Undercover sexism

Recently, NASA revealed the date in which the first all-female spacewalk will take place. Society has come a long way from where we used to be in terms of female rights. In light of International Women’s Day, 8th March, we are covering the topic of repression of female rights in schools, especially regarding the rules of uniform. After interviewing a plethora of teachers, we have acquired conflicting opinions from each side of the argument. 

One of the most prominent opinions is the belief that this particular issue is not to do with gender, but rather sensibility and age. Drama teacher, Miss Moore stated that ‘[she does not] think the school uniform rules add to the female repression as the young females have the exact same uniform choices as the young males’. This was an interesting take on the subject because one could indeed argue that this particular argument is just a digression from the real issue: the repression of all children’s freedom and individuality and bringing gender into the equation is simply nonsensical. Furthermore, history teacher Miss Brown agrees with and said that women have choices with what they can wear and this does not add to the repression of female rights. 

However, on the other hand, the opposing argument still stands. English teacher Miss Skill, evident in the video below, believes that society has normalised the unisex uniform to favour masculine attributes - especially the blazer and tie attire. In addition, Mr Head spoke about fairness for all, mentioning that ‘[if one has ] a particular set of rules for one identity group then you have to have the same set of rules for another identity group in order to be fair.’ 

The controversy may not be settled; however, it is rather evident that there is a clear divide on the topic. Although, this certainly does not eliminate all incidences of repression of female rights and hence should not allow the overlooking of the issue. 

Are we spotlighting physical appearance over the real repression: unpunished sexual assaults and gender pay gaps?

 

Ellie and Anna