A boy in Gary, Indiana was turned away from the Prom because he was trying to wear makeup, a hair piece, and a dress to the prom. He was given a refund for his prom tickets and sent away. Members of the school board said that he was not turned away because of his sexuality, it was a violation of the school dress code. It states that boys are not allowed to wear dresses. A representative of the Gender public advocacy says that a policy saying short skirts will not be permitted would be okay and equal for all, but saying one gender cannot wear a dress while the other can is gender discrimination. This wasn't the first the boy wore girls clothing to school, in fact these entire school year he has worn makeup, the hair piece, and fitted female clothing, just never a dress.
What do you all think about this? Do schools have to right to set dress code standards based on Gender? I think policies like this are crap, enforcing them just creates more stigma for these kids, it gives bullies a justification to pick on them because they are obiviously going against the norms set by the school.
No they shouldn't be. Just because people are in highschool does not mean we do not have rights. Especially when it comes to our own prom!
-Kristen
People must have the right do wear whatever they want, wherever they want. This is personal freedom, and it shouldn't matter that you are a high school student or a senior in an asylum.
Is it a public school? I agree that dress codes should not have gender specific regulations, but in a lot of conservative private schools girls are required to wear skirts and guys are required to wear dress pants. As much as I may disagree with it, private schools have the right to set these types of rules, because basically they're businesses, and if you don't like the way the business is run, you can go to another business. Public schools, however, are supposed to be open and accessible to ALL students, and should not be allowed to make rules that discriminate based on gender or anything else.
Do you know why the school originally said that guys are not allowed to wear dresses?
It was a public school, no they didn't make any comments about why the regulation was written that way.
The idea behind the dress code is that dressing in a certain way would provide as a "distraction" to the students and faculty trying to learn and teach. So it's not unreasonable, from that light, to ban dressing in a way that draws attention to oneself: i.e. miniskirts distract boys, foul language on shirts distract teachers, and crossdressing distracts everyone.
That said, no one is going to be distracted at a prom. I can't see how the school could justify this blatant discrimination.
Yes, it is quite distracting when freethinkers subvert the dominance of the heterosexual male. It must have been so threatening for all those young boys at the prom! I mean, what if one of them was *gasp* attracted to the student in the dress?! That would have called his masculinity into question. A huge distraction. Better to stifle the personal expression of the few than to upset the patriarchy.
I have to say that I would agree with the dress code because of what I believe. However, any sort of dress code in a school is forcing students to believe that dressing one way is right and dressing another way is wrong? Isn't forcing students to believe something like that in a sense bringing religion into the school?
“Christ is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is he the best of several ways; he is the only way.” –A. W. Tozer
why it is his choie. this happend a while ago to another young man. i did a blog check it out
to an openly gay guy at my (public) high school for his prom. So sad...
lmao a boy?? and a dress?? .. no comment
check out my blogs at http://www.progressiveu.org/user/lilblondie411
=]
leave a comment and i'll do the same back
A boy and a dress. Got a problem?
It depends if the boy was trying to pull a joke or something. If the boy is a homosexual, then I would have turned him down as well, since it's unethical.
If I saw a bunch of homosexual wearing dresses at my prom, I would be very angry, since this is the one night that I want to enjoy with my friends and have the last fun of high school.
Besides, why the heck would a guy be doing wearing a dress? He's obviously trying to stand out. It's not like he wouldn't have had any fun wearing a tux or a suit with his boyfriend/girlfriends, and I'm sure that it's not very comfortable wearing a dress, especially if you're a guy.
The boy is transgendered. This means his sex does not match his gender. He feels female. Wearing a dress was not a stunt and it was not for attention. It was the one night he would want to enjoy with his friends and have the last fun of high school, so he wanted to wear what makes him feel most special and most comfortable, just like you. How would the presence of someone wearing a dress hamper your enjoyment of the night? His wardrobe has no real impact on you, unless you let it trigger some deep hatred of people who are different from you, which would be YOUR problem, not his. I should be referring to "him" as her, though, if she identifies as female, but I wasn't sure you'd understand.
And another thing you need to know is that gay men don't generally wear dresses. And transgender people are not usually gay. If a person identifies as female and is attracted to men, that makes them straight.
Unethical is discriminating against someone over their clothing preference. It would also be unethical to act on any feelings of anger you have because you are unenlightened and unsympathetic to others, so I suggest that you learn a little about differences and try to become a nicer person before it gets you into trouble.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
"What do you all think about this? Do schools have to right to set dress code standards based on Gender? "
That is my opinion, the OP asked for my opinion, and I am just expressing what I truly feel about the subject. I am sorry if you disagree with my opinion, and it is your fault that disagreeing means the same as being offended to you.
Please don't threaten me of "getting in trouble" for expressing what I truly feel.
