skirtcafe.org

Also found this article a while back:

http://www.weekendpost.co.bw/wp-news-de ... p?nid=3362

Very interesting to find that "western" culture and influence now permeates to such an extent in Africa that traditional "tribal" attire seems relegated to "costume". This does not bode well.

It is, however, encouraging that so many have "posted support". Maybe the western educational influence hasn't yet had the same opportunity to put a stranglehold on cultural dress as it has in other parts of the world.

Just read the article and I applaud his
efforts to break the male stereotype


Uncle Al

This guy looks like he took a few punches to the face for his skirted beliefs !
Not the idea I would have to break the ice - "Break-a-de-face" !

BBC News (in the UK) is carrying the following article education-39921309, about a London private (ie non state) feepaying school that is "

considering mix-and-match outfits for pupils after head teachers said that growing numbers of children were questioning their gender."

"Girls at the school can wear grey trousers, dark blue jackets and ties.
But boys are not currently allowed to wear grey pleated skirts, although they would be under the new proposed dress code.
"We are asking them, should it be called uniform number one and uniform number two?," said the head."

Is the worm turning? There have been a number of cases where boys are not allowed to wear shorts in warm weather and have opted to wear skirts 'because they are part of school uniform'

Beat me to it! Here's the link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39921309

cessna152towser wrote:Beat me to it! Here's the link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39921309

One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!

The other thing is that why are they considering calling them uniform number one and uniform number two? In this case, why not call the skirt uniform the number one uniform, as surely people will choose one over two (broad assertion there from me!)

renesm1 wrote:One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!

This is actually the crux of the issue -- sometimes it's nothing more than a preference of one style over another -- and it's that incorrect thinking which needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, it seems deeply ingrained.

The other thing is that why are they considering calling them uniform number one and uniform number two? In this case, why not call the skirt uniform the number one uniform, as surely people will choose one over two (broad assertion there from me!)

Or simply refer to the uniform as the uniform and disambiguate the options be calling one the "skirt option" and the other the "trouser option".

How about just rewriting the guidelines to remove all reference to gender (and what's "appropriate" for either) in the dress code? The girls will mostly opt for the trouser option and the boys will mostly opt for the trouser version. Some of the braver boys might go for skirts just as some of the girls will opt for skirts. There's no point in making it explicitly acceptable for boys to opt for skirts, implicit acceptance is just as powerful (and the boys can feel like they're being a little bit subversive).

renesm1 wrote:...One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!...

It seems to be human nature to sort things into simplistic binary categories.

Also, there may be some incorrect thinking along the lines of, "Only girls wear skirts. But this boy wants to wear a skirt. Ergo, this boy must want to bea girl."

crfriend wrote:

renesm1 wrote:One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!

This is actually the crux of the issue -- sometimes it's nothing more than a preference of one style over another -- and it's that incorrect thinking which needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, it seems deeply ingrained.
).

The assumption that there is some kind of subtext, when in fact there isn't.

I was just about to post about this Highgate School story. Great that there is already a thread about it!

I live in Highgate, and walk past the school every day wearing a skirt - and occasionally run into groups of their pupils. Although I have no evidence whatsoever of any connection, it's nice to consider that (a) they might now be understanding me a little more than the average UK citizen, and (b) I might have implicitly been supporting pupils there who have been wanting to wear a cross-gender uniform.

I've read several versions of this story now; all basically the same, except with varying small omissions - which I take to mean just copying the school's press release, with trimming to fit into available space. Apart from two concerns, the story (press release) seems to me to be thoroughly progressive and well-meaning, and I'd also say that it's been positively reported, even in the Daily Mail.

Concern #1 is just the language about skirts being "allowed" for boys. I think we all know, here, that being "allowed" is really not the main issue - it's having the personal confidence to do what you feel; and there was no mention of that in the story. That said, I suppose it is the current reality that schools (and even some workplaces) do still dictate gender-specific dress codes, so we should be grateful for that disappearing. But I think we will look back on this - debating whether skirts are "allowed" - as having been seriously bizarre.

renesm1 wrote:

cessna152towser wrote:Beat me to it! Here's the link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39921309

One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!

I don't think there is any distinction there. Gender is behaviour (not sex) and majority male behaviour considers skirt-wearing to be a joke. So any male interest in skirt-wearing is by definition questioning one's gender.

The other thing is that why are they considering calling them uniform number one and uniform number two? In this case, why not call the skirt uniform the number one uniform, as surely people will choose one over two (broad assertion there from me!)

Agreed, and this was my concern #2. But I think it's a small point in comparison with the overall positivity of the story.

Found Highgate School's twitter feed here if any of you want to directly question them!

https://twitter.com/highgate1565

neiljerram wrote:That said, I suppose it is the current reality that schools (and even some workplaces) do still dictate gender-specific dress codes, so we should be grateful for that disappearing. But I think we will look back on this - debating whether skirts are "allowed" - as having been seriously bizarre.

Even when they don't dictate with respect to gender, they reserve the right to make up rules on the spot with dress policies that refer to vague terms like "businesslike", "business casual", and so forth.

Schools here wanting to get around the phenomenon of girls wearing their uniform kilts too short simply dropped them from their list of acceptable garments, mandating trousers for all students. I wouldn't bet on a private school doing otherwise.

neiljerram wrote:

renesm1 wrote:

cessna152towser wrote: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-39921309

One thing that bugs me, why is it when boys want to wear skirts it's "questioning their gender", can't boys just wear skirts because they want to? We don't think of girls in trousers in the same light!

I don't think there is any distinction there. Gender is behaviour (not sex) and majority male behaviour considers skirt-wearing to be a joke. So any male interest in skirt-wearing is by definition questioning one's gender.

.

Which means, for the foreseeable future, that only male Skirtonians (individuals who like/enjoy wearing skirts) will defy convention.

The basic problem is that skirts are associated almost entirely with females. Leading to a situation in which males don't wear skirts because skirts are associated almost entirely with females...and skirts are almost entirely associated with females because males don't wear them.

renesm1 wrote:Found Highgate School's twitter feed here if any of you want to directly question them!

https://twitter.com/highgate1565

Thank You! Here is my reply to their tweet on this:

Excellent but "questioning identity" is unnecessary. Just call it equality.
#MenWearSkirts as personal preference without any #GenderIssues

Likes, replies and retweets are all welcome.