Why School Girls In New Zealand Are Taking A Stand Over The Length Of Their Skirts
Female students in Australia were told their skirt lengths were distracting to male staff [Photo: Rex]
Female students at a school in New Zealand are fighting back after being told their skirt lengths needed to be monitored to keep them safe and “stop boys getting ideas.”
Two year 11s at Henderson High in Auckland have called out sexualised, patriarchy-enforcing comments made about their mode of dress by their Deputy Principal.
They revealed to news site Newshub how they’d been taken aside following a uniform inspection to be chastised and told they would be given detention if they didn’t start attending school in skirts which were hemmed on or below the knee.
While the group had no qualms with agreeing to follow the dress code in future, they did have a big problem with the way their flesh and sexuality was discussed by the deputy.
Student Sade Tuttle says they were told the reason behind the request was to “keep our girls safe, stop boys getting ideas and create a good work environment for the male staff.”
Another Year 11 student, Jazmyn Green, commented: “The rules themselves aren’t the problem; the problem is when these codes target girls specifically because their bodies are sexual and distracting.”
The school’s principle, Mike Purcell, is unapologetic about the skirt rule and the way it has been directed at students failing to follow it.
He explains that before attending the school students are given guidelines on uniform which “include a stipulation that the hemline of female students’ skirts must be on the knee, no higher.”
"The uniform is practical for school wear and these rules are regularly enforced to ensure that all students can focus on their learning and feel comfortable in the school environment.”
He seems to have entirely missed the points made by his students.
While rules and regulations are part of a rounded education, the principle might want to rethink his own education on matters of female sexuality. Feeling “comfortable” might be a lot easier if the female students were allowed to define it on their own terms, not by the potential leers of male students or staff.
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