School discriminating against girls re pe kit

[Universitychallenging]

(Braving here because I want a feminist view)

My daughters school makes the girls wear skorts for pe and games. The boys wear shorts. The girls are not allowed to wear shorts for hockey and pe.

Boys are allowed to leave the school grounds after pe and games in their shorts.

Girls are made to change into jogging bottoms because that's re rules.

At this stage, DD just refuses, they threaten her with detention and she tells them to ring me.

I am going to have to email - so far I've got

It's regulation kit. The school picked it. Therefore if you chose it she's doing nothing wrong in wearing it.

If the boys leave in shorts girls should leave in skorts. Or both in joggers.

It's pure clear sexism. And as such illegal. Treating the girls differently pure on the grounds of their sex.

Is there anything else I can say to make it stronger?

I think you've had some good suggestions here. I fail to see why schools still need to enforce 'skirts for girls, trousers for boys' rule. Why can't they just have a list of what the school uniform is and let pupils decide which of those garments they wish to wear?
I thought the point of schools was to provide an education not to enforce a draconian dress code. The only message I'm taking away from this is that boys are allowed to do what they want and girls must dress like girls on school premises, but change before leaving in case anyone has an issue with what they're wearing.

If you don't get a satisfactory response from the head of the school, perhaps you could approach the board of governors?

My DC's (secondary) school insist on both boys and girls wearing tracksuit bottoms outside of the Games or PE lesson. It ought not to sound unreasonable to anyone if you question the rule at your DD's school.

It's absolutely not a trans issue

Makes you wonder how the school would deal with a trans child though doesn't it? If in this century they can't let girls wear trousers or the boys jogggers

This is not a trans issue.

I stated on another thread that I didn't post in this section because it was all about trans. Every other thread became or was about trans.

I was right. Even knowing that I didn't want this to turn into a trans discussion it couldn't just be a sexist school policy one it had to be turned into a trans debate.

The PE uniform at my DD’s school was shorts for boys and skorts for girls but both boys and girls could leave wearing them if they wanted. I collected my DD often after end of day PE and she would be wearing her skort and hockey hoodie. I really can’t see why the girls in the OP’s school have to wear joggers and the boys don’t. I reckon OP’s DD needs to keep resisting this stupid rule.

there's a big difference between a longer school skirt and skorts which are short and shows bare legs

The OP evidently is happy that the skort (or shorts if they were allowed) would be fine. As to the shortness - I doubt her DD does this, but haven't you ever seen the girls who roll up their waistbands as soon as they're out of the gates?

My DC's (secondary) school insist on both boys and girls wearing tracksuit bottoms outside of the Games or PE lesson

Are there exceptions for girls who aren't allowed to wear trousers for religious reasons?

Not everyone will have seen that comment, OP. If the issue ever does arise at your DD's school, it might catalyse uniform reform but at the moment it's irrelevant to the question you asked which is how you best deal with the school on it's sexist uniform policy.

I think Amy has highlighted the illogic of their current position well, perhaps work some of that into your letter (which I think is pretty good anyway). Follow the follow the advice of that government website page - raise with the head, then if necessary with the PTA and/or governors.

If it was my DD (fortunately she is at a girls' school which has sensible uniform rules) I think I would suggest that for the time being she accepts the rules but be clear that you are not letting the matter rest.

Ugh. I can't bear unnecessarily strict school uniform rules, and unnecessarily strict school uniform rules with sexist undertones are even worse.

I think I'd start by asking why they require the girls, but not the boys, to change into jogging bottoms, then respond to the reason given.

At dd's school the boys wear shorts and the girls can wear either shorts or a skort. Both have the option of trackies or leggings and can wear what they want home. Girls often wear a skort with a blazer over the top home if they've been doing sports. It looks a bit odd but never mind. A skort probably gives the best coverage if wearing a sanitary towel i would think.

Sorry, it's the girls who have the option of leggings not both. In practice most choose a skort only and no leggings/shorts/trackies

So the school forces girls to wear an item of clothing that they believe the girls shouldn't be seen in in public?? WTF? Do they consider their own uniform to be unsuitable?

