Sunday, May 19, 2013

School Uniforms and Slut Shaming, Part Two

(I guess technically this could be called punk shaming or weirdo shaming, sorry.)

One rule the boys at my high school did have to adhere to was the hair rule: it had to be above the collar. And boys had to be clean-shaven. (I transfered schools the middle of my sophomore year and was shocked, shocked, that high school boys could grow mustaches.) That rule changed when a number of guys came to school with mohawks and spikes. (Hey, it wasn't below the collar -- I even did a little cartoon about it for a creative writing class.) The hair rule was changed to, and I quote,  "any hairstyle that draws attention to itself shall be prohibited." This was applied across gender lines.

Even then, a rule that was explicitly made to curtail the boys was enforced more harshly when it came to girls who had "alternative" hairstyles. I knew one girl who was expelled until her hair grew back after she shaved it. (I wore the back of my head shaved where the brunt of my hair, a triangular bob, would flop over it -- think Jane Lane meets Skrillex -- which was a pretty acceptable "art chick" hairstyle in the late 80s, if I remember correctly.) I don't remember any boys being expelled for their hairstyles, not even longer ones.

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