A Montreal private school is phasing out the skirt with unisex Bermuda shorts in its place, a controversial decision but ending a long puzzle.
“I believe it took a few years for other schools to follow this movement,” said Julie Dubois, director of Collège Sainte-Anne de Lachine.
From this year, first year secondary students can no longer wear skirts.
The uniform at Collège Sainte-Anne is gender neutral, meaning that no item is exclusively feminine or masculine. The skirt was replaced by Bermuda shorts that everyone could wear.
Photo taken from Collège Sainte-Anne website
A student’s mother displays the shorts her daughter will be wearing this year.
“It doesn’t seem all that inclusive to me,” complained one mother, who wished to remain anonymous to protect her daughter, who was about to start secondary school.
According to her, the remaining options are not neutral, but masculine. “Girls who want to be feminine are excluded and pushed for adoption Looks like the male »
School uniforms and dress codes have been hotly debated recently, with students complaining that girls are given more warnings than boys and that in some places staff are measuring their height.
“This is not the type of relationship we want to develop with our students,” Ms. Dubois explains.
“We Are A Losing Battle”
The problem was that, systematically, a large number of students rolled up the skirt so that it came too high on the thigh, “Wimbledon” style, the director’s image.
The establishment tried to replace it with the culotte. “From our perspective as adults, we felt it would make the move much easier. But for some, the problem was not solved as the shorts were cut under the skirt.
“It’s a battle we’ve lost,” Ms. DuBois admitted.
She assured that the students have been consulted on the new options. Some girls, for example, wear bermuda high-waisted and belted. Several adjustments were made with control students.
“We asked them if they wear skirts on weekends. They told us no. So why do you need a skirt in school? They said: “Basically, we don’t really care.” »
Overall, this news got a good response. “But every time there’s a change in uniform, it’s not unanimous,” Ms. Dubois explains.
Need a code?
For sociology doctoral student Rose Moison-Pocket, this example brings up the question of the necessity of dress codes.
By removing the skirt, “we limit the clothing options of students who already have a uniform,” she recalls.
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