Transgender pupils allowed to chose uniform

[ChiefClerkDrumknott]

So girls still have to wear skirts and boys still have to wear trousers. This is merely the reinforcing of gender stereotypes hidden under the banner of progressive open-mindedness. Why not allow pupils to pick which they'd rather, regardless of sex?

Uniform changes

There is no justification at all for requiring girls to wear skirts. Trousers are conventional clothing for women and girls and have been for a long time. There is no way to articulate the requirement in a way that is not sexist.

I almost never wear skirts, mainly because I cannot stand to wear pantyhose (I know MNetters hate that word, but I'm American; tights mean something else). Even though I could get away with not wearing them because I live in Florida (the expectation that they must be worn with a skirt is more a NY thing, I think), I don't like the way my legs look bare. So it's part comfort and part vanity. And I am in a profession that dresses fairly conservatively. The notion that women and girls have to wear skirts to look smart is ridiculous and sexist.

Seneca, just out of interest - what does 'tights' mean in the US? I'm aware of a few words with different meanings in Uk and US English but that's a new one.

In the US, pantyhose are sheer; tights are opaque and thicker. I hate them all.

Thanks. I'll add that to 'sidewalk', trunk' and 'fanny'!

Another problem with skirts and tights is it makes it more difficult going to the toilet for girls aged 4/5/6. Well it does for my DD anyway!
Plus there's the thing where you come out of the cubicle and everyone laughs because the back of your skirt is tucked in your knickers/tights!
And another thing i don't like about skirts in general is that thing where you see yourself in a photo and realise you weren't sitting "properly" and everyone can see up your skirt!

My legs don't rub together when I wear a skirt, but in hot weather they do 'stick' together. That's a horrible sensation, trying to 'unstick' yourself.
Cotton or linen trousers are ace for summer (when shorts are not appropriate).

This is hugely regressive in my opinion - the idea that a girl may only prefer to wear trousers if she 'wants to be male' or 'identifies as male'.

Very poor attitude from a so-called progressive institution.

I can't work out what they are actually saying though, the wording of reports varies so much. The idea that there is a "skirt uniform" and a "trouser uniform" and that everyone gets to pick is a progressive one (which incidentally benefits transgender pupils too). The idea that you have to pick a gender based on clothing preference and stick to it is bizarre. So bizzare I'm tempted to believe it's poor reporting.

noray - what is a UK trunk and a US trunk?!

I had a look at Twitter and I'm still confused about what the school mean. It would be an extraordinary thing - and a great test case - if you had to identify as male to wear trousers.

A uk trunk is an old fashioned suitcase

A us trunk is a car boot

If you look at the telegraph article the head very definitely says that there is a girl's uniform and a boy's uniform. Each uniform is to be worn in its entirety. The only way to wear trousers is to be male or identify as make.

Bloody hell That is grim. Although I'd have had a lot of fun with it as a teenager.

WomaninWall (are you the woman hanging out of Phoebe's artwork in Friends?) - ah, I did vaguely remember the UK trunk but I generally think of a car boot when I hear the word trunk.

or, I think of exercise class - get rid of the junk in the trunk!!!

Apart from anything else, what kind of school in this day and age has no girls "required" to wear trousers for religious/cultural reasons? I know that's a whole other can of worms, but in practice it's the reason why lots of schools did move to allowing trousers for girls.

No, I am a song lyric... and a mummy, in both senses of the word.

So I am possibly creepier than Phoebe's pictures!

Apparently Brighton College was the first public school (not sure what the criteria is for public vs. Private school) to have an openly gay head boy.
How on earth would they know this? Is there some kind of national Head Boy database??

Shirley "but in practice it's the reason why lots of schools did move to allowing trousers for girls."

oh dear. I didn't know that.

In the US, trunk also means a large luggage type thing. It's the car boot/trunk that has different terminology.

So female young muslims will need to identify as a boy to wear trousers?

"So female young muslims will need to identify as a boy to wear trousers?"

Almost certainly not. It is totally routine for schools, even those with skirts only as the general rule, to have an adapted form for those with a well defined religious need.

There was a boys uniform, trousers and a tweed jacket, shirt, tie, and a girls uniform, bolero jacket and pleated check skirt ( not a kilt 😄) and open neck shirt. All they have done is change the name to skirt or trouser uniform. Any pupil may choose to wear either uniform but must wear it consistently for at least a term. So you don't have to be transgender but you do have to be committed. You must wear the whole uniform, so you can't wear former girls jacket with trousers, it's all or nothing, so the majority of girls will not be swooping to trousers. From sixth for m onwards, it's smart business wear. Girls can wear suit trousers presently and presumably boys can now wear skirts.
One pupil so far has elected to swop uniforms.

Umm, if dressing in the other uniform without presumably taking any relevant hormones, aren't boy and girl jackets cut very differently, for boobs/waist vs shoulders/chest?

You have to give it to the headmaster, he hasn't really done anything but Brighton College is all over the papers described as a 'top public school'.

I wonder what zeitgeisty press release he will write next?

Yesterday I said "I hope it doesn't mean each individual pupil is required to sign up for one uniform and always wear it!" and now it seems as though that's exactly what they do require, but the kids have the opportunity to change at the end of each term. What fun.

It's Brighton.

I love the place, lived there for a while, but it does have a vibe to it which feels a bit "How can we freak the rest of the country out today?"

Plus, the head has got some amazing free publicity.

There are, however, far better Public schools close by if that's your bag. It's a competitive world in independant education!