Did you send Bush hate letters of getting in "trouble" when he decided to ban marriage between gay people? Or did someone else offended punish him? Because he is obviously implying that marriage between two males or females is unethical, and I agree with him; and if me agreeing with Bush means that you end up disagreeing with me, it shouldn't mean that I have offended you, and it shouldn't mean that I get in "trouble", since I am not attacking anyone, but only voicing my opinion as asked by the OP.
I mean an opinion is not one sided, and you shouldn't ever expect that 100% of people agree on every matter that seems "right" to you, because just about 100% of the time you they won't be as objective as you want them to be.
So dear sir, madam, or whatever you wish to call yourself, please step off. Thank you.
Anger is a dangerous emotion, especially when paired with a complete lack of understanding.
And I like to call myself The Edible Woman.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
You're the one that seems to have "a complete lack of understanding", and you're the one that seems to be angry. Don't forget to read your reply to mine, since you were the one that had the problem with me, as I have never replied to a post of yours before, and you're the one that doesn't seem to understand when the time is right to stop pointless replying where there seems no goal of your reply but to attack me by trying to make people think that I was the one that was replying angrily.
So "The Edible Woman" please cease these attacks against my opinions, and stop trying to force emotional tags on me. I am neither happy, angry, sad or mad, I am Glare, and at the moment I am feeling annoyed.
You said you would be angry if a guy showed up at your prom wearing a dress because it would somehow ruin your fun. My advice to learn a bit about people who are different from you to avoid the anger that could get you into trouble was sound, as you may someday have to work with a gay or transgender person. Depending on where you live, if you let the anger get the best of you, you could be fired or charged with a hate crime (not saying you are going to commit murder, but it is, sadly, the end result of a lot of angry misunderstandings with gay or transgendered people). Now, there are plenty of states in which "he had it coming to him" is still a viable defense, but wouldn't it be nice if it wasn't necessary, and if school, work, and society at large could be safe for all people, regardless of orientation or gender?
Also, if you put your opinion out there, you should expect that not everyone will agree with it 100% of the time (I heard that somewhere...), so a response you don't like isn't necessarily an attack. And you should probably know that I will seldom step off, as long as there is a rational argument to be made. I don't take kindly to male posturing.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Mr. Glare,
1. Cool name.
2. If you want to end the conversation, end the conversation. The only attacks here are from you. Take the plank out of your own eye. Anyway, who are you to decide what is ethical and unethical? Were you there at the beginning of time? Were you there when humanity was made? You don't have the right. I suggest you take your own advice and "understand when the time is right to stop pointless replying."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
There is nothing wrong with it at all! If he wants to wear a dress, and he's comfortable doing it, and he has the courage to do it - let him! It's HIS special night. Prom is a memory you always keep with you. He's not going to have it now. It's discrimination.
Every year we have this thing called ska homecoming, there's like 50-75 of us and all of our local favorite ska bands play at a dancehall or venue. We all get dressed up in homecoming/prom dress and have the best time ever. I just want to say that although It seems like a great idea, you know equality for the genders, I will never forget when I walked in and saw a man wearing a short pink prom dress that he could barely zip up all the way with enough back hair to clothe a family sticking out. And the leg hair. Oh gosh. It was. It was horrible.
But have you ever seen a drag show, in which there are biologically male performers who put biologically female supermodels to shame? Granted, this is not true if every drag show, but there are some...
Point is, one guy screwing around and wearing a dress with no conviction should not stand as evidence of, well, anything, really.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
that people fear what they don't understand, and what they don't understand they don't give it a chance. People these days let their ignorance take over. Its really sad and lame.
Unfortunately, it's not just "these days" that people have allowed ignorance to be their guide. That is a problem in history that inevitably repeats itself.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
Glare. You demonstrate right off that you know nothing about women such as I simply by categorizing me and others like me as simply a homosexual. See, what you dont know, is that sexuality and gender are two different things. The reason you dont know this is because you were born with a very, very male mind, in a male body. Before I had my surgery, I only dated women and thought that I was going to be a lesbian. 6 months later I was dating men, and they were usually old friends of mine who knew me before, because when they saw me in person they couldnt believe their eyes. I am nothing like that guy in the pink dress with leg hair. you would have no clue if you met me in fact you would probably look me up and down like every other guy and be attracted to me.
There are a LOT of people out there who are in a state of gender flux, there are some men who do not want to be women who act like them for one reason or another. There are those who do not know if they are transgendered or gay or just a cross dresser or what. These people often do things that arent smart, like wearing a dress with hairy legs. But if this kid did it all year, they cant ban her from the prom. Rarely will you ever know you met a successful transwoman because she is so good at looking normal, with normal clothes, hair and make up. They work normal jobs, they are housewives and mothers. People like you need to just get over it, and if you see a gender variant person, and dont like it, look the other way. You have no idea what they are going through.
www.myspace.com/fastsnow