Opinion The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 4A— Wednesday, September 13, 2017 REBECCA LERNER Managing Editor 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. EMMA KINERY Editor in Chief ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY and REBECCA TARNOPOL Editorial Page Editors Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Carolyn Ayaub Megan Burns Samantha Goldstein Caitlin Heenan Jeremy Kaplan Sarah Khan Anurima Kumar Max Lubell Lucas Maiman Alexis Megdanoff Madeline Nowicki Anna Polumbo-Levy Jason Rowland Anu Roy-Chaudhury Ali Safawi Sarah Salman Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Stephanie Trierweiler Ashley Zhang W hen I was around 13 years old, I became absolutely desperate to be in my 20s. I was just old enough to desire independence but still too immature to handle it. I imagined my 20s as this glittering time in my life when I would have my own apartment, spend my evenings partying and eventually meet the love of my life. I envisioned my 20s as the best decade of my life; I wouldn’t be burdened with children yet, and I would still be young and in shape. I would also have a high-power, high-paying job. I would never be alone, and my life would be magical. Though I’m not too far into my 20s, I have to say this experience hasn’t been what I expected. From what I’ve seen so far, adulthood actually consists of living with roommates in cheap apartments, praying to find a well-paying job after graduation and using mobile apps to hook up with people you hope aren’t weird. Overall, this decade will most likely consist of inconsistency, of never settling in one place long enough to establish a community. Once you make friends in one place, you find yourself moving again to a different city. And from what I’ve been told by those in their late 20s, life won’t really settle down until long after college is over. You move out of your parents’ home, try to make friends wherever you go and get used to being alone. Instead of being called “the most exciting decade of your life,” maybe this decade should be labeled “the loneliest decade of your life.” This year, I’ll be a senior. Since starting college, I have switched living arrangements five times and moved permanent residences once. I believe this living situation is pretty normal for a college student, but the process of constantly changing homes creates a real feeling of isolation. When the people you usually see on a day-to-day basis suddenly change, you have to find comfort and a feeling of home inside yourself instead of in those around you. I’ve come to recognize many aspects of my life — my possessions, my goals, even my friendships — as temporary. Upon graduating, I won’t know when I’ll see my friends in person again. What I once considered to be perennial facets of my daily life have now become temporary situations I’ll need to prepare to live without. Yet I’ve also discovered there are some benefits of being lonely for an extended period of time. Of course, when you’re living in that solitary moment, it’s hard to see what good can come out of a long period of solitude. But nothing helps two people get to know each other better than being forced to spend a lot of time together; the same works for getting to know yourself. When you are forced to be alone, you learn a lot more about how you function, what your likes and dislikes are and thus how you can better succeed. Without the influence of outside voices, you really begin to know what makes you, you. And I have found that a place or a city is most accessible not when I have a lot of friends there, but when I’m not afraid of exploring it on my own. True confidence and self-assurance don’t come from being surrounded by friends and family, but from knowing yourself well enough to be able to spend an extended period of time alone. It’s true that my 20s haven’t quite yet lived up to the expectations I held when I was 13. I’m not super rich and I don’t have a bajillion friends and as clichéd as this sounds, I’ve come to the awful understanding that our lives are not at all like the young-people sitcoms we used to watch. But every day I learn something new about myself, and every day I’m a little bit stronger, a little bit more confident for it. And even though I can’t wait until I’m (hopefully) financially and personally settled in my 30s, I’m trying to enjoy the freedom and independence I know I only get to experience when I’m on my own. When adulthood gets lonely ELENA HUBBELL | COLUMN Elena Hubbell can be reached at elepearl@umich.edu. W hen school is finally out and summer arrives, I often find myself browsing the latest trends. However, this summer I got a “real world” office job and, instead of looking for high-waisted shorts and tanks, I found myself looking for blazers and dress pants. After spending a small fortune on clothes that made me feel uncomfortable and look like a box, I thought it would be worth it. I had to look professional, right? As women, we are sent many mixed signals on what it means to look professional. I remember standing in the bathroom between meetings at the beginning of my internship, disgusted by the middle-aged woman I looked like I had become. I had never worn anything of this nature in my life, and this sudden change made me uncomfortable. Through my experience as a young woman in a professional workplace, I found that having a lot of options regarding ways to dress myself can serve as a positive opportunity for personal expression. But upon further analysis I have come to realize all the ways this freedom puts unnecessary burdens on women in the workplace. On my first day, I quickly noticed that men did not go through the same stress of getting dressed for work as women do. Growing up, boys are dressed by their parents in button-downs and khakis from the age of 3. By the time they enter the workplace, they know exactly how to present themselves to the professional world. They have been dressing the same way their entire lives. The same attire they wear to a wedding or celebration could be worn to the office as well. As a woman, I have found liberation in my outfit choices, but I also have encountered mixed signals when deciding what is appropriate to wear to a certain gathering. When reading the words “business casual” in an email from a potential employer, my mind floods with outfit possibilities. Should I wear a blazer and pants? Dress pants or casual jeans? Flats or heels? Will they think I am a tramp if my heels are too high? What about the length of my skirt? Will they be offended if I show my shoulders? I guarantee my boyfriend does not ask himself that many questions when he gets ready for an interview. The fashion industry makes a fortune off marketing each season’s “hot new look” to the female consumer, so they provide her with endless options. Thank you, Macy’s, I really do appreciate it, but the pressure I feel to “dress my best” cannot be eliminated by shopping at your semi-annual sale. Women must constantly decide what outfit will best suit the situation. The way women are traditionally represented in fashion advertisements is