An elementary school near my town recently held a sort of "theme week," where the kids were encouraged to dress as various things throughout the week. The students decided on their subjects themselves, and it was mentioned in both parent and teacher newsletters. One of those days just happened to be "opposite gender and/or senior citizen" day.
Cue the phone call firestorm.
For whatever reason, on the day the event was intended to take place a Christian radio station broadcast it as news. Astonishingly, people who did not even have children at the school felt it was their duty to complain to the principal about how she was going against Biblical values. She quickly issued an apology, saying that she "didn't mean anything by it," and that the kids were just having fun. She certainly wasn't trying to support cross-dressing, homosexuality, or swapped gender roles*.
...Nice. Nice job, all of you, for proving all my assumptions true. I don't want to believe that theists are nuts, but calling up a school to whine about something that is none of your business, all in the name of your God (who, I think, didn't say all that much about children's dress-up), looks mighty silly. I don't want to believe that bureaucrats will cave into anything rather than get bad press, but listening to complete strangers long after the proper time frame for complaints was past does not reflect well on your vertebral column. And that's just the basic critique.
On a more complicated level, what, exactly, is wrong with dressing as the opposite sex?! It's not going to miraculously make them gay...which brings me to the second critique. Why are people who don't conform to gender expectations automatically gay? Could we please get rid of this stereotype, because it's getting old. And, furthermore, why is it a bad thing?
In an ideal world the principal would have told the callers to go f*** themselves, then informed any inquiring press that there was nothing wrong with a gender-bending dress-up day, and that we need to take the sticks out of our asses and have some ourselves. Too bad this isn't an ideal world.
*I do not want to cite my source for this, as it comes form a local newspaper and I'd rather not advertise my whereabouts. It is, however, a direct quotation from the article.
The Bible does talk about how women shouldn't dress like men (in pants) so I do see where the parents are coming from. But the fact that this principal did come up with this idea raises a question- what's the point? Really.
I don't understand. Isn't school supposed to be where you learn? These kinds of events are super-distracting and pointless.
Now, that's even funnier, since rare is the modern woman who does not dress in pants at least some of the time. Trying to prohibit pants now is just absurd.
It's an elementary school. Back when I was that age school was more about learning social graces than picking up any real facts. Or at least it was until 3rd grade - after that we had to learn math. In any event, there was plenty of time for fun things, like coming to school in costume on Halloween, or celebrating Valentine's day with cards for everyone. Having a "Wacky Week" (their words, not mine) seems to me like a harmless break from routine. But then, routine in any form drives me crazy.
T.k.
The bible says that in the old testament laws, which just happen to be impossible to live up to. You might want to argue this, but it is true, and there is even a purpouse for that, but I will not go into it now. When Jesus came, he did away with the old laws and he became the new law, hence the establishment of the New Testament, which is the largely more circulated christain text. The old testament is the Jewish text, and it is proclaimed Holy in christianity because it is the history and what leads up to Jesus. So really, you should only say that women should not wear pants if you are not refering to the chrisitan religion. Jesus never said you cannot crossdress.
I think you're right. If it was a public school than religion should not enter it in any way.
It was a public school. I didn't want to get into religion too much, but that was also a source of "Aargh!" for me.
T.k.
It also depends on how the news station portrayed it.
What depends on the new's station's portrayal? I think I know what you're asking, but I'd rather be certain before replying.
T.k.
The reaction of the parents. If the news station basically said "This school is having a transgender day", how would you expect parents to react? Not to degrade transgenders, but parents would react badly.
...But it wasn't a transgenderism day. What the kids were doing is pure drag - dressing as the opposite sex for entertainment purposes. Yes, drag is usually linked to the gay community (and again, why should this be wrong?) but there are plenty of straight men and women who do it too.
Also, why should they get to react badly? They're not parents of kids in the school, and they're entirely in the wrong.
T.k.
I know it wasn't a transgernderism day, but if the news station portrayed it as one, then I understand parents getting upset.
I still wouldn't see a logical point behind the parents getting upset. While dressing up in drag might not be the right approach, a school sponsored Transgenderism day could bring some objective awareness and understanding to a subject that many students are unaware of or unfamiliar with. I think it could help promote tolerance if implemented correctly.
