| | | | Readers are changing their rules for office attire | | Every Monday, Charlotte Ward shows up to work wearing two sets of metallic hoop earrings. For the 41-year-old engineering tech, the stacked hoops are a subtle statement about her identity — a way to reaffirm her gender and combat the lingering looks and microaggressions she's experienced since coming out as trans last spring. "Each time I'm misgendered at work, the hoops get larger," she said. Since returning to the office near Oxnard, Calif., in April, Ward has gradually grown more expressive in her gender identity, she said, donning big, flowy skirts, painting her nails and perfecting her favorite makeup looks — a touch of glitter, a clear gloss, and a sharp cat eye or smoky eye with a bit of silver liner at the corners. | |  | | "The farther I progress on this journey, the less I resemble the man whose photo is still on my work badge," she said. For many like Ward, the pandemic has created space for people to explore their identities in and out of the workplace. And as more companies impose return-to-office mandates, some are considering what it means to show up as their true selves. To understand how people are reevaluating how they show up to work, we asked readers to share a few of their new rules of office attire. Here's what they told us. | | | | | Three need-to-know stories | | | Protesters rally in San Francisco on May 3 following the leaked Supreme Court opinion draft. (Marlena Sloss for The Washington Post) | 01.New restrictions from one of the country's largest abortion funding organizations could create additional obstacles for many patients. The National Abortion Federation will now require patients who receive its funding to take both abortion pills in a state where abortion is legal. The restrictions will disproportionately affect poor women and women of color, several providers said. 02.President Biden last week announced a plan to cancel some of the federal student debt held by millions of Americans. The policy will deliver the single largest discharge of education debt on record. Here is what you need to know about the cancellation plan, including who qualifies and how to apply. 03.Britney Spears teamed up with Elton John for the new song "Hold Me Closer," a collaboration marking her first music release since her 13-year conservatorship was terminated late last year. Released Friday, the track is an upbeat bass-heavy take on John's 1971 classic "Tiny Dancer," featuring vocals from both singers and notable riffs from Spears. | | | | | | | A story to make you smile | | | Serena Stoneberg Lipari on her Aug. 5 wedding day. (Courtesy of Julie Frank Mackey) | | Adele Larson Stoneberg tried on a white satin wedding gown at Marshall Field's department store in downtown Chicago and decided the gown, which cost $100, was the one. It was perfect for a bride in 1950, and as it turned out, most every decade after that. First, Stoneberg loaned it to her two sisters for their weddings. Then, as the years went on, her daughter and three nieces asked if they could wear it as they walked down the aisle. And this month — 72 years after Stoneberg tied the knot at Ebenezer Lutheran Church — her granddaughter Serena Stoneberg Lipari wore the same dress in the same Chicago church for her wedding on Aug. 5. "There was no question that I would become the eighth bride to wear the dress," said Lipari, 27. "When I started to walk down the aisle and thought about my grandmother also wearing the dress, the emotion hit me," she added. "I felt a special connection to her on my wedding day." Read more from Cathy Free in The Washington Post. | | | | | But before we part, here's someone to know | | | (Courtesy of Olivia McCormack) | Olivia McCormackEditorial Aide for The Washington PostYou write a lot for our team. What's one story you're particularly proud of?
I've found everything that I've worked on for Gender and Identity to be incredibly important, but the story I think about the most is: Transgender advocates say the end of Roe would have dire consequences. Trans men are often overlooked in conversations of reproductive rights, so getting to highlight those perspectives was invaluable to me. How would you describe your office style?
I think of my office style as "wistful for fall" — full of long floral dresses and patterned pants. I would like to show out a little more but the office's AC is so cold and the D.C. heat is unbearable, so my fun outfit is usually hidden by a sweater. What's something good you've watched lately?
I just saw "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" and it was really fun! As a fan of campy, female-driven horror, it pretty much checked all of my boxes. Rachel Sennott's lines in the movie were so incredibly funny. | | | | | | | | | |
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