Sexism and school Uniform.

The senior staff at my children school used to laugh when parents mentioned seemingly over-zealous policing of uniform, ie. tucked in shirts, both sexes. Their theory was that as pupils need something to 'rebel' against, we should all count ourselves lucky if we got away with something as trivial as shirts.

ZOMBIE THREAD ZOMBIE THREAD ZOMBIE THREAD

Nah, I think the girls are pushing boundaries in ways boys aren't. Why they do is a debate in itself.

Shit sorry

BLOODY ZOMBIE THREAD!!!!

I agree

When dd wore a school skirt she was told off constantly, sometimes for it being too short and sometimes for wearing socks with her tights

She changed to tight hipster trousers for school (again not strict uniform) and has never been told off

Because if they told her off for tight trousers they would have to tell the boys off as well...and with the exception of white socks that doesn't seem to happen

When choosing a secondary for DD1 I visited one school where the girls were wearing skirts that were so short they were practically showing their pants. At an open evening. Crossed off my list straight away - I want my daughters to be shielded from those pressures by rules.
On a related note, DD1's (all girls) school has recently removed every single mirror from the pupils' loos. Apparently the older girls were intidimdating the younger ones by hanging around the mirrors (!) but it has led to problems with contact lenses. They have one tiny hand mirror in reception for anybody in 'genuine need'!

Damn, missed the zombie thread bit.

We do tend to have more boys in trouble about the style of shoes they wear, as the boys are more likely to try it on with trainer styles than the girls.

Funny, I was just recalling that from my school days (25+ years ago).
Girls were constantly policed for modifying their skirts to make them as short as possible, boys were constantly policed for trying to get away with wearing trainers instead of shoes.

Mrgrowlyface this is the second zombie thread I've seen you resurrect.

Why are you doing it

It's really annoying, please stop. If you want to talk about something just start a thread.

Tiny bit stereotypical, your saying all male as are down right perverts, but I do see your point about the short skirts

My children go to a no uniform school, and mostly what all the children wear is jeans and a t-shirt/hoody or similar variations. In the summer they wear shorts. Some of the girls wear very short shorts. It doesn't seem to be considered a big deal (school dress code is no spaghetti straps, no swear words or gang colours and that's about it). We've not come across much clothes related bullying as of yet and it's nice for the children to wear clothes they like and are comfortable in.

I remember my school uniform being uncomfortable as if fitted very badly, and being ugly as it was made out of nasty material. Smart it was not!

I'm confused as to what you are implying Trekkie, I don't see school girls as sexy. I do think they occasionally through peer pressure, or more likely media pressure attempt to appear "sexy" with their clothes over use of make up etc. If this isn't the case then there is really no reason for us to argue the let girls be girls campaign. Let them all walk about in padded bras, thongs, I remember a children's store selling crotchless knickers in Colorado last year....

The fact is, little girls may feel a pressure to dress a certain way, or maybe they want to dress a certain way... in whatever the case it is up to adults to say this isn't necessary. You are in school to learn, to be comfortable and to wear comfortable appropriate clothing. I can't go to work in a mini skirt it because it isn't appropriate.

There should be no gender bias in school clothing and they should wear what make sense. Loose trousers make sense, you can run, jump, trip over etc. they were designed for movement. Dresses restrict girls and women we may choose to wear them but they awfully impractical items of clothing. They were designed to be looked at not to do. Tight trousers are again impractical and can cause thrush. I really can't see any reason for adults to encourage this.

In fact I really would like for us to look at clothes in general, and why men still start the day tying a noose around their neck, and why children in schools should have to. Again it isn't practical clothing.

I think that what needs to change is society viewing young girls as "sexy" or otherwise... A 13 yo girl wearing a short skirt should be seen as simply a 13yo whose legs you can see a bit - and I mean blimmin eck they're just legs.

Parents have to buy what is in the shops, children want to follow fashion and so on.

The problem is that adults are looking at children in certain attire and inferring adult intent. That is just simply all wrong.

If you buy a pair of trousers and your hips widen then you have tighter trousers. To deem this a "sexy look" on girls and make no comment when boys trousers get too tight around the arse is, well, sexist in itself.

This is a very thorny problem and one that won't be resolved until adults stop viewing schoolgirls in the way that so many do.

The school here has strict rules, exactly the same for boys and girls. All trousers are Trutex (available in a range of waist sizes and leg length). Skirts are knee length, hanging not fitted and can only be worn in the summer term.

in the states it's mostly only private schools where the children where uniform although it looks as though it will eventually go that way. Wearing what "you want" is over rated because it very rarely is what you want to wear and is usually just what's in fashion. And what's in fashion for teens and tweens is usually over sexualized clothing. The kids who dress differently get bullied, the poor kids get bullied. And it's a proven fact that if you stick a woman in a bikini she'll test worse than she did in clothes so I think makes sense for young girls to be dressed in a comfortable way not underdressed because they don't want to look weird. and maybe most importantly skinny jeans looks like a really nasty recipe for thrush to me

I agree with Whereyouleftit as well. I don't think it's wrong for school to specify a couple of styles of trousers for both boys and girls. No low-rise or skinny styles seems fair enough to me.

Startail you say that the concept of uniform is outdated. Would you like to tell that to nurses, police officers, the military, Tescos, etc. There are an awful lot of jobs where you need to conform to a uniform. The concept of certain clothes being more suitable than others at different times and places is quite an important one for young people to learn imo.

can't see why uniforms aren't "uniform " anyway. why aren't the girls and boys wearing the same?

I agree with where you left it.

"In anycase why shouldn't girls wear 'sexy' clothes if they want to? Why because it might distract the boys."
Or maybe, because it encourages the perception that they HAVE to wear sexualised clothes if they want to fit in/not be teased by the 'queen bees'? And as for 'if they want to' - why do they want to? Because the media has suckered them into thinking they must? How dare the schools resist the fashion industry!

Our school uses the wording 'trousers must be of a style that would be acceptable in a traditional office' for our uniform specification. That's for both boys and girls. The girls do end up being in toruble for it more often but that's because they don't seem to accept that a traditional office wouldn't allow them to wear the skin-tight, very low wasited styles they insist on wearing. The boys just turn up in basic trousers, which doesn't get them in trouble.

We do tend to have more boys in trouble about the style of shoes they wear, as the boys are more likely to try it on with trainer styles than the girls.

I'm slightly concerned at the way my niece dresses for school. She is only 14 and she wears skintight trousers. I agree that boys and girls should have the same uniform guidelines. When I was at school the girls trousers were the same style as the boys', just regular straight school trousers. We had the option of a skirt instead, but otherwise we looked very similar. Now there is peer pressure for girls to look as sexy as possible in uniform.

Mungo, startail hasn't said if they are talking about legging style trousers or not.

In my old school the girls still have to wear skirts - no trousers allowed!

Well I don't see leggings as a sexual item of dress so I don't see the issue with girls wearing them.