Ok well to be fair...
Wear a dress and people will assume you're not technical.
Wearing a dress doesn't make you look technical. Sorry. I know it has zero impact on what's inside your brain, but know what, men deal with this shit too. I play the pipe organ, and you know what I dress like for job interviews? A fucking Mormon. Works every time. If you do that perfect side part thing with your hair, white shirt, black pants and coat, black tie, smile constantly, it fucking works. I can play the Gigout Toccata soon as they sit me down on the bench, but they first need to ask me to sit down on the bench, and dressing like a church boy has a much higher chance of getting me there. Once I'm there, I'm in. Similarly, sorry, dress like a geek. As soon as someone starts to talk tech with you, you're in, but you need to get there first, and you can do it either by confidence ("I don't think you'd understand", "try me, I'll surprise you") or by dressing like a nerd. Sorry ladies, dresses are comfortable, but if you wear a dark souls t-shirt you will be treated differently.
People tell me to stop playing with my hair during presentations.
Playing with your hair during a presentation is a bad idea. Just because it's a bad thing to do for women only doesn't mean that people bringing it to your attention are sexist. Scratching your balls during a presentation is also a bad idea, but if someone came up to me I wouldn't assume they think less of me for being a man. Put your fucking hair back
People tell me to stop using pink slides.
Well then stop using fucking pink slides? Or don't. Look, if you're talking to someone about something, and all they can concentrate on is the color of the slides, then they're a lost cause anyway. And if you want them to follow you better, then stop using pink slides. I honestly don't get this one. Yeah pink is a girly color and you should be able to use whatever color you want, but if it's distracting to someone then it's distracting to someone. I always go for white text on an RGB(20,20,20) background, it's calming. A presentation is not an opportunity to express yourself, it's an opportunity to communicate.
Your voice goes up every sentence you say.
Well then stop doing that too. It's annoying. It's super annoying. And it's an annoying thing that women mostly do, but it's still super fucking annoying. So stop it. Stop all the annoying things you do during a presentation. If you like to twirl your curls, then stop that shit too.
Comments rating your appearance.
Asking you to be more attractive? I get those too. I was told to trim the beard, the fucking chauvinists. People listen more to attractive people, fucking fact, so do what you can to be more attractive and if you have to do feminine things to be more attractive, tough titties. I have to do masculine thing to be more attractive.
Most frequent feedback was statements like “nice outfit”, and “you’re so pretty” instead of comments on the actual content of her presentation. One person started asking her a technical question after a presentation & then changed their mind, saying, actually let me ask your partner about this instead... Liz’s project partner is a woman who doesn’t present as feminine, while Liz does.
Then dress feminine. Sad isn't it? That women who dress feminine are assumed less technical than those who don't. Yeah. Sad. Also sad that, ever since Steve Jobs, techies who dress Bill Gates professional are assumed less progressive/intuitive than those who dress apple store professional. Well, that's how it is. You aren't going to change it.
We can do better with this.
No. We can't. People assume what you dress like is a good indicator to what you think like. And it is most of the time. You can't change the world, least of all this most fundamental fact of the world. That fact?
People assume qualifications based on appearance relative to the average for a field.
I drive a 1981 ford f-100 pickup truck. I spike my hair. I wear boots. I like non-ripped straight jeans and red collared shirts. I enjoy a good baseball cap. I like to have a pocket knife on me at all times. If I went into an interview for church organist driving my red neck truck, spiked hair, oakley sunglasses, salt life hat and multi-tool in pocket, I would never make it to the bench. They would be looking with someone a little more experienced. So I don't. I wear a non-assuming suit and tie, side part the hair, drive the girlfriend's Volvo, and talk white. You know exactly what talk white means, I'm not going to explain it. And I get the job. Then, little by little, I reveal my true nature, my true self. After 6 months I can be who I normal am, I can dress how I like, drive what I want, and talk in my normal relaxed and every so slightly country manor. People have already accepted that I am fully qualified at what I do.
When I go in for a software job, I dress and act like a nerd. Yeah, sickening isn't it WHAT SORT OF WORLD DO WE LIVE IN whatever, it works. I drive the volvo, wear a vest, tight fitting dress shirt (no tie), khakis, and a watch. It works.
I interviewed for construction once. Dressed how I like, fish hook in hat, whole nine yards. Worked like a charm.
If you're giving a speech, people have zero prior knowledge of you. So your appearance counts double. SO DRESS THE PART!
Suck it up princess, we all do it.