Monday 11 September 2017

Men in Skirts

There's been a furore recently about John Lewis store re-labelling their children's clothes "For Boys and Girls" instead of having separate ranges for boys and for girls. Also in the news has been a school developing a gender neutral uniform, and I heard an interview on Radio 4 the other day with a woman who had traditional views about what children should wear (and thought it would be confusing to their delicate little minds if a boy was seen wearing a skirt) and a trans gender person, who obviously was involved in the debate because they thought it was a good idea.
I appreciate the trans gender argument, but I think that it's something of a red herring. Why shouldn't a boy wear a skirt if he wants to, without wanting to be a girl or exploring the idea he may be gay or transgender? Why can't he just wear it because it's a comfortable article of clothing?
I wore shorts as a child, and I was never confused into thinking I was a boy, and nor did I want to be - I wanted to be a girl who got to do all the exciting and interesting things that boys were allowed to do. I wanted a pair of shoes with a compass in the heel, too, but those were only made for boys.
And the thing is that men wear skirts all around the world all the time, without it confusing their sexuality, or making them want to change gender.
The obvious example is men wearing Scottish kilts:

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