I go to a private school and they have in my view a totally archane gender based uniform policy where girls are required to either wear a school blazer, tie, blouse and pleated skirt, or a school specific dress (all with an optional sweater). The only exclusions are on religious grounds. I would have thought that this could be challenged legally, but one friend told me that because they are not a State school, they don't have to follow the same rules, i.e. because they are private they can make their own rules up unless it violates federal laws.
I know not all girls mind, but this is a mixed school still, and so it's obviously a part of differentiating students based strictly on gender and just reinforces the differences more.
What do you think? Do you think we should all just wear pants and be the same. Or maybe we should all wear the same tops and decide for ourselves what to wear below the waist?
Jess
Update:slither22a: Maybe that's the way it is in some places in the work world. But why should I have to argue I am not a girl just to be able to wear a pair of pants? That's crazy!
Update 3:Lara K. The skirts may not have that printed on them, but I do think that the fact that we have to wear them makes a statement that we are different. Of course we are not inferior, but by emphasizing the difference it implies there is not equality either.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
This is one of my pet hates - if school trousers are smart enough for boys, why aren't they smart enough for girls? And making teenage girls wear sports knickers or those tiny gym skirts for games - for your average corned-beef thighed 13 year old, it's incredibly humiliating - especially when you have to do cross-country outside the school.
My advice is - lie. Make up a religion, or pretend you are following an existing one. Get your parents to write in and say it against their religious beliefs for you to expose your legs and arms in public and you'll running around in a warm, comfy pants in no time - this is what I did and it worked! Shouldn't have to lie, but there you go.
Plus, all this media attention about paedophiles and teenage promiscuity - wouldn't you think it was a good idea to get kids to cover up?
It's true. . . they can largely make whatever rules they want to so long as they're reasonable. My school deliberately even passed on the national school lunch program so that the government had no grounds to be able to regulate anything that the administrators didn't want to let them do -- no federal support, so they couldn't legally interfere. The only way it could be changed is if there were enough support (and from the right places, I might add!).
I was fortunate that I always had the option of pants (or shorts in a few months) OR a skirt. I almost never wore a skirt. I remember a lot of guys who were stuck in pants for 80% of the year saying how unfair that was that at least the girls could wear skirts if they wanted to when it was really warm (nope, we didn't have air conditioning) -- think they had shorts rather than skirts in mind, although I vaguely remember that a few guys staged a quick protest once when I was in the 8th grade by putting on skirts during homeroom. It didn't do anything, but it WAS funny.
So long as it's all on the "approved clothing" list. . . what's the problem with letting anyone wear whatever they want to? Guys should even be allowed to wear skirts in the official language. (Not like any probably will unless society's attitude toward that changes. . . .) That's how I feel.
If you are almost done why worry about it? It's just part and parcel of being a kid too, being told what to do and what not to do. Soon you will be out of it and can wear what you want, unless you have a job which specifies your uniform. As someone else said, maybe this is just part of the way the system works, having to follow rules in different settings to conform. That's what uniforms are about, making everyone appear the same and equaling things out. OK so you have a slight difference compared to the guys but you are different to them anyway and all the girls are dressing the same. It's not like you're not getting the same education from the boys because you dress different.
Alex
If it's just clothing, who cares? Really....I understand where you're coming from, but think of it this way: you're in school for what, six hours a day? The rest of the time, you're free to wear whatever you please. Do the skirts have "women are inferior to men" silkscreened across the butt? Or are they just modestly cut cloth garments? I don't think the school is trying to reinforce any sort of negative gender roles here, I think they're just following an old, yes possibly outdated, tradition and thinking nothing of it. Be glad that you're only wearing a skirt for six hours a day, five days a week and not a corset every day for the rest of your life.
Back @ Jess W....how do you figure? So now slightly different different dress automatically means inequality? All the students are able to take the same courses I assume, it's not like they have the boys learning advanced physics and calculus while the girls are forced to take cooking 101.
The gender differentiation is outdated. The idea of equal rights (confer the US Constitution!) supports you.
The uniform top idea is alright. But what you wear below the waist should be open to everybody´s decision, for girls and boys. If you ever got a new school constitution fixing that rule without mentioning sexes it would be open for girls to wear pants and for boys to wear skirts, or for girls and boys to wear pants or skirts whatever suits them. You may start with a petition, underlying convincing arguments. One argument may also be that more people would be interested to enroll their kids in that school if clothing regulations were liberated. And you should look out for more support from girls and boys at your school, from parents and some teachers as well.
I am a college teacher myself (not in the US). If I were at your school, I would support your petition, and if it went through I would come wearing a skirt to make a statement (not minding if most girls came in pants in future).
It is right to launch a petition and to have a detailed discussion on it (lawfully your argument). You may also have an article in the local press which could promote it. But don´t rebel against school regulations beforehand which may endanger your final exams !
The uniforms are designed to remove individual choice from kids - and a good thing too, as there are so many that make very tasteless choices with revealing and inappropriate clothing.
The uniforms are designed to ensure that all students look the same - there is no competition, or way to embarass those who cannot afford the 'latest' trends.
The uniforms are designed to remove distractions - you are there to learn, not participate in a fashion show.
And finally - the uniforms are not "part of differentiating students based strictly on gender". I would suggest that even if you dressed up a girl in the male uniform - you could tell the difference.
Well, no one is forced to go to a private school. You know at enrollment that there is a uniform requirement and by accepting admission and paying tuition, you agree to abide by school policies.
Yes, the specifics of the policy are outdated. Perhaps the adminstration would entertain suggestions for changes. Then you get into another can of worms - if girls are given the option of pants or skirt, then boys need a choice as well. They don't have to exercise the choice, but in all fairness, they deserve an option.
The whole uniform thing is so you can all be the same but guess what we are all different. I went to public school & learned we are all different & yet we are all the same inside. I think that the problem is they are taking away freedom & isn't the whole private school about being very controllled rather tha accepting what is. There is no way I would attend a school that told me what God is my guidance. So yes they are trying to enforce something that is making a statement but are you aware of how much of that is going on in other ways in the school.
Some people seem to have this idea that the genders have to be treated identically in all respects. The fact is, there are two separate genders. Each genders has various differences. Fashion/clothes is one of the things that has always been a difference between the two genders in basically every culture that's ever existed. What's wrong with that? Ask yourself- is there really something wrong with the two genders dressing differently? Is there really something wrong with the clothes designated as feminine? Why would you want both males and females to look alike?
In my opinion, unless the girls' clothes are something degrading (like tiny little miniskirts or something), there's nothing wrong with it. You don't hear the boys complaining that they don't get to wear skirts. Are skirts uncomfortable or something? If you really want everyone to look the same, then why not cut your hair into a male hair style and stop ever wearing make up? Would that really be a good thing if everyone you met mistook your for a boy? Would you want to date a boy who looks like a girl? Probably not. Boys probably wouldn't be too interested in you if you looked like a boy.
I'm very against gender roles, so I think everyone should have the option of pants, skirt, or dress—male or female. I doubt that would go over too well, though.
Since the school is private, they aren't required to follow the same rules public schools do. But maybe you could get some support and try to petition the uniform rules and get pants allowed for girls. Anyway, good luck! =)