‘What is this, the 1950s?’ said everyone ever. A NSW public primary school has made some sweeping reforms to their uniform code, removing the option for girls to wear shorts, and requiring that the little munchkins wear dresses at all times.
Bathurst Public School has removed the option for girls to wear “navy tailored shorts or navy shorts with school emblem and white polo shirt” from their official uniform, with only the “summer tunic – blue, white and grey checks with navy tie” option remaining. Anyone who’s ever been double-dared to go upside down on the monkey bars knows that a dress is not the garment to be doing it in, and the move has angered parents and students alike.
One mother told the Sydney Morning Herald of her kindergarden-aged daughter (in one of the most infuriatingly 2013ish sentences ever written) “Bella doesn’t really identify with gender stereotypes… She owns dresses and likes to wear them out to dinner or when she goes to the theatre. But when she runs around in the playground she doesn’t want to wear a dress and I think that’s really reasonable because when I go running around or go off to yoga I don’t wear a dress either.”
The principal of the school attributed the decision to girls becoming “competitive over brand-name shorts and others were wearing shorts inappropriately,” but also went on to say “that if parents wanted their daughters to wear shorts they just had to let the school know.”
Inevitably, the Sydney Morning Herald comments section has been flooded with cries of “Sexism! Early Enforcement of gender stereotypes! Double Standards! Profiteering! What if the boys want to wear dresses!” and a bunch of really entertaining “Back in my day…” stories. A uniform committee has been formed to try and come up with solution, because there’s nothing like a committee to get shit done.
The school also announced further plans to ban girls from being made from sugar, restricting them to just being made of spice and all things nice, due to rising concerns about childhood obesity and diabetes.
Via the Sydney Morning Herald
