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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Covering up mirrors in school toilets with body positive messages

119 replies

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:18

I love this! There seems to be outright fury in much of the British press where it has happened, but no school girl ( or boy) needs to look in a mirror during the school day.

And the anti make up messages that are being used in many cases give me hope that the tyranny of make up may be losing it's hold

I hate seeing girls fall into it's clutches - beautiful young girls taking on skin-care regimes before they are even teenagers! and needing to cover their faces with crap before they leave the house.

I really hope this movement spreads - lets take down all mirrors in all school toilets

aleteia.org/2017/04/05/high-school-replaces-mirrors-in-girls-bathroom-with-love-notes/

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PortiasBiscuit · 03/03/2023 10:21

Oh for god sake, let them check if they have bloody dinner on their face or if they have smudged their mascara.
Bloody Stupid!
No wonder our kids are so fucked up, the default position is absolutely to assume that they are fucked up, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy!

KimberleyClark · 03/03/2023 10:23

Nothing wrong with using a mirror to male sure you are neat and presentable, if only it stopped there.

AngeloMysterioso · 03/03/2023 10:23

It only says they covered the mirrors in the girls’ loos, so presumably the boys are still allowed to look at their own reflections if they want to?

Sheitgeist · 03/03/2023 10:24

Mirrors are useful.
And there is a huge chasm between obsession with tyrannical beauty regimes and checking that you look tidy and presentable, which most of us would like to be.

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:24

PortiasBiscuit · 03/03/2023 10:21

Oh for god sake, let them check if they have bloody dinner on their face or if they have smudged their mascara.
Bloody Stupid!
No wonder our kids are so fucked up, the default position is absolutely to assume that they are fucked up, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy!

why would anyone be wearing mascara at school?

Just the fact that you think it is ok for a school girl to be wasting school time checking her mascara isn't smudged shows that it really isn't ok for her to have it on at school

What is that doing to her self image? To her social/educational time? to her finances?

Most schools ban it anyway, quite rightly, so taking away the mirrors where it can be applied or checked is helping uphold the school rules

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Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:25

AngeloMysterioso · 03/03/2023 10:23

It only says they covered the mirrors in the girls’ loos, so presumably the boys are still allowed to look at their own reflections if they want to?

That is not right, the boys mirrors need to come down too, but to be fair, mirror gazing is largely a female problem in schools

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Sheitgeist · 03/03/2023 10:26

Most schools ban it anyway, quite rightly, so taking away the mirrors where it can be applied or checked is helping uphold the school rules

Mirrors are not all about make up though!!

PortiasBiscuit · 03/03/2023 10:26

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:24

why would anyone be wearing mascara at school?

Just the fact that you think it is ok for a school girl to be wasting school time checking her mascara isn't smudged shows that it really isn't ok for her to have it on at school

What is that doing to her self image? To her social/educational time? to her finances?

Most schools ban it anyway, quite rightly, so taking away the mirrors where it can be applied or checked is helping uphold the school rules

Do you actually know any teenage girls?

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:27

PortiasBiscuit · 03/03/2023 10:26

Do you actually know any teenage girls?

thousands 😂

including many who are already deeply mired into tyrannical skin care and make up regimes, and whose whole self esteem depends on them

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MrsSkylerWhite · 03/03/2023 10:28

At my ripe old age, I’d like to agree with you, I don’t look in a mirror all day. Rarely brush my hair 😁
My 13 year old self wouldn’t have had the same confidence, though so let them have their mirrors.

KimberleyClark · 03/03/2023 10:28

If there were not mirrors on the walls they would be using pocket mirrors or their phones.

WednesdaysPlaits · 03/03/2023 10:29

What a load of misogynistic crap.

However it doesn't really matter, most of them have phones which can be used as mirrors

AngeloMysterioso · 03/03/2023 10:30

KimberleyClark · 03/03/2023 10:28

If there were not mirrors on the walls they would be using pocket mirrors or their phones.

When I was at school we used to stick mirrors to the inside of our pencil tin lids

GizmoIsSoFluffy · 03/03/2023 10:31

It was done because:
£2000 of damage caused by the children in the recently refurbed toilets.

The messages were used as a catalyst to spark a debate they were doing in English later that term.

The messages are only temporary, the student council are involved and have been asked to help come up with a solution as the school can't afford the damage.

Local school.

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:31

WednesdaysPlaits · 03/03/2023 10:29

What a load of misogynistic crap.

However it doesn't really matter, most of them have phones which can be used as mirrors

phones are banned in many schools, too, you know

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Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:32

GizmoIsSoFluffy · 03/03/2023 10:31

It was done because:
£2000 of damage caused by the children in the recently refurbed toilets.

The messages were used as a catalyst to spark a debate they were doing in English later that term.

The messages are only temporary, the student council are involved and have been asked to help come up with a solution as the school can't afford the damage.

Local school.

no

world wide movement

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WednesdaysPlaits · 03/03/2023 10:32

Its patronising sexist bollocks

SummaLuvin · 03/03/2023 10:33

14 year old braces wearing Summa would have struggled...

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:33

I haven't even used a current, or UK example, due to it mostly being reported in papers I don't want to link to

It has started to take off in UK too, but this particular story is older (and USA I think)

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WandaWonder · 03/03/2023 10:33

I wonder how long they last up?

Deathbyfluffy · 03/03/2023 10:34

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:32

no

world wide movement

Nope. It'll fizzle out, and rightly so - what a load of cobblers

Siameasy · 03/03/2023 10:34

Throwing the baby out with the bath water. I used the mirror a fair bit to check my period hadn’t gone on my skirt. And general tidying up not so much make up. Everyone wears that clown-thick make up now including grown up women so we need to lead the way then?!

SimplySipping · 03/03/2023 10:34

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:27

thousands 😂

including many who are already deeply mired into tyrannical skin care and make up regimes, and whose whole self esteem depends on them

Any hijabi girls who need to check their hair is covered? Or are tyrannical skin care regimes just more important than students being able to present themselves as modestly as they wish to?

GreenWheat · 03/03/2023 10:34

How about we equip our kids with the skills navigate totally normal things instead of wrapping them up in cotton wool, leaving them unable to function as young adults? Bloody ridiculous.

Nimbostratus100 · 03/03/2023 10:35

Deathbyfluffy · 03/03/2023 10:34

Nope. It'll fizzle out, and rightly so - what a load of cobblers

well I have family in the USA who have been seeing this grow for the last 5 years

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