MSpookshow wrote:While this forum is indeed called SKIRTcafe, I was under the impression that other garments are both explored and accepted here.

It used to be that I'd punt questions like these to the Master Barista for adjudication, but it turns out that I'm in that hot-seat now and if I try punting the question aside I'll be derelict in my duties....
The way that I look at it is that SkirtCafe is, indeed, about the skirt -- getting the garment and the notion thereof accepted and into general use for guys. However, it turns out that it's also about
more than
just the skirt because it takes more than just a skirt to produce a workable and believeable look that doesn't jar the onlooker or offend his sensibilities. That's why other elements of clothing get attention, but ideally they get that attention in the context of a well-rounded skirted look.
I know that there are guys (and gals) who have laser-like focus on individual pieces of clothing (e.g. high heels, pnatyhose [sic], and undergarments in general) which borders on, if not delving deeply into, fetish -- and this is something that I feel would be detrimental to the core purpose of SkirtCafe. Additionally, there are positively
loads of sites on "The Internet" that cater to those individuals much better than SkirtCafe might simply because of its focus.
Ultimately, SkirtCafe is dedicated to promoting, and advocating for, the acceptance of skirted looks on men; fetish and prurience detract from that goal because they are distractions. If you want to wear a skirted rig to work, or out on the town, do you really want the world around you to think you a pervert? I suspect not -- and that's a tall hill to climb; let's not make it higher or steeper than it needs to be.
Now, to answer the question of the kid wearing high heels to school -- and getting a few days' vacation for it -- we'd need more information to really draw any rational conclusions. The media, predictably, went after this in a sensationalist manner (it sells advertising, their raison d'etre) and offered almost nothing really relevant -- like "Why?" -- so we're all in the dark. The school-yard years are a desperate time for youngsters; they're trying to forge identities, compete for attention, and just generally trying to figure out who they are -- and they're doing so in a social environment that makes prison look sometimes appealing. That the teenage suicide rate is as low as it is confounds me. My personal take on the matter is that this particular kid just tried to push the envelope to gain attention -- attention which was granted. The school administration's concern about him "being a distraction to others" doesn't hold water; kids are perennially distracted -- nor does their concern about bullying because if they really cared about it they'd stamp it out. This was about power and control and precious little else. Did it offend some administrator's tender sensibilities? Probably.