Lee Hadden writes \”While many librarians and
library supporters have criticized Nicholson
Baker\’s attack on library stewardship in his book
\”Double Fold,\” few have
picked up on his sartorial prejudices against male
librarians wearing
bowties. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal on
May 4, 2001, on page
W17 by Joseph Epstein, \”Fit to be Tied: The Enemies of
Civilization Find a
New Target, Just Below the Chin.\” describes and
illustrates this prejudice
agaisnt bowties.
Mr. Epstein notes that Mr. Baker \”…seems to have his
villains neatly
turned out in bowties: A man named Verner Clapp is a
\”polymathic bowtie
wearer,\” and the historian and former Librarian of
Congress Daniel Boorstein
is described as a \”chronic bowtie wearer.\”
If Mr. Baker is mistrustful of male librarians simply
because they wear
bowties, then he is seeing a trend to maybe match the
old stereotype of the
female librarian in hairbun, breastwatch, and reading
glasses on a string of
fake pearls, finger poised to go \”Shush!\” I am thus
tempted to join the ranks
and change my work uniform to something more in
keeping with guild
guidelines. I might trade in my four-in-ones for the
Daniel Moyniham look.
But then, I might not.\”
Recent Comments