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The funny thing about this is, there are accounts of elementary schoolers coming out as trans and everyone (parents included) dealing with it just fine. And yet, there are people like these boneheads who overreact to every tiny thing.
T.k.
For the ones that do overreact, it is a big problem though. I know that where I grew up, everyone would have had a fit if someone came out. There was one lesbian on the basketball team a few years before I was in high school. Parents came out of the woodwork like roaches wanting her to be removed from the team out of "fear" that she would turn them all lesbian. It was the most ridiculous and ignorant thing I ever witnessed. A school like ours could have greatly benefitted from trans day.
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Of all the stupid... How hard is it to understand that you can't catch it? Did your school have a GSA, by any chance?
T.k.
Oh, no! It was the worst example of religion manifesting a school that I had ever seen. I honestly think that places like that are the reason that we have to make a big deal about religion in schools. We were required to pray before lunch until the bill about teachers leading prayer was passed. There were girls there who only wore skirts and didn't cut their hair or shave their legs. They were much like the ones in the polygamist raid. All of the teachers expected us to act a certain way so we wouldn't offend them. There was one openly atheist kid in our class, and his parents couldn't hardly come to the school for school activities because other parents were so mean to them.
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Wow. That's a few steps over the line between 'Normal Human Variation' and 'Robots'. Not that unshaved legs, or skirts, or anything of that nature is creepy on its own, but throw them all together, mix in a few compulsory prayers, stir for an hour and lightly garnish with irrational parents and you get...something. Eew. Kudos on your survival.
T.k.
LOL! I can deal with the different ideas about unshaved and shaved legs, although I choose to shave. The biggest part that got to me was the lack of logic. Some would not have TVs because TV spreads sin, but they had the internet and would go to movies. Some would pierce their ears, but would not wear makeup or cut their hair. They would not use the word "sex" or date, but they could tell others how they were going to burn in hell for not wearing skirts everyday. Each family had their own sets of rules depending on which church they went to. It was clear that they were definitely influenced by someone who was telling them how to act.
There actually was a polygamist family of this belief system that lived up the road from us. There were about 6 or 7 women and two men that lived there. I don't know about the other groups, but this one wasn't like the media portrayed them (with the exception of prairie dresses and bonnets). They would go places, talk to others, and do business with the rest of us. Plus, they didn't have a "compound". Just a normal house.
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I'm curious...did they seem like a functional family unit? Did people in town interact normally with them?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Okay, here's a big, long look into what they were like. It's kinda interesting, I promise!
For the most part, they were functional. They wouldn't go around telling us we were going to hell, but you could tell that was what most of them were thinking. The men worked in construction or something, and their house was huge and nice. They had a garage sale once, but all of the clothes were prairie dresses and all the rest was tools. They were really cheap- some of them would come to eat where I worked. They would order about 3 adult meals for 2-3 adults and 4 kids. The kids would usually share one meal and one drink, and getting a $2 tip out of them was something to be proud of. They weren't rude or anything, but I always refused to wait on them just because they would need about 500 (exaggeration) refills and tipped horribly. The kids seemed happy, but they would stare at people that weren't like them. The women were friendly and would interact with other women, but not as much with men. They supposedly considered it shameful to be seen "flirting" with men that weren't their husband or family, and that included any action other than looking at the ground or talking business (while looking at the ground!).
The people in the town were accepting in return, and they were actually seen as the type of person that everyone should act like. I guess everyone thought this because they were so extreme in their worship, because the townspeople were very judgmental of everyone else. The men and women of the group didn't go around kissing or anything like that. It was actually just the opposite. They didn't show emotion to each other or their kids. The main things they were laughed at behind their backs for was their clothing and how cheap they were. The men wore jeans, suspenders, plaid button-up long sleeved shirts, and tennis shoes. It was like their uniform. The women wore homemade prairie dresses and these bonnet thingies over their hair, and all of them were the exact same pattern. The bonnets were supposedly a symbol of being pure- the girls wore white ones, and the women that weren't virgins wore black ones. The dresses consisted of a long pleated skirt, 2" strip of fabric separating the waist and the top, three buttons over the chest, and a collar. They were usually solid blue or lavendar, but the more rebellious ones wore floral prints. My friends and I used to say that these were the girls who will someday get caught showing the boys some ankle in the barn. They wore tennis shoes, usually black, that did not complement the dresses at all. The family that lived close to me came to our Jr. class rummage sale, and one of the teens was wearing the floral print dress, hot pink slouch socks, and black tennis shoes. She apparently was really rebellious, because she wasn't wearing a bonnet and was looking at the clothing table which was full of modern styles. The funniest part was when she found a one-piece Speedo-like swimsuit that was a thong in the back! The poor girl was mortified. She looked as if she had witnessed a murder, and put it under some clothes after looking around to see if anyone else had seen it. After they left, we all laughed so hard that we almost peed our pants. But, we were nice to them and tried to make them feel comfortable.
