Another one....

[Whatwouldscullydo]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/11/school-bans-girls-wearing-skirts-new-gender-neutral-rules/

Another school that seems to think gender neutral means removing options as opposed to adding them.

I hated not being able to wear trousers at school. It was sexist crap. But I'm.also cursed with a body shape that makes wearing trousers difficult whereas a skirt was often easier to get to fit. School trousers trailing across the floor and getting frayed at the bottom wouod have probably not been allowed anyway.

I'm.sure I'm not alone in discovering that when buying school trousers for your dd the only kind that ever seem to fit are the stretchy skinny kind. Which also happen to be the one kind schools always ban.

Until manufacturers at least show their designers a female body , skirts should not be removed as an option.

Always reeks of 'to shut up the male people/political lobby we will remove options from females'.

No. Fuck off with that, females are not on this planet to serve the happiness of their betters.

Spot the sex based, binary thinking that demonstrates the underlying beliefs and makes all the 'we're doing this cos sex isn't binary' patter redundant.

Absolutely op.
Nothing to stop boys turning up in a skirt is there??
More sexist rubbish
Penalising females to make males feel 'included'
Move over girls......

Policing girls clothing? Why not get them to wear a long red cape and and a white hat and be done with it. Anyway, wouldn’t gender neutral be allowing both sexes to wear trousers or skirts as they saw fit?

As usual I am in awe of how schools some how misses bullying and assaults right under their noses but can spot a skirt that's a cm outside regulation length or a kickers dot at 50 paces.

Why don't the boys wear the skirts. Bow welcome do these feel to do so? Whys that the problem.of girls

Just read the article - they do say that boys can/could wear skirts if they wished, but they have brought it in because of skirts being persistently worn too short.

I agree that it's a poor do and taking options away (from girls) rather than being truly gender neutral. However I do empathise with the constant petty battles about skirt length. I used to wish we didn't have a uniform at all, would have saved me hours over the week - I didn't enjoy arguing about skirt length, makeup and nail varnish - would have been perfectly happy to let them wear what they want and get on with it (H&S permitting).

Gender neutral though - bugger (sigh).

As usual I am in awe of how schools some how misses bullying and assaults right under their noses but can spot a skirt that's a cm outside regulation length or a kickers dot at 50 paces

when dd wore non reg skirts she was told off on a daily basis…tights with socks was a no no as well, had quite an interesting email exchange with the school over that one

when dd wore non reg trousers she was never told off…cos to tell her off would have meant they had to tell the boys off as well

Again though, in fairness with the skirts, things like this are an issue when you try and fit 750 girls all different heights weights and shapes and varying stages of development, into the same few items. It just doesn't work. If you are tall and skinny you are fucked. Anything that fits around the waist will be too short. Now the more expensive high street retailers might sell a longer length but not necessarily the cheaper ones like asda or tesco.

Or of u are like me, by the time something is big enough to go over the arse hips and thighs you have too much room.around the waist. I often had to roll skirts as they didnt usually have belt loops.

Ha rufus dd was told off for her ankles.

She was a small 11 year old. Even at 15 she's only 5 ft 3. She was still wearing 9-10 trousers when she started high school. The next size up didn't fit . We repeatedly went back to the uniform shop to keep trying on the next size up. So yes eventually they did hecone a little on thr short side but short of chopping off her ankles or force feeding her burgers until she put on enough weight the waist fitted even if the arse was down to the knees , I'm.not entirely sure what I was meant to do.

It's not the availability of suitable skirts

It's the availability of suitable skirts that teenage girls will tolerate to wear without rolling up at the waist

They banned skirts at a school near us- to be fair i think they could have said they were not banning skirts but would not accept a large belt being worn as a skirt

Boys tend to worry less about looking good and social media has defined looking good as something that would not be acceptable in most offices

Told off for her ankles - are we back in Victorian times?!

Ha rufus dd was told off for her ankles

oh good lord 😀

My dd is super skinny. She also has sensory issues and only wears things that are tight at the waist. Finding anything at all that is long enough on her is almost impossible.

