It's like a pincer attack

[Charliethefeminist]

boys who are distracted by knee length skirts and opaque tights need to sit the fuck back

Men in our spaces
Men policing our clothes

Men silencing our objections
Men trying to criminalise self defence

LEAVE WOMEN AND GIRLS ALONE

Havelock @HounsdownSchool? Want to be sure I’ve got the right place.

This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous and outrageous. If the reporting is correct the problem is males perving on girls. The girls look absolutely fine in the regular uniform, I cannot believe they and their families have been humiliated in this way and missed a lot of their education.

I’m just relieved my 18 yr old and 15 yr old girls go to a mixed school with no uniform, just general rules and guidelines that are very relaxed. God knows what this idiotic teacher would think of them as most of the girls spend the day in tight yoga leggings from Lululemon! Loads of girls do sport at their school and they have a long day so comfort is their priority. Thank good they are mature and sensible about teenage development, the school is concerned with their emotional, intellectual and physical health and not what their bum looks like in clothes!!!!!! Gawd sake I hate this utter bullshit.

This sort of nonsense crops up regularly. People trying to blame girls for boys' and men's' behaviour.

It's infuriating. It should be a thing.

Teenage girls are not responsible if their normal bodies are upsetting other people.

Look.

All you know is what has been reported by the DM, and the letter from the school. The letter just says they aren't conforming to standards.

MN typically doesn't like to believe everything the DM writes. The 'sad face' photo is often mentioned.

Why would you tweet a school when you aren't in position of the facts? You know what the girls claim was said. But also this school will have ~200? y10&y11 girls that are managing to conform to the uniform rules. The girls in the article do not have an unusual body shape. It doesn't strike me as logical that all the other girls can meet the standards but these girls can't.

Surely it would be better to comply with rules and take up the complaint in parallel?

So you think it is acceptable for schools to have a two tier uniform policy for girls? Nice pencil skirts for slim girls and voluminous skirts for girls who have matured? So basically what the kids will see as a "fat girl uniform!". I wonder how many boys have been told their arses are too fat for their trousers??

There has to be a legal route for the girls to take - this is completely contravening their rights to an education!

This is ridiculous, and very similar to the sort of punishment adult women get at work for wearing standard officewear type tops while being large of nork.

If the boys are "distracted" then maybe they need to focus more. How about dealing with them as and when they fail to do so in lessons rather than penalizing girls for the terrible crime of having a larger than average bum?

The point is though TeenTimes that what the girls were wearing is in no way inappropriate and was the regulation school skirt. The point is that girls should really be able to go to school wearing whatever the fuck they want without basically being told they are too womanly and a distraction to men. This is a man problem...not a teenage girl problem.

So the girls are lying now as well

Awesome.

Because we all know how it works. There's always one or 2 picked out. Always

God knows for someone who was pretty much invisible to everyone at school garuntee you if I was in a room with a thousand other people all wearing exactly the same skirt , I'd have been the one picked out

It's m&s ffs everything pretty much looks like someone died and donated the clothes. It would be very difficult to dress inappropriately with their uniform. It's the most shapeless awful poor quality crap.

And yes I can well believe they have a subtle shape issue which means it looks slightly different

My dd is the same. She doesn't look abnormal in any way shape or form but try kitting her out in unifirm. Trousers make her look like she's wearing a nappy . They are restrictuve and strangely long and huge on her at the same time. And skirts...Well they have always been on the short side because everything is massive and you need to size down

I disagree. It wasn't 'the regulation school skirt'. They have guidelines (which are mentioned online but I can't find the details), and they point people at a local school suppliers, but say skirts can be sourced from elsewhere. There is no way I believe these girls can't get skirts that meet the uniform requirements whether from Skoolkit, or John Lewis / M&S in Southampton. These girls are not an unusual shape - other girls can meet the requirements, why can't these?

The point is that girls should really be able to go to school wearing whatever the fuck they want

In which case fight with every school up and down the land that has a uniform policy

without basically being told they are too womanly and a distraction to men

this is only hearsay though, from the girls who clearly don't want to attend school enough to follow the school uniform guidelines.

I agree that girls shouldn't be told they are a 'distraction' to boys if that really is what happened. But equally I don't think that this case is strong enough for warriors to fight about as it is hearsay.

But wtf is wrong with the skirt?

It's not short. Or revealing. It's from a schoolwear department if one if the biggest high street unifirm retailers.

And how are they not ok but pervert friendly upskirting paradise model is ok?

And even the teachers couldn't find one suitable...

The girls aren't the problem

I don't know what is wrong with the skirt.
As I said before, they look fine to me.

But you have no idea what the uniform guidelines say.

I expect they say no tight clothes (trousers and skirts) and/or skirts to be no more than X inches above the knee.

I have a male friend who is a teacher. He says he never comments on girls uniforms as he knows he can't win, and will be accused of 'perving' even if just making a factual statement on how rules aren't being adhered to.

I’m pretty sure most of The Boys aren’t distracted by their peers wearing regulation school uniform. It’s something projected by adults.
I think the mail article with the photos of the girls posing , inviting adult readers to see how tight/ inappropriate or not they think their clothes are is weird as well.

Don't you think it's odd though that every skirt was unsuitable bar the old lady see through one?

Does that not indicate the guidelines are either impossible or that the girls really are being punished for puberty

^I don't know what is wrong with the skirt.
As I said before, they look fine to me.^

They have a 'skirt rule' and according to the article, another friend has the same skirt and is not being sent home for it. Said friend doesn't have the hips of these girls.

All three of the skirts in the images look like perfectly fine business-suitable skirts.

The pleated glossy one, isn't going to be - it's lightweight, so it's bad for winter, it will blow right up in the wind, and it's going to be fairly translucent - especially when taking pictures/in bright light (I note that in the pictures they're wearing leggings under the skirts, I'm guessing for exactly that reason)

Does that not indicate the guidelines are either impossible or that the girls really are being punished for puberty

It indicates to me that they went along after the start of the school term when stocks would be low so maybe they didn't have everything in all sizes.
It still indicates to me that the other girls in the year will have got their (conforming) skirts from somewhere.
And it indicates to me than rather than go the 3 miles into S'oton to John Lewis / M&S, (or 10 miles to the gigantic M&S in Hedge End) (or order a selection online) the family would rather have their girls miss y10 schooling.

They are the same skirts . They got them from the same place. Skirts don't change cos you go ten miles down road to a different store.

They were fine the term befire too

The man's a loon. There's nothing wrong with those girls' skirts.

I find it very worrying that the teacher went shopping for skirts with them!!!

They look completely normal in the photos. Nothing wrong at all.

I can't imagine my headteacher caring enough about the girls skirts to go shopping for us.

I know the Gilead thing gets thrown about too much but they'll be wanting our bank cards next.

Just remember, it's always a woman's fault! Or a girl's.

Some people really will try to find a way to blame us for anything.

Those poor girls. This is such bollocks.

Mind you as a PP said, it doesn't get much better in adult working life. As someone with a natural hourglass shape I've had to contend with being seen as a sex object in pretty much the same clothes as peers with a different body shapes.

It can be hard to find smart work outfits that aren't in some way deemed inappropriate.

It's not the clothes, it's our bodies. This sort of thing really is the start of the slippery slope to burkas

I once got told I was dressed inappropriately for work in a long sleeved polo neck jumper, because apparently I should have known to leave my boobs at home.

@TheWholeHog Yes that's the one.