Stowmarket High: Skirts banned at school 'to protect girls' modesty'

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3691487-Girl-given-detentions-after-trousers-SCHOOL-issued-her-didnt-fit?pg=1

Ugh that school has really gone downhill recently!! Years ago it used to be lovely!

I'm reading this and wondering if I've crossed into Fundytown. (I read a lot of blogs about Christian Fundamentalists and Mormons and this smacks of that kind of nonsense.) What the hell?
'Modesty' can fuck off. Why not teach boys and men to not objectify girls, y'know? That they should takes responsibility for their own actions and not blame it on the way a girl is dressed.

Primary school I only ever wore skirts, secondary I preferred trousers, as an adult I wear trousers at work but much prefer skirts because they're way more comfortable (and I'm one of those people who don't give a damn if my skirt blows up and someone sees my knickers.)

I'm sorry, Grumpy. I definitely understand, and I think most other posters here do. I felt so uncomfortable and self conscious in trousers. I would have hated, absolutely hated, wearing trousers at school. I do hope the school starts listening and changes the policy.

Sorry didn’t preview, the students at show high may be going through a tough time, and what they look like in the uniform should be the last thing on their mind

At Stowmarket high school we are not listened to, the heads think they know what’s best but they don’t, if we try to speak up we are just told that rule are rules and every workplace has rules, I understand this but the students at stow high may be going through a tough time and what they look like I’m the uniform should be their last worry, by speaking out on here I hope someone listens and understands how some of us feel so they can change the policy.

Because just like toilets and uniform everyone forgets girls even exist even when it comes to planning anything.

They honestly never even feature in anyones minds . The they get blamed or forced to moderate their clothes their behaviour everything to compensate.

Stairs used to be built with opaque side screens deliberately to protect women from voyeurs looking up their skirts. Why put in clear glass screens? Frosted glass would prevent the boys from looking.

I love trousers and now I am ( hooray,hooray!) period free I only wear trousers/ shirts.
But not when I was younger,cos I've never felt comfortable in San pro with trousers,having never got on with tampons.Which may be ridiculous but it can't just be me.I could go on at length as to why not,but won't.Also I am a better shape for trousers now,so they are comfortable,but not so much when I was younger.So could I not dress to cope wth what biology was sending my way?
Girls should have skirts as an option.

roll

Thank you Grumpy
I wish this school would listen to the girls, including you, who this actually impacts negatively on.

At 5ft 1 with large hips, bum and stomach, my self confidence suffered terribly at school. When I hit puberty I developed a role of fat on my stomach.
Trousers were uncomfortable and I felt awful in them because they would never fit round my middle, over my stomach and were frequently too long.

I have skinny legs so buying a larger size simply means baggy legs. Im a 16 waist and an 8-10 legs.

Thanks for sharing, Grumpy. WE hear you.

This isn't an issue as far as I'm concerned. Personally I prefer a non uniform policy, in which case you can guarantee that 99.9% would wear trousers anyway, but if not, the school can dictate whatever uniform they decide is most practical

That's not the point here, though is it?
Completely agree that the school can dictate whatever uniform they like and decide is more practical.
If they send out a newsletter saying that skirts are no longer deemed appropriate and not modest enough , it's unsurprising that people are going to take offence at that!
I much prefer to wear skirts than trousers - there should be a choice.

Thank you for sharing grumpy

You confirm what many of us have been saying. I hate dresses and skirts as does my oldest dd. But given our struggles finding trousers which for something designed to fit everyone dont fit anyone particularly well,.skirts proved to be the better option.

Having said that and regrettably showing my age 😂 having attended a school when I was school age that didnt allow trousers for the girls i was equally outraged. To the point that when I went into the sixth form and trousers were finally permitted , despite them.looking like crap I.wore them.

My body shape is a nightmare I have a small ish waist,.huge bum.and thighs and I have a.long body and short legs. Trousers either trailed across the floor ( all.my Jeans have frayed bottoms) , couldn't be pulled up high enough without cutting me in half vertically, and by the time I had a size big enough to go over my hips they were massive around the.waist and constantly fall/fell down. Having saved up in bus fare change a belt was the last thing in could afford...

And yes you do feel fat. Even though you know it's not a fashion parade and all that you still feel like crap.

I.will never condone forcing this onto girls for this very reason .

Most women and girls know this. Skirts arent the default choice for no reason .

People who deal with particularly girls at all.stages of their lives like teachers do, should get this. If they dont they are either a man or just hate girls or both.

