Brains vs Beauty

I finally have enough cash in the bank to consider LASIK, so why am I balking?


In a nutshell: I'm afraid if I ditch my glasses, I'll be seen as less competent at work.



After 20 years wearing glasses, you'd think that I'd jump at the chance to get rid of them. I'm sick of needing them to drive, to read the computer monitor, to see the television clearly. Granted, my eyes aren't so bad that I can't see the alarm clock or walk across the room without them, but they're still a teensy ball-and-chain that I've had since 7th grade.

I recently moved and went from working in a very woman-centered environment in which looks didn't play a part in how intelligent people perceived you to be (race was another matter, unfortunately), to a privately owned company which is sneakily sexist and blatantly nepotistic. Because I otherwise fit in to the typical American beauty standard (thin, blonde, busty), I tend to use my glasses as a way to give off an air of seriousness, to give credence to the qualifications that got me this job in the first place. Other parts of my "disguise" are wearing my hair pulled back and dressing more conservatively than my co-workers.

Part of me wants to say "fuck'em" and get the surgery and show them that a woman can be attractive AND intelligent, but there's still that little voice in the back of my head telling me that sometimes in order to get ahead you have to play by shitty rules. In the end, I'll probably wait a few months, go with the surgery, and then find another job if I feel that I'm getting treated differently. Sucks that I even have to consider the workplace's reaction before I do something that would ultimately make my life easier in every other aspect.

Test

"Oranges and lemons" say the bells of St Clement's
"You owe me five farthings" say the bells of St Martin's
"When will you pay me?" say the bells of Old Baily
"When I grow rich" say the bells of Shoreditch
"When will that be" say the bells of old Stepney
"I do not know" say the great bells of Bow