Short Skirts

[malibuloving]

So DCs school has a new headteacher coming in in September. The uniform has stayed the same apart from the blazer getting a makeover and becoming a bit posher

However, the uniform used to be fairly optional as long as a blouse/shirt, school jumper and black shoes/trainers were worn you didn’t have to wear the blazer. Now the new head has sent booklets home to all families with information.

He’s changed the skirt rule. The former head was a proud feminist and said girls and boys can wear skirts or trousers, it was totally up to them and the skirt used to be fine as long as you couldn’t see their underwear! I would say 99% of the students really did respect this rule end wore suitable length (for school) skirts.

Now the new head has abolished trousers for girls and skirts for boys. Girls skirts must come below the knee and if seen higher, an hour detention is the immediate punishment. His reasoning? ‘X is a professional site in which all students must aspire to learn and we must all endure we don’t distract other students by our attire’ He’s evidently stating that shorter skirts distract boys and that girls must be responsible for boys behaviour.

I also have a DS at the school and it says on his booklet it states that if boys are seen with their trousers hanging down so underwear can be seen, they are put in for a 45 minute detention?

Aibu to think this is blatantly sexism and to think about complaining? I’m not usually one to get on the schools’ back as I know they’re underfunded etc but this is ridiculous in my eyes and the eyes of DDs and peers.

@messolini9 That line was used underneath the line about girls skirts being long. So it’s sauing in that context that short skirts distract other students hmm

None of this is new at all. I left school over a decade ago and skirts had to be a certain length, you were given a detention if you walked around with a mini skirt on. I actually think this rule is fine, women can’t wear mini skirts in the workplace (unless they’re a stripper) so it’s just setting them up for that.

I don’t think girls should ever be forced to wear skirts though. I wore trousers on my period, one of my friend’s was a lesbian and she wouldn’t be seen dead in a skirt. Skirts should not be enforced at all, that part is very wrong and anti-feminist.

malibuloving Your DH is very upset because girls can’t wear trousers! I think there are a lot bigger issues to fret over. I’m fed up seeing girls walking to school in skirts that are completely hidden under their blazers. How can they sit down or bend over without showing off their underwear? Unless they have legs like a model they don’t look good so this rule would stop them looking a mess. Don’t care if they wear trousers though.

I’d complain about boys being given a different length of detention, that’s completely sexist!
Also not everyone can afford to buy new skirts and socks!
I do think they are very unreasonable to use the professional line, barely any women wear skirts in my workplace. Fair enough if they banned skinny trousers (for both sexes) and said they had to be fitted/loose but to completely ban them in this day and age is wrong

messolini9 Please explain how the sight of a girl's knees is distracting to another student?

I don't need to, @CassianAndor, as I don't believe that it is.

You'd retain a little more credibiity if you refrained from putting words into PP's mouth, or attributing motivations to them which simply do not exist.

Plus, there is nothing ‘professional dress code’ about knee high socks.

Those fuckers went out in the 1980s and are largely the preserve of schoolgirl wank fodder now.

messolini9 Those are the HT's own words, following a change to skirts only and skirt length, which you agree with.

I'm not putting words into anyone's mouth.

I would be hopping mad at girls not being allowed to wear trousers, so much so that I think it would be a great idea if all the girls were kept off school until the rule was changed.

Discussion should be the first option but if he doesn't see sense...

@messolini9 That line was used underneath the line about girls skirts being long. So it’s sauing in that context that short skirts distract other students hmm

Was it, @malibuloving?
How would you know? You haven't seen the original document.
"That line" was a direct quote from the Head.
"The line about girls' skirts" is the OP's own words, not a quote.

The only place we've seen both lines conflated is in the OP's post.
The original document probably has more logical spacing, & if the 2 lines are shown in 2 separate paragraphs, for example, then it is because they are referencing 2 separate points.

But this is just tiresome nitpicking really - when we all agree the main point, which is Head is being an intolerable arse?