Hi all, I’m a student at Stowmarket high school (yes I’m young and probably not meant to be on here but I wanted to join this discussion and speak out) and I’m a girl, I always wear skirts and hate trousers, I find that trousers make me feel uncomfortable and fat, by banning skirts Dave (mr lee Allan) is knocking girls self confidence and could possibly be effecting their attendance, as well as this, because most girls don’t like baggy trousers, they may turn to skinny jeans, which will make the school even more annoyed. Personally I don’t think skinny jeans look that bad, but I get that every place has rules but this ban against skirts is completely unfair, a couple of years ago boys wanted shorts because they got to hot in the summer, the boys are getting shorts, however most girls won’t wear them when the new rules are inforced, this means girls are going to lose concentration in lessons because they are too hot (it all ways happens)

This isn't an issue as far as I'm concerned.

Then why bother commenting?

Please can people who themselves are fine with trousers accept it when other women say that they aren't always, and that it's a good idea to have a choice?

by all those females who insist on existing
Weird how they still manage to exist while wearing trousers though. Like female police officers, fire fighters, soldiers, scrub nurses, etc etc, all the millions of females who manage to exist while wearing trousers.
This isn't an issue as far as I'm concerned. Personally I prefer a non uniform policy, in which case you can guarantee that 99.9% would wear trousers anyway, but if not, the school can dictate whatever uniform they decide is most practical.

Really sick of females having to make allowances the absymal actions of males.

Maybe males should wear blinkers attached to wide brimmed hats instead to limit their field of vision. It could prevent the poor poppets from becoming overwhelmed by lust by all those females who insist on existing.

Juells
Glad it's apparently been reversed though. I mean FFS, you can't help your swimsuit riding up occasionally, and if it's the proper issued one as well, well they bloody issued it!
The bit about the sisters being told to cover up as well - I've 2 ds's and if they can't cope with seeing a female body showing a bit of flesh that's on them, not the girls to cover up!
The whole "modesty" thing for women makes me tbh, what should we do, go round in a burka in case the poor sods can't help themselves but to look?!

So not only misogyny but racism as well. And a mother being told to cover her daughters for the sake of another mother’s sons? She should teach her sons not to be so leery.

I saw a news item yesterday about a poor girl in Alaska who was disqualified from winning a swimming competition because of a wedgie. It was a woman who did the po-faced disqualifying, as well!

Just googled now and see that the decision has been reversed - there was an outcry about it, quite rightly.

uk.style.yahoo.com/teen-swimmer-disqualified-in-race-because-school-issued-swimsuit-broke-modesty-rule-203953094.html

It doesn't help that schools back themselves into a corner by being so prescriptive as to have one specific skirt or pair of trousers that a girl can wear then punish the girl for being too tall/short/thin/curvy wear it.
Short of chopping off their legs or having ot tattooed onto their skin o dont know quite what girls have to do to please these mysoginistic perverted discriminatory arseholes.

No wonder the majority of girls leave school feeling utter shit about themselves

Girls' schools is the answer. Girls do better in them, can't be used to tone down boys' behaviour, and aren't forced to wear modest clothes for fear of distracting the boys.

FFS, it's getting to be like the Middle East. Everything is females' fault for being so seductive and evilly attractive.

They should wear modesty bodices.

I find this quite disturbing. Not too many steps away from suggesting women and girls completely cover every part of themselves or lock themselves away indoors to "protect their modesty". It's offensive. There's a difference between choosing to dress in a certain way and being forced to.

I admit I have a particular interest in this story. I truly hated trousers as a child. Maybe because I'm short, I'm not sure. Every pair was extremely unflattering, and felt very uncomfortable. I felt very self-conscious and unhappy when I tried wearing trousers.

There should be a choice. Trousers or skirts for all pupils - male and female.

This lady on Facebook has a lot to say about school uniform skirts. It triggered a long conversation on a page it was shared to.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10162579296885122&set=a.10150914715965122&type=3&theater

From the age of 4 when girls wear school uniforms unsuitable for playing on climbing frames, turning cartwheels or sitting on the ground in and shoes unsuitable for kicking balls or running in, they are being forced into behaviours and roles that don't always fit. By making an issue about the implied sexual distraction they cause by simply being female places girls into a box where they start to look at boys and males as a threat and see their bodies as something to be ashamed of.

We are faced with an epidemic of children who hate their bodies and want to hide them rather than simply be allowed to dress how they please and not have attention forced upon them.

Boys are given the impression that there is something dangerous, exciting and forbidden about seeing a bra strap or a piece of inner thigh and that they are not responsible for their own behaviour should they decide to react inappropriately as they can use the attire of the girls in question as a defence against any accusation.

Strength to all those parents standing up against the might of this misogyny, teaching their daughters to love their bodies and teaching their sons to respect the bodies of women.