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A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:45 am
by FranTastic444
My favoured newspaper, The Times of London, is reporting tonight of an increase in (UK) schools banning the skirt for both sexes. I can't link to the article as it is behind a paywall and none of the other sites have picked up on the story yet.

"at least 40 secondaries have stopped girls from wearing them (skirts), while others are consulting on a ban."

"pupils had questioned why its uniform was different for boys and girls, and that the needs of transgender students must be taken into account. Crawshaw Academy, near Leeds, is “consulting on implementing a gender-neutral uniform (trousers only)”."

"In Bradford, numerous schools with a high proportion of Muslim pupils do not allow skirts on modesty grounds."

"Feminists this weekend condemned the bans, arguing that all children should be offered a choice. Naomi Wolf, the American writer, said: “I think that trousers-only for everyone is a silly way to go — unless you are going to also offer the option of skirts-only for everyone. I believe that if everyone is offered the option of both skirts and trousers, everyone can find his, her or their comfortable fit.”"

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 8:58 am
by geron
It's actually in The Sunday Times, a downpage story on page 1. You've pretty much covered it, except to add that continuation on page 2 mentions a "rearguard action" to save the skirt at a school in Lancashire which is planning to make trousers compulsory for both sexes next year. A petition which has gathered hundreds of signatures argues that the ban on skirts is "sexualising" children's bodies. And it states: "If any teacher believes that seeing a child's leg is in any way 'too sexual',, they should be sacked immediately for gross misconduct".

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:02 am
by Stu
If we put aside our own interests and focus on the equality aspect, then banning skirts in schools makes sense. The present system involves girls having a choice while boys have no choice. It's not unusual for girls to be able to choose between trousers, skirts, pinafores and, in summer, cotton dresses - some schools also permit culottes. Boys, in the other hand, can only wear trousers. Of course, there are some schools which claim that both sexes can choose from any of the options listed, but that is pure sophistry. On paper, boys can wear skirts/dresses, but they know perfectly well that's not going to happen, so the discrimination is still there and they can shrug and claim that's not their fault. These schools almost always associate the right to choose for both sexes as a way of accommodating trans children - and that means any boy who wears a skirt must therefore have gender issues!

In terms of school uniform, true gender equality means either everyone wears identical clothing or, where there are choices, those choices are genuine and children can freely choose from the options and free from social as well as official censure. Schools that do not offer choice are actually implementing equality.

Stu

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:17 pm
by denimini
I do agree with Stu on this. One garment for all ensures equality and is definitive of the uniform ...... and it works well for prisoners. Perhaps with the lack of choice, students will rebel when they leave school and all wear skirts.
I can understand the benefit of ensuring that all students dress in a non discriminatory instead of some from wealthy families wearing flash clothing and others less so, although this could also be achieved by all students allowed to dress from the same wide pallett of garments, which would allow some individuality and encourage creativity.
I went to a secondary school that encouraged students to wear clothing that was appropriate to the profession they were studying for; accountants wore suits, plumbers wore overalls, scientists wore white coats with glasses and industrial design being part of the arts faculty, I could wear any outlandish thing I liked ..... even skirts if I had thought of it at the time.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:13 pm
by crfriend
denimini wrote:[...] I could wear any outlandish thing I liked ..... even skirts if I had thought of it at the time.
The underlined portion of the quote sums it up -- young males cannot even conceive of wearing anything other than twin-tubes of assorted lengths so rigid is the self-policing. Even in the unlikely happens and the thought occurs it inevitably gets shoved down -- if not by the lad who conceived it then by the inevitable bullying, snickers, and ridicule, or ultimately by official power. The point is that for most of this issue we are our own worst enemies.

Stu makes good points about equality being enforced by removing the skirt issue for girls -- it puts the girls in precisely the same boat as the boys -- and that's why the "feminists" are up in arms about the matter. Another good point is that almost universally schools are equating skirt-wearing as a trans-* issue for boys but not trouser-wearing by the girls. That alone will keep the boys from exploring the notion as the vast portion of the population doesn't want to be branded as "off-normal", especially in anything sexually-related.

I'm not sure how I feel about Anthony's implicit linkage of uniforms, prisoners, and school-age kids, but if the behaviour of modern school systems in the US is any indication then he's got a very, very good point as the rhetoric and whatnot here is definitely derived from the prison industry.

I'll be happy if nothing else society can eventually get its collective head around the notion that a guy in a skirt is a guy in a skirt and it's indicative of, or diagnostic of, precisely nothing, especially his sexuality. I'm not confident that I'll ever see that day, but I try to set a good example.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:14 pm
by FranTastic444
Maybe they should insist on trousers for all in the winter and skirts for all in the summer? Or maybe trousers all year, but the sports kit is skirt only???

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:41 pm
by crfriend
FranTastic444 wrote:Maybe they should insist on trousers for all in the winter and skirts for all in the summer?
I can already hear the screams from "conservative" parents of boys claiming it's a way to convert their lads to homosexuality.

