My dd is in y13 and they are expected to dress in an "office smart" fashion. There are constant niggles about girls wearing skirts that are too short or trousers that are too tight and enable the shape of the wearer's bottom to be seen. Yesterday an email went round to all sixth formers summoning the girls to an assembly today, where they were told that short skirts made male teachers uncomfortable (which was challenged and amended to "er, all of us teachers"), and that the way some of them dressed was embarrassing to themselves and anyone who saw them. That's really not the way to go about it, is it? To attempt to shame them, make them all cringe that the male teachers might be looking at their legs, and to be told that basically having legs is embarrassing.
Lots of upset/indignant/irate girls. I think I'm going to have to write a letter in too; it should be possible to police a dress code without using insulting and emotive language. The other thing that has really riled the girls, is that loads of boys wear black jeans - jeans are most definitely in the "no" section of what is acceptable - and when this was brought up this morning, they were told "oh, we hadn't noticed that" (!!)
It all just seems so sexist, and puts so many more expectations on the girls than the boys. Do you think I'd sound mental letting the school know I'm not happy? (They are going to be dealing with complaints from the female students for days anyway I know!) Apart from this issue, I really like the school, and would say I have a good relationship with them. DD nearly always wears trousers anyway, I'm not getting defensive about her, just generally pissed off about how it's always the girls' bodies that are the Menace To Society.