Does the school earn a percentage from the branded uniform suppliers? More uniforms will be sold when kit can't be passed down amongst opposite-sex siblings.

I see no need for skorts and no need for the girls to change if the boys don't. This does seem sexist and I would bring it up.

Find like-minded parents in the same school. Kick up a stink. If it doesn't work, go to local press

I think I have been reading too many trans threads, I was about to suggest that when the bell goes she 'identifies as male' for the walk home.

How about asking why your daughter is forced to display her legs to teachers and teenage boys and not the general public? Perhaps the school are practicing a form of purdah, inside the building females must conform to the head's desire for them to wear a skort but force them to cover up when they leave.

I agree that it's twisted, forcing girls to wear something they can't wear in public.

Also, since the girls (alone) have to change, do they have to leave the PE lesson earlier than the boys (I'm assuming lessons are mixed)? What are the boys doing during the [5 minutes?] that the girls are off doing mandatory covering-up? Getting more education? Having some leisure time? Either way, calculated over the year, that builds up to a lot of time the girls are being made to do a mandatory activity that the boys don't. The message that this sends would give me the rage

You absolutely have to challenge this, when my DD was in year 8 a letter went out to parents of all year 7,8 and 9 girls from the PE dept stating that menstruation would no longer be an acceptable reason to sit out of swimming unless a Drs note was supplied.. My DP was so annoyed by this he rang the school immediately and challenged them to justify their "sexist policy". We received a call back from the Head of PE who was on paternity leave at the time who explained that many of the girls seemed to menstruate for 3 weeks out of 4 and the letter was to try and stop this, he said it was not aimed at DD as she did not do this. DP said it was none of his business how long a girl menstruated for and pointed out that parents cant take their daughters to the Dr every time they have a period. He told him that he should withdraw his sexist letter or he would take it further. Head of PE conceded that the letter was "ill advised" and it was withdrawn. DP was "that parent" DD was mortified that her dad had got involved but I'm sure he wasn't the only parent to point out the schools error. Your DD has a perfectly valid point and you are quite right to challenge the school.

That's awful undersold. "Ill-advised" indeed, OTOH I do feel some sympathy for the PE teacher faced with a whole bunch of girls who menstruate for 75% of the time - I'm not sure what they should do?

Maybe they should have a long, hard think about why a lot of girls want to avoid swimming.(my guess would be its often the showering/changing arrangements)

I'm in my 40s and when we were at school no one was allowed to miss PE because of their period. I remember my mother (very old fashioned) being outraged because I insisted on being allowed to use tampons. She was adamant that they weren't suitable for young girls. But there's not a hope that we would have been allowed to dodge swimming because of our period, so tampons were the answer.

I don't remember anyone being allowed to dodge PE unless they were on crutches or in plaster.

I don't remember being allowed to dodge PE, but you were allowed to to wear your sports skirt instead of just navy knickers (yes, really) for gym, and not have to shower (naked, no privacy) afterwards. Unsurprisingly a lot of girls stretched their periods to the max.

That's true Errol. OTOH teens being teens it's also possible that it's a wheeze that's swept the school because the alternative arrangements are more attractive/what all the cool girls are doing. No way for us to know - though a competent teacher should be able to find out. I remember at school there was just one girl who was allowed to skip swimming once a month due to unmanageable periods - the female PE teacher knew her well enough to know she wasn't trying it on.

I don't understand the continuing popularity of PE skirts. Very few adult sportswomen wear skirts. Even those that do, like tennis and hockey players, don't wear nasty pleated ones paired with a polo shirt. Time and time again, studies show that girls find PE uniforms a disincentive to taking part, yet nothing seems to change.
DD's school theoretically let both boys and girls wear a tracksuit for outdoor PE, but in practice, the teachers had all sorts of odd rules about when you could take your tracky top off or put it on - you had to commit to one or the other, as they didn't allow removing layers during the lesson. The rules about what kind of tracksuits were allowed were also very prescriptive, and off-putting to teenage girls.

It tends to be skorts rather than skirts now doesn't it? At dd's school they have the choice of a skort, shorts, trackies or leggings and the vast majority choose the skort.