Okay, so usually the Sunday New York Times style section pisses me off, reporting stories that seem like they’re of interest to mostly upper class New York housewives (like this week’s story about the FASCINATING trend among new Barbie dolls to have more “boho” than luxury accessories). But it was raining so hard this weekend that I stayed inside and ate two (2) Grand Central Bakery jammers and read the entire paper, even the dreaded Style section.
And hey! It turned out there was actually an interesting article in there after all. Though “trend” articles are kind of annoying, the front-page story about high school kids wearing clothes that challenge gender norms is at least relevant.
In recent years, a growing number of teenagers have been dressing to articulate — or confound — gender identity and sexual orientation. Certainly they have been confounding school officials, whose responses have ranged from indifference to applause to bans.
Last week, a cross-dressing Houston senior was sent home because his wig violated the school’s dress code rule that a boy’s hair may not be “longer than the bottom of a regular shirt collar.” In October, officials at a high school in Cobb County, Ga., sent home a boy who favored wigs, makeup and skinny jeans. In August, a Mississippi student’s senior portrait was barred from her yearbook because she had posed in a tuxedo.
Other schools are more accepting of unconventional gender expression. In September, a freshman girl at Rincon High School in Tucson who identifies as male was nominated for homecoming prince. Last May, a gay male student at a Los Angeles high school was crowned prom queen.
Dress code conflicts often reflect a generational divide, with students coming of age in a culture that is more accepting of ambiguity and difference than that of the adults who make the rules.
The comments on the article are pretty against the students mentioned in the article, reiterating that schools are not places for gender expression but instead where young people need to learn how to follow the rules of mainstream society. Bullshit. High school is a place for students to learn and experiment socially, not just in the classroom. Cracking down on gender-questioning boys wearing skirts is the same as banning students from wearing black armbands during the Vietnam War.
A friend of mine in high school experimented with wearing a skirt during his junior year—I remember it wasn’t a very classy skirt, more like a sarong sloppily tied at the waist. And while kids made fun of him and others wrote him off as a weirdo, the school administrators didn’t kick him out or force him to wear more “normal” clothes just like they didn’t force him to make “normal” friends instead of reading sci-fi books in the English classroom during lunch. And after a while, he went back to pants. No big deal. Later, he moved to Oklahoma and became a vegan. Some people are different. Young people experiment and more and more, high school administrators are going to have to learn how to respect that.
This is possbily the the stupidest post smirk has ever written. I would nominate this for “Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack of the Day” The very concept of objectivity or relevance is seemingly verboten.
As someone who’s done more than their fair share of gender-fuckery, public schools are not the place for this kind of crap. I’m 100% in favor of standarized school uniforms for all students. If a student wants to wear the uniform of a different gender, whatever; let ’em.
Just curious: what part of the body is the “waste”?
@ujfout: In smirk’s case, I’d say the ‘waste’ is just an obvious joke in relation to her intelligence and powers of observation.
Graham: So she’s being “stupid” and “credulous” because she draws conclusions that are different than yours?
Of course, I had to skip past your second paragraph there, since expressing an opinion on the matter is apparently neither objective nor relevant.
@atomic: The Mercury and The Stranger seem to constantly run these articles entitled, “Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack of the Day”. The ostensible reason for these articles is when a “journalist” writes an article on the Drug War that doesn’t include quotes from Drug War reform-advocates. This article reminds me of that. And smirk’s desperate attempts at explaining how ‘alt’ she is because she hates the Style Section and knew a dude who wore a sarong; well… that’s just smirk being smirk.
Ok, so what you are talking about is a Dan Savage Brand ™ Tantrum, which, first of all, is kind of what he does for a living. Second, it was about an exposé (note: exposé) in the news section (note: news section) of the Oregonian (note: you get the idea) that he felt was not written with appropriate diligence.
This is a blog post about an essay which appeared in the style section of another newspaper. An essay about wearing skirts. It is what it is. It may remind you of lots of things, but that’s not a reason to turn the dickbag dial up to eleven.
hey teachers leave those kids alone!
Ok. I’m a Guy. 13 yrs old in middle school 8th grade. I go to school almost everyday in a mini skirt. not one person is a jerk or acts stupid. my opinion. they’re more comfortable then pants. no random piece of cloth in the middle of your legs and your legs are not snagging on the pants. guys should do what i did. don’t be afraid. just wear a skirt(but get advice on what to do first) and go to school. no if your picked on by every one. BAD IDEA. so just come on. DO it guys. they are more comfortable. just go for cammo like skirts or alternating squares of white and dark green.(or something!)