Pants (Trousers), For Ladies

Roxxsmom · Sep 21, 2014

Orianna2000 said:
The sexist dress code does surprise me! In this day and age, I didn't think any public institution could get away with discriminating between men and women.

Well, these are boys and girls, not men and women. And a lot of the court decisions that have allowed stricter dress codes in recent years revolve around the idea of the school being in loco parentis and needing to provide a safe environment that fosters learning and all that.

How different school districts interpret this is another matter, of course. But relatively few parents are probably going to sue on behalf of their kids' rights to have short skirts, double piercings, tattoos and heavy makeup. When a lawsuit is brought forth, it's usually about a ~~racist, sexist, or homophobic~~ political tee shirt, or maybe something related to racial discrimination (like a school banning hairdos like Afros or dreadlocks--and sorry if the terms for these hairdos are offensive. Not sure if they're called something different now).

Orianna2000 said:
I remember my dad telling me about Disneyland's dress code, back when I was a kid. No beards were allowed! Not just on employees, but guests, too!

Disney still bans beards from at least some of their employees. Though to be fair, I suspect they do so for both genders. I think they also have hair length requirements that differ for men and women, however. Of course, so does the US military, and if that's not something that should respect the equal protection clause, I don't know what is.

I always wanted to attend a school with uniforms. I even offered to design the uniforms for a private school I was thinking about attending, but my parents were against uniforms. I don't recall their reasoning, but they told me if the private school switched to uniforms, I wouldn't be allowed to go. No idea why! My baby sister had to attend a public school (20 years later) that had a uniform dress code, and my parents didn't make a fuss then. So I really don't know why they were so against it when I was a kid.

Now that's a role reversal

I wonder if they thought that uniforms were too paramilitary or if they encouraged mindless conformity or something. Maybe it was a reflection of the times. People in my own parents' (and slightly younger) generations were more suspicious of symbolic authority back in the 70s and early 80s than they are now.

With the halter tops, were sewn versions allowed? I don't think I would wear one that tied, personally, because I'd be too afraid it would come undone in public.

I don't remember, to be honest. I suspect the inviting sexual harassment thing (not that this was the terminology they used back then) was the real reason. It was just a rationalization. They didn't exactly tell us to stop wearing bras because they invited bra strap snapping or tell us to stop wearing skirts because they invited the boys to try to lift them.

I didn't really want to wear one at school anyway for the reason you gave. And when I wore tube tops a few years later, I always wore one with straps or with a shirt over. And the guys sometimes pulled those down in high school (and such incidents became fodder for lunchroom snickering and fond remembrances). They might get a verbal rebuke, but the teachers would then tell the girls that they shouldn't invite the harassment by dressing so provocatively.

It was one of those forms of logic that was so rational and logical at some level that we almost believed it. But on another level it was irritating.

Of course, there is that thing where girls are generally the ones who are expected to wear clothing that bares a lot of their flesh and is easy to pull up or down.

Except for the guys wore fairly short shorts that sometimes allowed their junk to hang out the bottom (because boxers started to get popular before those knee length shorts became came into fashion with guys), and they had elastic waist bands sometimes. I wonder if they'd have been banned in Jr. High if packs of pre-teen girls roamed the halls pulling them down.

Orianna2000 · Sep 21, 2014

Roxxsmom said:
maybe something related to racial discrimination (like a school banning hairdos like Afros or dreadlocks--and sorry if the terms for these hairdos are offensive. Not sure if they're called something different now).

I hope they aren't offensive! One of the characters in the novel I'm about to start querying has dreadlocks.

I think they also have hair length requirements that differ for men and women, however. Of course, so does the US military, and if that's not something that should respect the equal protection clause, I don't know what is.

For the military, I can understand hair length requirements, because if someone has long hair, it might get caught in machinery. Or in combat, an enemy could grab hold of long hair. Although it should apply equally to men and women, because I doubt an enemy would refrain from grabbing long hair just because it belongs to a woman!

I wonder if they have hair color requirements? Because someone with red hair might be highly visible if they're trying to sneak around! (I have auburn hair, and I can attest that it tends to glow in the sunlight. Also, in the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon, the MC's fugitive husband has red hair that he has to keep covered with a brown cap, because otherwise he'd be easy for the redcoats to find. This leads to him getting the nickname of "Dun Bonnet.")

I wonder if they thought that uniforms were too paramilitary or if they encouraged mindless conformity or something.

I honestly don't remember. I think it was vaguely religious in nature, but I couldn't say whether it was because it seemed paramilitary, or if they thought it was "giving allegiance" to the school, or what. I'll ask my Mom, but she may not remember.

I wonder if they'd have been banned in Jr. High if packs of pre-teen girls roamed the halls pulling them down.

Interesting fodder for a story!

Just recently, I read about a young man who was touched in an inappropriate way at school, and he was telling a friend how uncomfortable and helpless it made him feel. This was a strange, new feeling for him. His friend, a young woman, told him that this is how women feel all the time! We're surrounded by men who are taller, heavier, and stronger than we are, and many of us don't know how to defend ourselves. So whenever a strange man walks up, we don't know if we might be hit on, or groped, or even raped--so every man that approaches is a potential rapist in our minds. It's something for guys to think about. . . . If we seem uncomfortable when you hit on us, it might not be that we don't like you, but rather, we're afraid your intentions might not be honorable, and we don't like feeling helpless!

I would love to read a story where the roles are reversed and guys have to defend themselves against packs of lustful women. Lots of psychological aspects to be explored in a story like that!

snafu1056 · Sep 25, 2014

Orianna2000 said:
I would love to read a story where the roles are reversed and guys have to defend themselves against packs of lustful women

Nah. That wouldnt work because that's actually most mens' fantasy (see countless stories and movies about Amazon women capturing men and making them their sex slaves). A much scarier scenario for a straight man is getting hit on by a big burly gay man. Thats really the only time a straight man feels like a woman.

Orianna2000 · Sep 25, 2014

Good point. I was thinking more along the lines of, "Guys being chased by packs of women they're actually scared of." But you're right, the experience of sex is totally different for men than women, so they don't (usually) need to be afraid of women.

Pants (Trousers), For Ladies

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer

snafu1056

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer