Jezebel 
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New York, 4:13 PM
Wed Nov 11
71 posts in the last 24 hours
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The problem with a school dress code that bans "disruptive clothing" is that what counts as disruptive depends on mainstream social mores, and could be seen not just as an article of clothing that provokes conflict (a confederate flag T or a shirt with an abortion message, for example),but as anything that makes administrators or other students uncomfortable. And when it comes to people not measuring up to cultural standards of masculinity or femininity, our social mores have a long way to go to even reach "tolerant". There's a difference between an article of provocative clothing (a "message" T-shirt that someone would wear one day) and someone's gender expression (how they feel comfortable dressing day-to-day).
No, this student should not be allowed to come to school in a Vegas showgirl's pants-less outfit. But the blame-the-one-who's-different tone in some of these comments is disturbing.
So some kids are made uncomfortable by someone assigned male at birth wearing make-up and skinny jeans? Maybe we should put a little more effort into teaching them that it's okay to be different (even wildly different) in terms of gender expression, than in telling the one who's different to be uncomfortable on our behalf. Someone's going to be made uncomfortable in this situation -- Could someone explain to me why it should be the kid who's challenging gender norms instead of the kids being challenged? Because from where I'm standing, it shouldn't.
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/sarcasm
10/08/09
I also want to apologize for my unnecessary and rather arbitrary use of capitals. WHO AM I? KANYE?
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In addition to that, he was using the girls' restroom (they gave him the option to use the administrators' bathroom, the only student in the school that is allowed to do so). He was not suspended or dismissed or kicked out of school. He withdrew himself. The administrators didn't get a chance to work more with him.
I know that he is trying to express himself, but really, high school is not the place to express yourself, it is school, and you are expected to follow rules. He is 16. He can always express himself when he is at home or when he graduates.
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I understand that high school has rules, and I'm not saying kids should wear whatever they want, as there are legitimate concerns, but I also think that high school should be a place where teens are nurtured and encouraged to be themselves. Boys wearing feminine clothes isn't different from girls wearing t-shirts and jeans, and by not intervening aggressively in this situation the school is teaching kids it's ok to discriminate against boys who don't conform to masculine stereotypes
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"I don't consider myself a cross-dresser," he said. "This is just who I am."
The district lists the dress code on its homepage. The rule states that students should "refrain from any mode of dress which proves to contribute to any disruption of school functions."
[www.ajc.com]
If I was a school administrator, I could consider a pink wig (on any student, heck even on an employee) a disruption.
[www.ajc.com]
Maybe if he had stayed, they could have worked with him, and even given him counsel as it seems he has things he needs to work out (he left his parents to live with his sister, that's gotta be awful for a 16 year old).
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and this is spoken as a mom of a Very Special Snowflake boychild who insisted on wearing girls jeans (that he took in to make tighter) to Express Himself in High School.
10/08/09
The Twisted Sister comeback tour 2009 just cancelled its Georgia dates.
10/08/09
What I'm saying is, cry cry Georgia.
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These draconian wardrobe rules aren't new - they were around when I was in high school back in the 90s. We weren't allowed to dye our hair with Kool-Aid in and it also applied to the African American girls that glued pennies and other acoutrements to their hair. It goes back to other eras when boys couldn't have hair past their collars and girls had to wear pantyhose.
I get the feeling this student is being less than accomodating to his new surroundings and is raring for a fight. I TOTALLY understand that this period in a kid's life is all about finding out who he is, but he needs to learn some tolerance if he expects his community to tolerate him.
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[www.ajc.com]
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We ALL want to be taken as is and without issue. But does it happen? No. Every single person I know tempers themself in some way simply to make it through life. Being IN YOUR FACE 24/7 is no way to make friends and is a fabulous way to isolate yourself and create sensationalism.
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He was dressing in a way people didn't like. That isn't intolerance. If he made fun of the way others dressed, that would be intolerance.
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People come out to their friends and families because it is such a major part of their identity. They come out publicly in order to make societal change to reduce discrimination.
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/logic gone
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His outfit was causing fights, hmm? Not the goons beating him up? It was HIS fault that idiots jumped him?
That makes such perfect sense....
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It doesn't say they were fighting with him!
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Unless maybe you got him into one of the alternative schools it'd be the same
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