Seriously. I don't mean uniforms, I mean the stupid dress codes that are in place to police girls' bodies and the way they dress. Last night, DH and I sat down with the
packing list for Space Camp, and aside from the fact that it needs to be updated (it references "Telephone Calling Cards" and "trousers"), there is so much bullshit about what girls can't wear. Straps on tank tops have to be at least 1" wide, no dresses or skirts without shorts underneath, no two-piece swimsuits (!), if a girl wears a two-piece suit she was to wear a t-shirt over it, and all girls have to wear shorts over their swimsuits, regardless of how many pieces they are.
Anyone want to take a guess about how many rules there are for what boys wear?
I cannot tell you how irritated I am. There is all this bullshit about "We need more girls in STEM" yet when girls actually try to participate in something like fucking Space Camp, it's all "keep your body covered" and they're treated as if they have to somehow disappear. (Shorts over a swimsuit, are you fucking kidding me?) And why? I could -maybe- see shorts under a dress/skirt if they're doing things like spinning around in the simulator or whatever, but even in that case, I would phrase it a lot more positively and gender-neutral ("wear clothes that you're comfortable being turned upside down in" or whatever the case may be).
And FTR, those of you who I'm FB friends with know that my kid dresses pretty modestly. She's barely 7; she wears shorts/skorts and t-shirts, or twirly dresses. She also wears tankinis when she's swimming for fun (she has a long torso, so two pieces are easier than one, plus she correctly points out that it's so much easier to use the bathroom in a two-piece). Her
competition suit is a one-piece, and I guess I'll send that even though honestly, it's less coverage in back than a tankini.
I'm irritated with all of this policing of girls' bodies and girls' clothing and girls' appearance in general. So sick of it. And she just turned 7, so it's a long road ahead. On the bright side, this came to my attention because Mr. Heff was like "Take a look at this...what do you think?" He thought it was off, but couldn't really put his finger on it. I told him I agreed, and to spend more time on Jezebel so he can articulate exactly why this is such bullshit.
He also said that he thinks we should just send her regular clothes, and if anyone says anything he'll tell them what's what, but we also agreed that it's bullshit that she would even be subject to that sort of scrutiny.
Why are people so fucking concerned about what girls are wearing?