As for the Muslims whining about "modesty" go, I have this to say: "This is our culture. If you cannot adapt to it, don't come here -- and especially do not try to alter our culture to match yours." Ditto those who refuse to learn the local language where they dwell. Let's not create ghettos needlessly. (Not that "Western Culture" has a terribly good track-record with that, mind.) It's about respect.

Are there things I'd like to change about our culture? Sure, and we can start by toning down the bigotry and hatred of anything even remotely "odd". How about trying to understand things before lashing out?

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:45 pm
by Grok
crfriend wrote: Another good point is that almost universally schools are equating skirt-wearing as a trans-* issue for boys but not trouser-wearing by the girls.
And if The Powers That Be don't want to deal with the Trans issue, then one tactic is to pre-empt by manipulating the dress code.

Awhile back I came across a book in which the author made this point-people have limited patience with a cause not their own. They don't want to deal with it. They don't want to be bothered.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:32 am
by weeladdie18
Yes , I saw this story on the front page of the Sunday Times in the U K

Perhaps the new answer is to let the boys and girls all wear trousers in the cold winters for modesty and warmth......
and make both the boys and girls wear skirts for comfort in the heat of the summer.....weeladdie

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:20 am
by Caultron
FranTastic444 wrote:My favoured newspaper, The Times of London, is reporting tonight of an increase in (UK) schools banning the skirt for both sexes...
Spoilsports.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:08 am
by Sinned
Carl, I don't know where the parents would get the "....converting to homosexuality...." bit from. I have known a few homosexuals and as far as I am aware mainstream homosexuals don't wear skirts. Or do they lump homosexuals and transvestites in the same bucket?

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:25 am
by crfriend
Sinned wrote:Carl, I don't know where the parents would get the "....converting to homosexuality...." bit from. I have known a few homosexuals and as far as I am aware mainstream homosexuals don't wear skirts. Or do they lump homosexuals and transvestites in the same bucket?
That's the general knee-jerk reaction from the bulk of the population who don't want to actually have to think about the matter. It's utterly wrong, of course, but that would likely be the initial reaction of a substantial portion of the general populace. At the very least there would be a large howl from a dim-witted minority of parents if anything happened that might put their sons in anything even remotely like a skirt.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:51 pm
by crfriend
kilty wrote:It's the ultimate insult to a boy to be called "gay" for anything that is outside the strict parameters of what boys do and wear etc... the notion that someone who is gay would dress as a woman to attract a man is wrong as they want to go for guys dresssed as them... Aside from kilts, or depending where you live, the traditiomal Muslim robe that boys / mem wear, there is nothing unbifurcated.
The problem with it being the "ultimate" insult, though, is that it's tossed around way too cavalierly. Invoking homosexuality at the faintest whiff of "something off-normal" cheapens the power of the insult.

The same holds true for other language as well. I can well remember when the "F-word" was reserved for the times when one needed something really strong -- nowadays, it seems to pop up in general conversation at least once per "paragraph".
As those of us who do wear skirts discover, there's the accessorizing of them, underwear, tights, shoes, which would be time consuming for most lads for school each day... then skirt lengths, if it's too tight etc... easier for the school to ban the lot :roll:
There's no denying that if one wants to do it properly it's a bit more work than chucking on a pair of jeans or khakis and heading out the door. That facet will likely put some of the lads off the scent, but it's a remarkably easy task to master -- if one puts in the thought.

Personally, I spend perhaps five minutes contemplating the day's rig, fetch the required bits from the closet, lay 'em out on my bed (which I've made whilst contemplating the day's rig), and get dressed after my morning shower. Not. A. Problem.

On the "faggot"/"queer"/"gay" slur, my grandfather invoked it one time on me over the length of my hair as his Alzheimer's was taking over; this was entirely sad as it caused me to write him off and the next time I saw him he was in a box. The saddest part is that in his prime he was an intellectual giant -- worse even than that is that I've been embroiled in the situation more than once involving loved ones. Watching the decay of a human brain in a loved one is horrible, and something I would not wish on my worst enemy.

Addendum: The original post I was quoting was deleted by the original poster whilst I was composing my reply. The caused me all manner of confusion for a few moments until I recalled why I revoked edit/delete privilege from the member a while back. Perhaps it's time to reinstate that. "Changing history" needs to be frowned upon vastly more than it is in the modern P.C. world.

In any event, I took care to quote the OP fully, so at least history was preserved.

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:05 am
by Grok
Of course, if feminists could get these trousers-only-dress-codes reversed, The Powers That Be could rely on bullies to enforce an unwritten rule against MIS.

So, despite the wording of the official dress code, we would be back to the old status quo-girls can wear pretty much whatever they feel like, while boys are stuck in a Trousers Tyranny. :twisted:

Re: A New One - School Skirt Bans!

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 11:19 am
by pelmut
I heard this morning that 40 schools in the U.K. have now banned skirts for all pupils, it will be interesting to see how the feminists react to that (if it is true, and not just media hype).