A Cornell student, Letitia Chai, gave her thesis in her underwear after a professor asked what she was going to wear and 28 out of 44 of the students did the same in support of her. The attire in question, a button-down shirt and a pair of cutoff jean shorts, was said to have been a distraction from her presentation. The professor wanted her to dress in a way that reflected the persona she wanted to put forth and said that she was "making a statement" by wearing what she was wearing.
What persona wears cutoff jean shorts to present a thesis? This, to me, is more casual and approachable than inviting of the male (or female) gaze. If the issue was her casual attire, that issue could have been remedied by clarifying what is and isn't professional attire. Chai's message of being human and more than Asian or a woman wasn't exactly necessary to prove her point as she could have just talked to her professor or presented in her pair of (even shorter) shorts.
If the professor indeed used the phrasing "male gaze", she definitely could have placed more emphasis on presentation having bearing on the success of one's senior thesis rather than insulting men like this. Either that or universities should work on the concept of a "blind thesis" (blind as in the presenter cannot be identified visually). If you go to Cornell University (or anywhere else for that matter), please consider doing a blind thesis or at least conducting a blind thesis experiment.
Articles of clothing say things about the people wearing them and there are ways to be professional and comfortable at the same time should you absolutely need to look professional. Wear sheer materials in hot rooms and blazers in cold ones. If you're prone to sweating, put panty liners in your sleeves (if you have them) and wear your good deodorant. Measure your shoe size to find out if you should be wearing wide or narrow sizes. Fork over a couple bucks for alterations. This was another poorly-handled dress code issue that didn't need to be politicized.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/30486/cornell-student-fights-patriarchy-strips-bra-and-hank-berrien
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cornell-student-presentation-in-her-underwear