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It would be eye opening for boys to dress up as girls one day, to deal with the kind of clothes they are expected to wear, the hair goop, the make up, etc. And for the girls to spend a day in jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes, able to burp without being yelled at, scratch themselves, etc.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
But yeah, what a perfect exercise in perspective! Anyone who thinks gender roles are dead needs to be forced against their will into an itchy dress with crows on it for their 3rd grade school picture. Males think they have it so bad with their ties, but they've never met the lacy monstrosities of my youth.
Try making the guys shave their legs, too. See if they can do it without slicing a major artery...
T.k.
Or they should have to suffer through fourth grade gym class--tumbling, no less!--in a dress that was too short by three inches, as I had to. Everyone saw my underwear, because the teacher would not let me sit out of gym class that day. "Anything you can do, I can do better...and in heels!"
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
LOL! The crow dress comment cracked me up! I had to wear some pretty hideous stuff myself.
I'd like to add some more things to this scenario. They should be forced to have perms, paint their nails in the brightest shade of pink known to woman, and have their sexuality questioned if they don't play with plastic babies with creepy fake eyelashes that open and close their eyes on their own. And to top it off, throw in some stilettos as well. If I could find a pair wide enough for my hubby, I'd subject him to wearing them for a day.
For the girls, did you mention farting without negative consequences? Don't forget the armpit fart noise, getting dirty, and not combing hair without getting in trouble.
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And dirty fingernails! I used to get in trouble for having dirty fingernails all the time, but the boys had disgusting nails! And they bit them! No one said boo to them.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Why am I not even surprised? It seems like these kind of scenarios are being replayed throughout America as people try to press their values on others...like those who do not approve of abortions for themselves think they have the right to tell another human being that they cannot do that...or that dressing as the opposite sex will "make" someone gay. Just seems absurd, and I don't think this sort of thing would happen in other countries!
You really think everyone but the U.S. lets kids wear what they want? Or are you just referring to very specific ones, mostly in Europe?
T.k.
I never said those words, that kids are allowed to wear whatever they want, so I guess you thought I was implying that, which I was not. Obviously parents should play a role in dressing there children, making sure they dress appropriately, but for people to complain (especially non-parents) about a fun dress-up day at school is absurd.
I also meant that in many other countries around the world, sexual orientation is not as taboo. Even in the rural village in Tanzania (East Africa) where I lived, grown men and young boys would hold hands. You would never see that here in America, where those two guys would be labeled gay and I am sure subject to discrimination.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kelliecor
My apologies for misspeaking.
I have never been to rural Tanzania, so this could be way off base, but what you described sounds more like acceptance of platonic male relationships than of romantic ones. Much of the Middle East, for instance, is fine with the hand-holding, but remains deeply homophobic. In these cases male friendships are used to cover up homosexuality rather than affirm it.
T.k.
What a ridiculous mess that was. It just goes to show you...What, I don't know. That people are reactionary idiots, maybe? That no one really has a clue about what is really important in the world? That some denominations are completely out of touch with anything resembling rational thought? Jeebus H.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
My favorite part (which I only found after re-reading the article) was that these people didn't want their tax dollars going to fund cross-dressing. Um, what? It's not like the school was paying for costumes, or anything else besides a brief mention in their newspaper. Logic: They're doing it wrong.
T.k.
Wow. I long for the day when people will actually do a little thinking before arguing against something they know little about.
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Alas, just from what I've seen, it is not to be. ;'(
T.k.