often what one would expect to see in the bedroom, not the cubicle. Despite the stereotypes and implications women have in society, many women strive for equality between the sexes in the workplace. In the ’70s, fashion designers recognized what these women were missing, and thus, the pantsuit rose to popularity. Pantsuits allowed women to dress just like their male counterparts in a demand for equal respect in the workplace. For centuries, it was frowned upon for women to wear pants, let alone a masculine- looking suit. The pantsuit led the way for women to dress in a professional style that was similar to men’s, and it made headway in the fight for equal rights. However, as time went on and fashion evolved after the pantsuit hit stores, women were bombarded with mixed signals about what it meant to dress “business casual.” Blazers and skirts became a smashing combo for the office, and loafers became acceptable for women to wear to work. I have found that, depending on the office environment, the norms for what women wear can be vastly different. Working at a tech startup versus working for the government calls for women to dress in vastly different ways. However, no matter the office environment, most of what men wear remains the same. Formal or casual, he will most likely to be pressured to wear a shirt with a collar. I have found that one’s comfort should not be compromised by what one might be pressured into wearing to work. Out of all the boxy clothes I bought for my summer job, I ended up wearing dark pants and a white blouse nearly every day. It became my summer uniform. Strangely, I found freedom in not having to think about what to wear to work every day. That is probably the way men feel, too. I could go to work focused on what I needed to accomplish that day, rather than worrying if my necklace matched my shoes. As women, we have more freedom than men in deciding what to wear. The ever- evolving fashion industry leaves it up to us to choose which pieces best fit our style and the occasion. This summer, without intending to, I ended up taking comfort in wearing basically the same outfit to work every day, and it was strangely liberating. Perhaps all the choices women encounter in selecting just the right outfit, while fun, ignore the fact that we are also in the office to work. The importance of admitting ignorance JOSEPH FRALEY | OP-ED FRANNIE MILLER | CONTACT FRANNIE AT FRMILLER@UMICH. Redefining business casual MICHELLE PHILLIPS| COLUMN I am fortunate enough to surround myself with people who are generally politically motivated, left- leaning individuals. I live in a co-op filled with murals praising liberal and socialist views. I frequently visit Metal Frat, a place where it often seems difficult to visit without having a political conversation. I write for The Michigan Daily, a clearly liberal-leaning college newspaper. I’m majoring in Arts and Ideas, a major where my class conversations about art often lead to discussions about the art’s impact on the political climate during its conception. Through all of this, I have talked to many people who I view as being both intellectually superior to me and much more informed on the current political climate than I am. I like to pride myself on staying fairly well-informed and educated, yet I do often find myself in circumstances where I cannot keep with the conversation. Here is where I try to admit my ignorance and attempt to learn. If there’s one thing I’m passionate about when it comes to politics, it’s caring. You have to care about something. No matter what specific issues you’re passionate about, as long as you have that passion, that’s what matters. Apathy is the enemy of progress and dialogue. I can accept disagreeing with someone, but I cannot accept them not being involved in the conversation. I have talked to several friends who try to stay out of politics. When I asked them why they don’t have opinions, the answer I hear time and time again is that they are afraid of not knowing information during a debate or conversation. This is quite understandable. In a world where we are in constant contact with others, losing face is a scary thing. Yet however understandable it may be, it does not excuse the action. One way to help cure this phenomenon would be to normalize the admittance of ignorance. I remember a specific moment not too long ago when rumors first started spreading that President Donald Trump was going to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. I admittedly had no idea what DACA was at the time, but two of my classmates were very fired up about the issue. I think that even only a year ago, I would have kept quiet, alienating myself from these two people and fearing judgement, but this time I spoke up and inquired about DACA. This simple action made me feel like I was part of the conversation and less intimidated from intellectual political discourse. The only way anyone can learn about economic and social issues is if they are taught, whether that’s through academia or their peers. Knowledge does not magically appear into someone’s head. If people become less afraid of not knowing, then maybe they will become more eager to learn. This is particularly hard on our campus here at the University of Michigan, where most of us pride ourselves on our intelligence and individuality. If someone feels that either of those things has the potential of being taken away from them, they would more likely not speak than risk the loss. As a community, we need to make people feel more comfortable with admitting their ignorance on a topic without feeling like their intelligence is being insulted. Hopefully, this will encourage people to participate more in current political dialogue. If there ever was a time to participate, it’s now. The current political climate almost doesn’t feel like real life at this point. Often when I read the news I have to remind myself that this isn’t a movie and we can’t just take the film out of the projector. Trump blazed a trail of unrealistic promises and hate across the campaign trail. Now, over 200 days into his presidency, our country’s reality is worse than most of us could have even imagined. I know a lot of people who didn’t vote during the 2016 presidential election because they were still sucked into their own apathy. Now is the time to come together, to learn and to make our country a better place. We can’t do that without votes. Decisions on every level of government affect our community, whether transparent or not. I am still very uninformed on local and state politics. I hope to learn a lot more about the lower levels of government during my junior year at the University. I hope to take that knowledge and share it with anyone that is willing to listen. Joseph Fraley is an LSA junior and a Daily Arts writer MICHELLE PHILLIPS Michelle Phillips can be reached at mphi@umich.edu. CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 600 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. “Apathy is the enemy of progress and dialogue.” Without the influence of outside voices, you really begin to know what makes you, you.