We've been super lucky with her school uniform - but maybe because it's a girl's school.

I assume if a newly trans-ed girl wants to express her new gender by wearing a skirt, the school would feel compelled to allow?! 🙄

I agree becausetrampslikeus its got exactly zero to do with going to a single mixed sex uniform

100% that decision was driven to resolve the problem they had with individual girls taking the oppertunity to customise the uniform.

The school head could have just been honest and say the skirt is taking up too much of the schools time.

The big issue for me if I was a parent is deciding the school would start 30 min earlier. This change is to accomadate reorganising the breaktimes. But I know families who work on a tight schedule and the school start time was weighed into the selection process.

Yeah u r pretty fucked if u have eczema or sensory issues. The tights cost me a fortune.

I was pleased at first that dds school offered tailored jackets for the girls. At last I thought a school recognises girls have a different body shape.

My joy was short lived when it transpired that you cant get a jacket that is long enough that it doesn't pull your shirt out your trousers/skirt, without sizing up more than it is sensible amd comfortablento do so. They don't really get longer they just get wider 🙄

If you look at the actual policy (no idea why the article didn't link it), neither the old (https://tiverton.devon.sch.uk/uniform/ ) nor the new one (linked at top) make any sex- or gender-based distinctions. So presumably anyone can wear a skirt now, and starting in September no one can.

Oddly, there's language about how pupils must wear the jacket and tie whenever they're on school grounds unless doing selected activities, but there's nothing to say they must wear trousers (or shorts). At my school, this would have been a blatant provocation for protest-minded students to arrive in full uniform with no outer bottoms, which would presumably cause its own problems.

Also, from the article: "The school said the new move will end up being cheaper for parents as they have provided options around the price and fit of the trousers by not limiting it to one brand." They could have done this with trousers regardless. Barring pupils from wearing the uniform skirts they already own or any hand-me-down or secondhand skirts is clearly going to be a financial burden for poorer families.

I often hate the way things are twisted to make it look like you are being done a favour.
Uniform should be affordable. All the time anyway. There are multiple cheap supermarket options parents would love to be able to use but can't.

As you say it should not take the removal of options to make it affordable.

If they remotely cared about affordability then this thing would be phased in iger a year or 2 so that all uniform already purchased and or in use can continue to be used until such a time as it needs replacing. Giving a family a few weeks and expecting everyone suddenly be able to source items is ridiculous.

I dont think they realise how bad some trousers actually are. We've tried loads over the years. There's nothing abnormal about my children but finding trousers that fit bras been a nightmare. The cut/designs are horrendous

I remember at school in the 70s us girls were desperate to be allowed to wear trousers, mainly to keep our legs warm in the winter
We weren't allowed......

In the 60s I wasn't even allowed trousers on a non-uniform school trip. Eh, those were the days - permissive and all that.🙄

The number of adults who retreated to tracksuits and loungewear during lockdown was staggering. This is because it is the comfiest. I think that school students should be able to wear the same - good loose-fitting clothing and no silly ties or tight blazers. Whatever is the most conducive to being comfortable and learning.

As always it's all gone full circle hasn't it. Girls back to having to wear one though regardless how it looks or feels or functions. Only this time it's becuase it's inclusive or whatever.

Yeah u r pretty fucked if u have eczema or sensory issues

The dread of having to navigate a shirt and tie and formal trousers with a child who can't handle labels/socks/seams/certain fabrics is real.

I do wish schools would get over this petty controlling behaviour. And yes, of course girls come off worst. Plus ca change.

Is that right that the boys can wear skirts? Sorry I couldn't get through the paywall.

In that case, girls could identify as gender questioning boys on the days they fancy wearing a skirt. Simple.

I wonder if when it doesn't solve the issues it's believed it will solve. And let's face it they will simply move on to policing trousers or bras or shirt collars etc whether they realise they have a behaviour issue they need to solve and not a uniform one.

I disagree. I like schools that have a no make up and trouser policy for girls. I think there is a huge pressure on teenage girls to look sexy and appealing at all times and anything that just takes that option/obligation off the table is a little bit of respite from our pornified world.