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Author Topic: British schoolgirls prefer trousers
Granola Girl
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posted 12 August 2005 03:50 PM      Profile for Granola Girl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Sales of schoolgirls' trousers have overtaken those of skirts for the first time, figures suggest.

Retailer Woolworths said trousers had accounted for 52% of the relevant market this year, an increase from only 2% in 2002.

"If the decline continues at its current pace, skirts could be a thing of the past in schools by 2017," a company spokeswoman said.


BBC link here.


From: East Van | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 12 August 2005 04:02 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
There was a long article about this in The Scotsman yesterday, too. I usually see about half and half here in Edinburgh. I find the whole idea of "allowing trousers" so odd. I can understand the appeal of a uniform in general - I know it's less expensive for some parents because kids don't have to play the fashion game when at school - but making it so rigorous is unecessary.
From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged
Granola Girl
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posted 12 August 2005 04:23 PM      Profile for Granola Girl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks for the link kurichina. It was an interesting read. Obviously, its not a huge issue for feminist debate, but I thought it might be a fun little story to talk about.

I kept trying to think back about whether having to wear skirts or dresses ever inhibited me as a child, but I think I did cartwheels despite the accompanying underwear flash. I know that as an adult I feel different when I'm wearing a skirt than I do when I'm wearing pants - less mobile, more hesitant to climb or sit with my legs open, anyway!

Whatever did Jack McConnell mean by this, though, I wonder?

quote:
Jack McConnell, the First Minister, said moves introduced by left-wing education officials in the 1980s, such as the banning of uniforms, had proved "devastating" for two generations of Scots school pupils.

From: East Van | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
kuri
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posted 12 August 2005 04:37 PM      Profile for kuri   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't quite understand what he meant. For one thing, I went to elementary school, and I'm not sure that two generations have graduated yet, I thought it was just one. Furthermore, while I think uniforms can be justified, the idea that doing away with them was "devastating" is obviously hyperbole! And, I don't think uniforms were banned, just relaxed, so I don't understand that either.

I always wore skirts as a young'un. My sister was the tomboy and I was the girly-girl. I distinctly remember arguments with my mom when I wanted to wear skirts in the middle of the Northern Alberta winter, despite how obviously impractical it is. I didn't find it confined me too much, although I can remember being occasionally intimidated by the threat of having my skirt pulled up by a boy! Of course, they could also pull down pants to expose a bum for intimidation as well, I suppose. So only proper supervision could do much about that problem. Looking back on it now, it's weird that I was so afraid of that, yet I thought nothing of lifting up my own skirt to adjust my tights right in front of everyone!

I usually feel different in a skirt, too. More formal, and more fussy. I strived for that as child, but now it's more annoying than fun. Strange how that changes.


From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged

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