The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

by Guest Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:14 pm

This week my 16-year-old daughter and around 40 of her peers were told by a teacher that the girls shouldn’t walk home in the PE kits they had just worn for a lesson “in case they got followed and dragged into bushes”.

When I complained to the school, I was astonished that this position was defended under the guise of “we are just trying to protect the girls, as there are bad people out there”. When I pointed out they were giving the message that their short skirts would make them somehow culpable if they did get attacked, they struggled to see the relationship.

Sadly, this attitude is incredibly common. The Fawcett Society has just published a shocking report which found that 38% of all men and 34% of all women said that a woman is totally or partly to blame if she gets sexually assaulted.

Sky News anchor Stephen Dixon and weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar caused outrage when discussing the report implying they agreed women were partly responsible for attacks depending on what they wore.
This insidious ‘victim blaming’ side of rape culture sadly starts in schools, and can begin when a girl is very young. A local primary school recently told pupils as young as seven that they “must wear cycling shorts under their skirts if they are going to do cartwheels, in case boys see their underwear”

This privileges their sexualisation at a ridiculously early age over education and physical activity, a very dangerous message to give. One of the reasons found in research by a government select committee into girls under participating in sport was poor body image, and feeling embarrassed by what they were wearing.
I spoke to Lisa Clarke from the No More Page 3 team about what happened to my daughter in particular. She agreed:

“This is such an irresponsible thing for a school to say and in so doing they have sent a dangerous message to young women and young men.

Society teaches girls that they are sexual commodities first and foremost and that their bodies are there to be decorative and to be acted upon. Sport and physical exercise can teach the opposite. It can show that our bodies can be trained by us to do amazing things. That we can be strong and in control. Yet in one misguided line this school have reduced girls’ bodies in sports wear to something sexual and dangerous before all else. They have also reinforced to all the boys that they are powerless in the face of female flesh and are not responsible for their actions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michelle-beckett/the-long-and-the-short-of_2_b_14323306.html

More to read on the link and she is right

by Major Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:24 pm

I would not employ anyone who was already pregnant.

by Guest Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:24 pm

Major wrote:I would not employ anyone who was already pregnant.

What on earth has that got to do with this thread?

by Major Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:28 pm

Thanks for that Thorin, I have goofed

by Major Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:46 pm

The parents are failing before kids reach the school

by Guest Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:44 pm

Major wrote:The parents are failing before kids reach the school

Are they? How so in the context of this article?

by Major Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:46 pm

Their parents should ensure they attend skule properly attired.

by Guest Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:50 pm

Major wrote:Their parents should ensure they attend skule properly attired.

Define properly?

Who is the fashion judge to state what is proper and what is not proper?

Allah?

Jehovah?

Some other figment of imagination?

by Victorismyhero Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:05 am

Major wrote:The parents are failing before kids reach the school

the ones being failed are the boys, who's parents fail to teach them proper respect for and proper regard for females....and indeed anyone else....

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The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

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Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?

Re: The Long And The Short Of It: Are Some Schools Failing Our Girls With The Way They Police Skirt Length?