Clothes

Rich and powerful men are somewhat prone to thinking "people are just NICE" and will do what you ask if you simply ask nicely, somewhat oblivious to the fact that this is often a form of people currying favor with them. 

They think this because wherever you go, there you are. It's incredibly challenging to try to get perspective on how people you know normally behave as a separate thing from how YOU, as an individually, normally get treated.

Women who are beautiful, well mannered or otherwise attractive and socially acceptable are somewhat prone to the same delusion, but for different reasons. 

If you are a woman and cannot figure out that doors are opening because you are an attractive woman and not based on merit, you will have a serious problem. You may THINK you are getting there on merit when you aren't and this means you may also think you have more power than you really have. 

Having the same title and pay as a man doesn't guarantee that when you speak, people listen like you are Mr. Big. And men frequently know that.

I was homeless for about a year in my mid to late forties before I began to feel I had some kind of perspective on my life. 

It's taken me until extremely recently to have it crystal clear in my mind that:

1. No, how you dress has nothing whatsoever to do with being violently sexually assaulted AKA raped. NOTHING. Someone looking to violently sexually assault you likely doesn't care in the slightest what you wear.

2. Nonetheless, most of the clothes we expect women to wear boils down to dressing as a sex object.

3. This promotes sexual harassment, men treating them as nothing but a potential hookup and undermines their professional reputation and career success.

Clothes matter. They matter a LOT.

But not in the ways or for the reasons people typically think.