And just to clarify - under Head's new regime, short skirts WILL be distracting, because they will now stand out from the regulation knee-length skirts.

Distracting to everyone, not just boys.

I'm not putting words into anyone's mouth

Except mine, with your slanderous Straw Man nonsense @ Mon 19-Aug-19 10:37:23 @CassianAndor

Still, you can't seem to see it for yourself so why don't you make one more ineffective comeback now, & I'll leave you to have that last word you're so desperately craving here?
pip pip

If schools are so underfunded and stretched and teachers so overworked... Why are they dedicating time and resources to something that doesn't matter?

Keep it simple. Black trousers. White top. Black cardigan or jumper in winter. No detentions, no enforcements, no resources and cheap for parents.

I see nothing wrong with specifying the skirt length. We had a similar rule at school about skirts being knee length or longer, and it had nothing to do with boys - I went to an all-girls school.

The girls should be allowed to wear trousers though. And tights if they choose. Being warm should not be a privilege just for the boys.

I would be absolutely furious if a new head came in and told the girls they weren't allowed to wear skirts anymore, the length thing wouldn't bother me too much and the boys having to keep their underwear in the trousers would be a good thing. I wish someone would enforce that rule on my 40 year old neighbour who still walks around like some sort of skater boys no matter where he's going. I'm only 29 and I want to give him into trouble.

Something about that rule being enforced by a male head teacher, when the previous head was female, would annoy me even more for some reason

Me too, Drogo.

Do you not have any Muslim pupils in the school?
Even when I was at school in the Dark Ages the Muslim girls were allowed to wear trousers... I said to my friends at the time that it was religious discrimination against the non Muslim girls but didn't take it any further.
These days, however, I reckon there is no way that it would be acceptable to allow only pupils of a certain religion to wear trousers.... so in short, the new unfirm policy is definitely discriminatory and all pupils should be allowed to choose whether they wear skirts or shorts.... it's up to the school to specify what they consider "decent" for each item and to apply the rules fairly.

And since it is a "professional situation" presumably he has forbidden his female staff to wear trousers, too?
I'm sure they love the idea. NOT.

I'd have been really upset with being forced to wear a skirt. I always felt cold and tights were uncomfortable.

I already have so many issues with school (and work) dress codes. They usually dont serve other purpose than control. It's so ridiculous. There is no reason for girls to wear trousers. There is no reason to control types of socks/tights. There is no reasons to me took the word "distraction" as reasoning. It's also ridiculous that girls get 45min detention and boys get 1h. I guess boys education and time is not important.

No we didn't have school uniforms or other rules regarding appearance and I've still managed to grow up and get a job and dress appropriately.

Girls should be able to wear trousers - why the heck not? But the exposure of lots of the body in a school environment isn’t very appropriate, so the skirts should be of a sensible length.

I would utterly refuse a skirt rule change that did not foster respect but actively encouraged policing and shaming by specifying a length and making up a load of crap about "distracting" others.
An answer about why trousers are unprofessional for girls and women would be what I'd want first. He's just imposing his archaic views, no matter how he phrases it

I went to private school abroad and our uniform was very strict down to the colour and type of accessories like hair hands etc.. We also had a strict knee length skirt policy, and stockings, minimal and natural make-up and court shoes in 6th form only. We were a girls' school so the skirt length was not about being a distraction to boys etc., but professionalism. To be honest we were beautifully turned out and I actually appreciated the strictness because it's something small and dumb but instilled discipline, self-esteem and a collective school pride, which actually pushed us to want to do our best in everything. Uniform infractions were rare as well. I think sometimes as dumb as it may seem these things are important, sometimes in life you just have to follow rules and do things you don't like. I do disagree with banning trousers for girls though but would appreciate the rest.

My secondary school DS is not allowed to wear shorts as part of their uniform (other than for PE) only full length trousers. Is that not pretty much the same as saying no to short skirts?