Why is this a protest?

but I did prefer it when young pre teen boys protested at wanting to wear girls clothes because it made them feel more comfortable in hot weather

But as far as I understand all the coverage, this is exactly why they wore skirts. They were not allowed to be out of school uniform, skirts are school uniform, ergo they wore them when it was too hot to wea trousers.

The girls can do exactly the same, but in reverse: in warm weather, they can wear skirts, and when it's colder, they can wear trousers.

I don't think you're making a valid point here.

Portrayed by whom as demeaning?

I can't see anything in the article or the photograph which leads to that conclusion. Do you think it is demeaning?

It does make me feel uncomfortable when it's portrayed as boys wearing girls clothes as if they are demeaning themselves in doing so

Are they demeaning themselves? I don't think they are. Do you? How very odd.

I didn't think the very stylish boy I saw in Covent garden yesterday in his black cotton skirt.was demeaning himself.

You can think it's all rubbish all you like but the difference in coverage of clothing made for girls compared to boys starts from a very young age and the contrast is stark.

This, shorts for example

I wanted long shorts for dd, couldn't find any and ended up buying from the 'boys' section

whisky

Its not womens fault that the men have to wear suits

My husbands firm have only just got rid of ties

It would be dead easy to get a list of suitable clothes for office wear...they just dont want to

People don't act in a sodding vacuum. If every message they are getting from adverts, from the people round them, from the DM sidebar of shame, from TV, from movies is emphasising the importance of women being pretty and slim, a lot of women are going to take on board the message that they should be pretty and slim, and that only when they achieve that can they be happy and confident. So yes, in that respect they 'enjoy' it. Also the transformation of women from being hideous blotchy monsters into goddesses is described as 'pampering' or 'because you're worth it!' to make it seem empowering. It's so fucking cynical.

Whisky2014

Do you think the objectification of women by society and media is totally made up?

No, I didn't actually say all women. But you seem to just have a complex about men. You seem to be a man hater/blamer.

Please tell me how you could possibly know this. Do you know all brand wear product designers?

Someone can prove me wrong if they want.

You seem to know all women "want to look pretty" and spend hours on end getting hair and tanning done.

Their parents

Of course you're going to claim it's mainly mothers, so say it's mainly women who want their children to dress in such different ways, ignoring the whole issue of the impact of culture and expectations of appearance and the messages this enforces in children. Probably pointless debating this.

It's also the case workplace dress codes have been made and enforced almost entirely by men. It's nearly all (if not all) men who design men's suits so maybe they should start designing suits with shorts for adult men since there's apparently such a demand.

Please tell me how you could possibly know this. Do you know all brand wear product designers?

And who would you say predominantly buys these clothes for said children?

You can think it's all rubbish all you like but the difference in coverage of clothing made for girls compared to boys starts from a very young age and the contrast is stark.

It's also the case workplace dress codes have been made and enforced almost entirely by men. It's nearly all (if not all) men who design men's suits so maybe they should start designing suits with shorts for adult men since there's apparently such a demand.

Women love looking pretty.

Oh right. I had no idea objectification and sexualisation of girls and women didn't exist and it was simply down to this. Noted.

If women don't want to wear it they wouldn't buy it. Men really don't care as much as we think they do about what we wear.

We discussed the high heels and make up thing. We all agreed that forcing heels or make up is not on unless it's a job where you'd expect it.model or whatevery. Thatall workplaces should have a clear and fair work wear policy.

I think this is rubbish Because women and girls are deemed to be primarily decorative and so fashion of all kinds is designed for women and girls of all ages to be more revealing. See the difference in shorts for girls and shorts for boys, t-shirts for girls and t-shirts for boys, etc. It's men in the main who've dictated this, as well as the design of suits and workplace attire.

Women love looking pretty. This is clear when women are not at work and are still choosing to get their hair done, wear heels, make up, perfume, nails done, tanning etc etc...men are not to blame for this!!

Why are there not suits comprised of shorts rather than trousers?

Because women and girls are deemed to be primarily decorative and so fashion of all kinds is designed for women and girls of all ages to be more revealing. See the difference in shorts for girls and shorts for boys, t-shirts for girls and t-shirts for boys, etc. It's men in the main who've dictated this, as well as the design of suits and workplace attire.

Workplaces can still in some circumstances force women to wear make up and high heels for work despite a significant campaign, which also shows how women are primarily viewed.

Just listening to be radio 2 discussing this topic. A guy wrote in to say he remembers working in an office where the men had to wear a full suit and tie and only when it reached over 30 degrees were they allowed to even loosen their tie and yet the women were allowed to go in wearing tank tops! Fucking ridiculous

inlove because if a man dressed in a similar fashion then women would complain.

I think it's also that the range of "acceptable" clothing for women is much broader ...no, we as women have deemed it to be appropriate. The 3 men I spoke to didn't think it was. And it's also not fair. Why are there not suits comprised of shorts rather than trousers?

It was fine. They were specifically told they couldn't wear shorts but could wear skirts. White shirt and tie is part of many girls' school uniforms, no problem there. So are black socks - those were acceptable at my DD's all girls' school. Shoes have to fit, you can't just borrow from other people, and a lot of girls wear brogues or similar.

Indeed Datun. Some of the boys said they felt comfortable in skirts and enjoyed wearing them. It'd be good if they felt able to do so more often and more boys and men then found it acceptable to (though shorts should also be permitted in my opinion). The notion skirts are embarrassing for boys/men is ridiculous and grounded in sexism - it's excellent if incidents like this help combat that.

I think I get it. Is it that the school will be shamed into changing their uniform policy because the boys are doing something embarrassing? And that embarrassment is related to the enforcement of gender norms?

If so, I understand the point.

But to be honest, all I thought was that this might make the boys wear skirts more often. It might actually change peoples minds about skirts being acceptable for both sexes.

Because it didn't look like an embarrassing piss take, it looked like they were quite comfortable in their skirts.