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Original poster

Length of school skirts

181 replies

KingTut · 03/06/2015 08:24

I and my teen daughters are new to feminism and I wondered if I could talk through something?

My daughter refuses to wear a skirt as she can't stand all the length monitoring by staff at school. Dd said she would rather sweat in trousers. Then dd made the interesting comment, it's like they are blaming the girls for the boys not being able to cope if a skirt is above a knee.

It then brought us to the attitude of the Duggar family. The school are not much different really. So why do parents, staff and students say nothing about this skirt length issue? Is there something we are missing?

OP posts:
Original poster
KingTut · 03/06/2015 08:57

I told dd things have moved on and hopefully will again. I remember helping a friend organise a petition to allow us to wear trousers. Our legs got cold in Winter and we froze. We got nowhere at the time.

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 03/06/2015 08:54

Your dd is right my own dds wore trousers mostly to school skirts now and again but you would hear people tutting and commenting on teeny tiny skirts some the girls wore we got a letter home a few times about appropriate length skirts it always struck me its a skirt wtf are they on about,

Original poster
KingTut · 03/06/2015 08:51

Mum interesting. I will read your links thanks.

What practical argument would school have? They also have odd rules about shoes too. I can understand school uniform has to be practical, it feels like they make rules for the sheer thrill of power trip at times.

OP posts:
WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 03/06/2015 08:45

article about girl with her comments

and here

there are more.

in the states they seem to be more upfront with saying things like "immodest" and in one I read that I can't find now a girl was barred from her prom specifically as she would be distracting for the fathers who were there...

In the UK people are more mealy mouthed about what the problem is and use words like "inappropriate" and rarely spell out what they really mean.

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 03/06/2015 08:39

It's really dodgy.

I think the root of it is (and not all poeple obv but this is blunt) society sees females after puberty as sex objects (yes even if they are under 16) and hence the concern over what they wear. As if they wear clothes that show too much skin / shape (and how much is too much obviously varies depending on what society you are in which shows up how arbitrary it is) then that is seen as related to sex, sexuality, sexual display, rather than what you might hope ie there's a child's leg so what.

The words like "inappropriate" "distracting for the boys" and when I was younger things like "dressed like tarts" and so forth. It's because females are there for sex, and clothes are deemed to be an indicator of sexual availability (irrespective of what the person wearing them thinks).

I have never heard a schoolboy in shorts described as looking like a slut, for example.

So yes it's awful and your daughter is right. Some great blog posts by teens in the states who have been turned away from school / events for wearing fairly innocuous clothing on the grounds that it will distract boys / men. Even the slightest thought shows that up as a shit reason to tell them not to do it. Why should it be their problem. And the reason it is their problem is because the media and society sexualise females and this is not something to be encouraged it's something to say, no that's wrong, what the fuck are you talking about, it's a child's leg FGS, if you think that's the same as a soft porn image, or you find yourself unable to control yourself, then you've got something wrong with you.

Keepithidden · 03/06/2015 08:29

Nope, I don't think you're missing anything, except the reason why once again women and girls are the victim and being blamed, and being forced to change their behaviour at the behest of the perpetrator.

The reason is: you're viewed by society as second class by virtue of your gender.

Students, staff and parents generally don't say anything because that's the way we've all been raised and Feminism isn't mainstream enough for most people to pull up the organsiations that perpeutate the above myth.