NY Times: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

[Bob]

BY now, most high school dress codes have just about done away with the guesswork.

Girls: no midriff-baring blouses, stiletto heels, miniskirts.

Boys: no sagging pants, muscle shirts.

But do the math.

“Rules” + “teenager” = “challenges.”

If the skirt is an acceptable length, can a boy wear it?

Can a girl attend her prom in a tuxedo?

In recent years, a growing number of teenagers have been dressing to articulate — or confound — gender identity and sexual orientation. Certainly they have been confounding school officials, whose responses have ranged from indifference to applause to bans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/fashi ... ef=fashion

[crfriend]

{sigh}

One of the things I really wish for -- although don't really think I'll ever see -- is the media disconnecting fashion choices from sexuality. The two do not necessarily have to be connected and, likely aren't more often than they are.

I understand that this view will likely remain popular among the general population, but I believe we have the right to expect better from the press -- or at least the enlightened press. These are supposed to be objective journalists who report the facts as they see them, not panderers to stereotype. But then again we have News Corp and Fox News. I give up.

Even Freud was eventually forced to concede that "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Why do choices as to what to clothe one's self in seemingly have to define our sexual views and preferences?

[AMM]

... but I believe we have the right to expect better from the press -- or at least the enlightened press. These are supposed to be objective journalists who report the facts as they see them, not panderers to stereotype...

\begin{grouchy rant}
"Supposed to be" is the operative phrase.

"News" is just gossip dressed up in a business suit. Like gossip, it needs to be "new", sensational, and purport to be true. It can be distorted, contain invented "facts," or even be entirely made up, just as long as the readers are willing to accept it as true. That's as true of the "enlightened" press as it is of the yellow press.

The main difference between the New York Times and Fox News -- or the National Enquirer -- is the audience they're pandering to.
\end{grouchy rant}

[Since1982]

I think we all pray for the day when a boy can go to the closet, pick out something he likes, put it on and go to school without worrying what the school officials will think or do. (exactly like a girl can in most schools). Hope Hope Hope..

[r1g0r]

I think we all pray for the day when a boy can go to the closet, pick out something he likes, put it on and go to school without worrying what the school officials will think or do. (exactly like a girl can in most schools). Hope Hope Hope..

wow. i gotta remember NOT to have a mouthful of anything before reading these posts

hey skip, if my keyboard shorts out because of your humor...

[Since1982]

Gee, I didn't plan that as a humorous post. I'd hoped it meant what we would wish to happen. Was I wrong?

[Stuart]

If anyone bothers to read the article, it's generally supportive (not dismissive) of fashion freedom. Here's another quote:

A few years ago, when Dr. Alan Storm was assistant superintendent at Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, he oversaw legal and disciplinary matters.

Principals would ask him about dress code gender cases: “They’d say, ‘Johnny just showed up in a cutoff top! Should I suspend the kid or make him change his clothes?’ ” Dr. Storm recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Is there a bare midriff?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then it doesn’t violate your dress code. You have no right to make the kid change his clothes. But it’s your absolute policy to keep the kid safe.’ ”

If the NYTimes site insists that you "login": 1) close the window, 2) find the "cookies" section in your browser, 3) delete any cookie from "nytimes.com", and 4) re-try the link.

stuart

[Milfmog]

If the NYTimes site insists that you "login": 1) close the window, 2) find the "cookies" section in your browser, 3) delete any cookie from "nytimes.com", and 4) re-try the link.

Alternatively, you could try a user name and password from http://www.bugmenot.com. I have frequently used this site to get login details for a site without having to register and then suffer from a torrent of spam.

Have fun,


Ian.