t have to starve herself or put her health in danger for pay equal to thinner counterparts.

Unfortunately, since weight/body type doesn’t qualify as a protected class under US employment law (like gender or race), when it comes to hiring or pay there’s not much someone who finds themselves discriminated against in this way can do to – forgive the pun, balance the scales. While it may be small consolation, the one person who can be convinced to ignore stereotypes is in the mirror. In at least one case, valuing yourself highly can make some difference in how others value your work as well.

Style Savvy is a retail simulator game, with an emphasis on racking up points based on customer satisfaction.  The concept is simple enough and exhibits a moderate level of rather enjoyable gameplay, but CNET writer Scott Stein questions the game’s presumption that only girls will be interested in the game.

We agree with Stein’s unease, because fashion is not meant to be limited to only one group of people, and the idea that shopping and style are somehow “for girls only” is incredibly outdated and, frankly, insulting to the thousands of men who find fashion to be an important part of their personalities.

Fashion is not gender-specific, and we hope the rest of the world will soon understand that truth.

Read the full story {CNET}

Jeanne d’Arc would be pleased.

Not since the 1980s have there been so many urban warrioresses power-stomping down the runways in marked defiance to the frilly sex slave/baby incubator version of femininity that has been expected of women since — well, forever, really.

Prada's Fall 2009 Warrior Women

Reigning now is, of course, rampant Balmania with that ubiquitous strong shoulder-line so popular during the fight in the 1980s for gender equality, as well as the androgynous look last seen in the 1920s when women taped down their bosoms and declared their right to become something other than playthings for men.

Yet this modern 2000s breed of the woman warrior differs from both the 1920s and the 1980s, because with the crash of the economy and the uncertainty of the days ahead comes a more somber outlook on life in general.  There is a metaphorical war going on, and because of the multiplicity of the female job description, women now wear a veritable army of hats —  mother, lover, workhorse, battle strategist — and, despite the advances of the women’s lib. movement (bra-burning, anyone?), many still feel the societal expectation to stretch themselves even further and support that sense of pretty, “feminine” helplessness expected of them: the “feminine mystique,” if you will.

But then entering stage left come designers like Gareth Pugh and Ann Demuelemeester, who present a woman warrior whose power is utterly terrifying because she has absolutely no regard for the male gaze, instead patrolling the streets in something other than six-inch Loubs, because dammit there’s a job to be done and to hell with anyone who stands in the way.

Miuccia Prada declared the “need for female empowerment” and filled her fall runway with thigh grazing, heavy-soled shoes and boots made for working. Heavy tweeds were paired with stiff leathers, cut in a way to remove any connection to the sexy, second skin, fetish inspired iterations that have prevailed on runways past. And the furs? Prada’s 2009 woman, with her untamed hair and crimson rimmed eyes, looks as if she may have killed and skinned the creatures herself.

Beyonce’s fierce warrior woman persona, the hyper-feminine dichotomy of Spring 2010 and more on the next page. Click to continue.