Over the last year or so, often on social media, there has been an increase of items regarding women, and if their attire is ‘appropriate’ for work/school. Stories of girls being sent home from school because they were showing too much flesh; women ‘having’ to wear high heels for work. A friend then told me that the chat group for her village were discussing how short the girls skirts are at the local school. This got us to talking. Whose problem is this? Is it a problem? Does what a woman is wearing have any impact on her ability to learn? Who should police this? Having a wide range of friends from different age groups, backgrounds, and countries, I took to Facebook to find out, posing the following question:
“If a girl is wearing the correct school uniform, does the length of her school skirt matter? Why? Whose problem is it? Parents? School? Society?”
Honestly, I was surprised by the results. From the articles I’ve seen online, I was expecting lots of comments about distracting men (pupils and teachers), and sexualising young girls. However that didn’t seem to be the issue (although I’m also aware that a fair few of those articles have come from warmer countries). For all respondents it came down to the fact that at school, you are there to learn, not look fashionable/glamourous/alluring.
“I always thought a school/work uniform is to ensure everyone is both smart and dressed the same to stop any poorer people being bullied for not having latest fashion, or that they are all smart representatives of the school/work that they are enrolled in.”
“As the mother of a teenage girl, we have rules about the length of her skirt. I’m not expecting her to be a nun because she’s got cracking legs and should be able to show them off but if you can see the gusset of her tights (as you can on some girls!) then it’s too bloody short. I think it’s my job to make sure she goes out of the door looking smart. She’s going to school, not on a night out. I’m also aware here I’ve turned into my mother-however I’m not strict in other areas. She has dark blue hair, multiple ear piercings and I couldn’t give a toss how long her tie is. I’d just like her to not be flashing her arse to the world on her way to school.”
“Even if she’s in the correct uniform I do believe they should be a certain length. I don’t think girls under 16 should be wearing skirts that are so short that they barely cover their behind. As for whose problem it is, I think really it’s everyone’s problem. Parents for not teaching the child self-respect and not to follow the crowd or conform to peer pressure. I think it’s also the school’s problem as they should be promoting respect and not be allowing their girls to dress in that manner. However I think the main problem comes from society that starts to sexualise children from a young age and try to get them to conform to a particular way of looking, acting and dressing. But by the same token we should be teaching boys that a short skirt isn’t an invitation”
I asked this parent if they think skirt length and self-respect are mutually exclusive.
“I don’t think they are, no, but I think that a lot of young girls (especially in my area) don’t have much self-respect, confidence, etc. and so they roll their skirts up to get attention that they want/need.”
This last reply fascinated me. In these modern times, there seems to be a mixed message going out to our young women. On the one hand we tell them that they can wear whatever they like-regardless of style, body shape or size, or what their friends are wearing. We tell them that they are perfectly within their rights to wear a tiny skirt and walk down an unlit street alone without fear of men. Which they absolutely are.
“The girl in the bathroom at the pub telling you your lipstick is fabulous is a much bigger compliment than the bloke at the bar saying you’re fit.”
On the other hand, we’re telling them ‘Conform! Society will judge you harshly if you wear a skirt that’s short. You can express yourself, but not like that. Don’t ask for attention.’ By telling them their outfit is unacceptable, we are stopping them exploring who they are. Who amongst us dresses the same as we did at 13? 15? Even 18? We have all developed our own personal style, that we find acceptable when we look in the mirror, and that fits in with our lifestyles. Our teen years are where we learn to adapt to our bodies, to figure out who we are and how we express that.
Why do girls feel that male attention is good? Yes, if you fancy the boy in your class and he thinks you look good, that’s awesome. However, I know that if a stranger pays me a compliment on my outfit/hair I feel infinitely better about myself if it’s a woman than I ever would if it were a man, and that has been the case since my teen years. The girl in the bathroom at the pub telling you your lipstick is fabulous is a much bigger compliment than the bloke at the bar saying you’re fit.
“The length of the skirt shouldn’t matter as, to be frank, it’s no one else’s business other than the person who’s wearing it.”
If the males in school find short skirts distracting, whose problem is that? For the pupils, a lot can be put down to hormones (as Joss Whedon wrote: “I’m 17. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex…”). For the teachers however, a different problem is presented. Male teachers looking at their charges, young women who are left in their pastoral and physical care, and seeing more than a student. That is completely up to them to control and is not anyone else’s responsibility.
As one of the people who replied to my original question says “The length of the skirt shouldn’t matter as, to be frank, it’s no one else’s business other than the person who’s wearing it.”
