skirtcafe.org

One thing this report perhaps highlights is some of the compromises that any young male would-be skirt wearer would have to make in order to buck the trend, rather than the obvious and almost exclusively considered hurdle of stigmatisation.

I have said in the past if you make rules on what kind of clothing that can be worn then it should be for everyone not just men or women.
If you say skirts are allowed then everyone has that as an option to wear them. If you say only pants then all must wear pants. Do not discriminate between men and women.

Fred

I agree with Fred but also consider that this may be the start of a campaign to stop girls wearing dresses/skirts to school and IMPOSING trousers only. The tone of the article seemed geared that way.

Sinned wrote:I agree with Fred but also consider that this may be the start of a campaign to stop girls wearing dresses/skirts to school and IMPOSING trousers only. The tone of the article seemed geared that way.

Would that not also be equality?

It's a tricky one when talking about children as they do not have a free choice in the matter by virtue having to answer to a parent or guardian. Additionally, whist young children may well be open minded and less prejudiced, there is a tenancy to try to do 'right' by those they love and respect, so their choices can often reflect the preferences of the influencing person. That is certainly my experience of my own and others children.

Getting back to the article and your comment, I think the reporter seems to be making a valid point when considering the downside of skirt wearing and the negative impact it can have. This was sort of the point I was trying to make when posting the article... i.e. it is easy to assume that there are only advantages to offering skirts all round. Also, it is almost impossible to escape the sexualisation of skirts, as I've been informed by one feminist friend that views very dimply the idea of girls wearing skirts or dresses as school, and that the girls therefore become eye-candy for the male teachers. True or not, given that the take-up by boys for skirts is likely to be incredibly low, is it not better to remove the disadvantages, divisions and discrimination caused by the uniform by banishing skirts and dresses? Skirts could always be replaced by skorts, of course.

In Japan they don't seem to be concerned with skirts at school, in fact it has become a cult style for adults. Sexualisation for sure but unashamedly and without the same danger of assault. It must be a cultural thing.
With decent underwear, activity in a skirt is not going to "display" as much as one would see at the beach. It would seem that a glimpse triggers the imagination far greater than the same thing in full view. One could argue that just standing in pants or shorts can be more revealing of shape than a skirt, particularly if they are tight pants.

Logically, pants are more suited to the female anatomy.

Anyway, I think all students should have the same choices - then they really are uniformed and not uninformed (sorry).

Extreme activity in a skirt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYDgR-ZdPxY

I love this bit:

"A Melbourne mother recently created a petition on Change.org after her daughter was refused the right to wear trousers to her Catholic school, despite the fact that boys had this option."

So boys have an OPTION to wear trousers, do they? Those boys are so lucky to have a choice, right?

Unbelievable!

"demanding that girls should be allowed to wear trousers – and that women should be allowed to wear flats – is a practical issue, and demanding boys wear dresses is something else."

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/201 ... sers-girls

The positive about this is that "things are a changin" even if it's not yet in our back yard.

In the article there is the following paragraph:

"Doubtless, some people out there will say – some waggishly, others less so – that if girls should be allowed to wear trousers at school then boys should be able to wear dresses. My personal feeling on that is, sure, boys can wear dresses if they want but women’s clothing, from skirts to stilettos, was designed to restrict women’s movement, whereas men’s clothing is all about freedom."

Since when was men's clothing all about freedom? In our western culture men's fashion is the most restrictive of all. Very few skirts restrict movement ( the pencil skirt maybe ) and this is one of the traits that has attracted me to skirts. It's hardly progress from our point of view if, instead of opening it up for boys to wear skirts, they go the other route and stipulate trousers for all.

Sinned wrote:"women’s clothing, from skirts to stilettos, was designed to restrict women’s movement, whereas men’s clothing is all about freedom."

Since when was men's clothing all about freedom? In our western culture men's fashion is the most restrictive of all. Very few skirts restrict movement ( the pencil skirt maybe ) and this is one of the traits that has attracted me to skirts. It's hardly progress from our point of view if, instead of opening it up for boys to wear skirts, they go the other route and stipulate trousers for all.

I definitely hear you. I like the comfort and 'unrestricted' nature of skirts too, however, I think the point is that restrictions come in many forms. Unlike in the fabulous high-kicking video posted earlier, most women in the West do not gym style undergarments below their skirts so, whilst pencil, hobble, maxi and the like, do restrict actual physical movement. the restriction for short skirts is maintaining ones modesty.... even when doing such a simple task as sitting. Couple that with high heels and you are now exhibiting a lot of control over how someone moves and comport themselves.

Strangely or otherwise it is the restrictive nature of my fashion choices that I enjoy because, for me, it means I have to pay attention to detail in virtually everything in terms of what I am wearing and where, to how I perform tasks. There is a complete art to walking down the road with it's potholes and other hazards when one is wearing 4 or 5 inch heels. It it perhaps not dissimilar to some older recognised fashions, for instance Teddy Boys, in so much as it was about clothes, grooming, posture and mannerisms, and of course music and dance, two more of my great loves. There is nothing that I can identify in 'fashion' today that combines even two of these characteristics with any semblance of discipline.

The attachment above represents one of the heights of modern misandry. Women are not the victims they try to portray themselves as; make no bones about it, women can be just as domineering and controlling -- if not more-so -- than their male counterparts who frequently have better things to do. If women hated those things so much they'd never have gone along with them.

The bait, gentlemen, is rotten. Don't rise to it.

If you don't like short skirts and cannot manage them well, then don't wear them. If you don't like the restrictiveness of pencil skirts, don't wear them. If you don't like the way that heels can hobble you, then don't wear them. It's easy. One does not have to whine about how one is somehow "compelled" to wear such things.

crfriend wrote: If you don't like short skirts and cannot manage them well, then don't wear them. If you don't like the restrictiveness of pencil skirts, don't wear them. If you don't like the way that heels can hobble you, then don't wear them. It's easy. One does not have to whine about how one is somehow "compelled" to wear such things.

If you are a woman, and don't like skirts, wear trousers.

My wife agrees with me when it comes to women that they can have an amazing outfit but can they carry it? Same goes for us? Sometimes women will admit they put up with a little pain or awkwardness to look good for that night but not all the time.

When my son's school revised their uniform rules, they just removed the boys list entirely and removed the word "girls" from the girls' list, to give one list of approved clothing items for all (it's a Catholic school; girls always had the option to wear trousers), including trousers, skirts and dresses. My son has worn all of the above to school since that change was made, but he's pretty much exclusively in a skirt these days.