school rules

[hXcPetey]

I go to a boarding school where they dont allow boys to wear lipstick or any makeup. yet they allow girls. funny, now, would that be sexism or hetero-sexism or both?

i'm still fighting it

[Angie]

All the schools I used to go to had that same rule - you've not mentioned in your Profile where you're from, but if you're from a Western nation then it's considered common for a girl to wear makeup and a boy not to.

It must be noted that Boarding Schools traditionally have a stricter status quo in regards to how their students are to look than other schools. This doesn't make things better or worse, it's just a fact of life. These rules are given to schools in general to uphold both the professional and the educational reputation of the school, and more importantly - to install a sense of self-respect within the students themselves. When all the students look nice, neat and clean, it brings a good feeling and has nothing to do whatsoever with turning people into drones, etc., nor is it sexism or hetero-sexism. It's just a centuries-old tradition of our societies in general.

I presume you have done your research (not just read school literature but spoken to your Co-ordinator, Head of House, or whoever), so the only thing I can suggest is that you keep the wish to wear makeup for after hours. After classes are over, they allow you to have free dress, right? (I'm not extremely familiar with boarding school protocol.) That's the best time to have makeup, both for boys and girls (the rule regarding girls wearing makeup at my schools was strict and required that we looked very natural, but that we could do whatever we wanted once we were out of school uniform - I'm presuming the rule in your school isthe same.) Keep it off when you're in uniform (unless you're wearing something like a clear lipbalm which would be fine), and they shouldn't have too much to say against it.

As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to give you a teachers point of view as to students who go against school policy: When teaching in a school that upholds an appearance policy, there's nothing more frustrating than seeing a bunch of clean-cut kids then a punk with a bright pink mohawk. It's disruptive - catches people's attention, stops them from concentrating on their studies. The same thing can be said about makeup, especially if it's very obvious (and yes, if it's on boys when people aren't used to that sort of thing these days.) Schools aren't fashion parades, and while teachers don't have any personal issues against students getting creative, they'd prefer you kept it to after hours, when you're more than welcome to do whatever you want.

Don't take it personal.

[Pete]

Although I know my school teaches comformity overtly, we do not have the rule. But we are a public school. But we have a no backpack no hat no bellie dress code. Also no shoulders. Its a bit silly but compared to other school I guess its ok. Do you have the 1812 Overture blared in your halls to get kids to class?

[Umoja]

If you go to a private school they can make you do whatever they want you to do as long as it doesn't violate state and federal laws.

[KickMcCann]

When I was in school, people with bright pink hair or eccentric makeup didn't distract me, I was used to it, it was the norm. What did distract me is the fact that I had many classes and subjects I cared nothing about, as such, I never paid any attention. In most cases, it was either something I already knew, something I didn't need to know, or something I didn't care about. So I would just look out the window at all the free birds, or let my mind wander about the state of human affairs.
Though I liked and did well in politics, science, and english classes, there were times I was just bored.
If the administrators really care about education, the should stop acting like fascists and try adjusting their ciriculum so that it actually appeals to the students.

If I'm really interested in something, no amount of distractions will keep me from it.

[Pete]

The administration is only at my school to inforce comfomity and industrial age rules. You only see the vice principal when you are late or skip or dont follow one of the fucked up rules. They dont care about you failing a test. They wont offer to help you with school if you need it. They care about preparing you for the factories and shift work.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

The scool just wants the students to look respectable. They don't want some make-up or lack of clothes or colorful hair to detract from the quality of the learning enviroment.
Understand, it's not narrow-mindedness.

[Moskitto]

i went to a school where they wouldn't let you have digital watches, or watches where you had to open a cover to see the time,
i think the digital watches bit was of some educational value they wanted people to be able to read analogue clocks,
but the excuse they gave was so stupid

"you can't have digital watches because they can be thrown"

[Sinistra]

Crazy pete , were do you come from . Afghanistan ?

[deimos]

sorry, perhaps it seems conservative to some of you, but do you know any boy who wears make up?i'd never wear make up............

[BOZG]

Deimos,
He's probably referring to some male goths who were make up.

[redstar2000]

"Don't take it personal"

Angie, it IS personal. If YOU are deprived of YOUR freedom on an unreasonable basis, it is NO consolation (or at least it shouldn't be) that others are LIKEWISE deprived of their freedom on an unreasonable basis.

Unfair and arbitrary loss of liberty IS unfair and arbitrary loss of liberty...whether one person is the victim or one billion people are the victims.

And trying to make everyone look alike sounds like a moderately effective way of turning people into "drones"...or at least many schools must think so. They ALL try it in one way or another.

As in much of modern western culture, appearance is everything and substance is nothing. If a school were really concerned with its "educational reputation", they would hardly have time to think about what the kids "looked like". But the point is really to make the kids "look respectable"--as IF they were well-educated whether they know diddly or not.

"Install a sense of self-respect"?? How does forcing kids to look alike achieve this worthy goal? Not to mention the mind-set that would use such words: you might well "install" a new liver in a person with end-stage liver disease; I don't see how you can "install" a sense of self-respect...except by RESPECTING THE KIDS.

Btw, I can't even begin to imagine WHY a young male would WANT to wear makeup...but, if so, then, dammit, let him go for it! It does no HARM!

(The 1812 Overture?? Do they use the "cannon" part or the "hymn to the czar" part?)

[sypher]

my public school will not allows males to cross dress. but, I don't know about make up.

[Pete]

"Crazy pete , were do you come from . Afghanistan ?"

Canada comrade, Canada.

"(The 1812 Overture?? Do they use the "cannon" part or the "hymn to the czar" part?) "

The Cannon part. It is horrible. I just stop and listen to the teachers yell at me. I don't care what they think of me. I have a list of 5 people that I care what they think of me. One parent, my girlfriend, my three closest friends. No teachers. But that is beside the point. I diverge, but it fits does it not?

School teaches conformity. Confomity is the plague of our society. It is the chain that holds the proletariant down.

[BOZG]

"you can't have digital watches because they can be thrown"

As opposed to those 10,000lbs analogue watches which needs a crane to be thrown about.



The scool just wants the students to look respectable. They don't want some make-up or lack of clothes or colorful hair to detract from the quality of the learning enviroment.

No, it is used to inforce conformity and to break your will down. Do you wear a uniform to school? Though it may not seem so but when wearing a uniform you're spirit breaks down. You cannot express yourself, you just drone on and on. We were told by our principle that we couldn't have a no-uniform day for charity because that day would create an unrully atmosphere in the school. As for the school looking respectable, I'm really sure my shirt collar and tie have to be perfectly straight to show the respectability of the school.

[IrieLittleDub]

im with the Deus Ex guy above

[Geddan]

Shit man, I had a bet with a few girls in our school about wearing a dress or something like that, and I wore that, with makeup, in the classroom. My teacher was something like 57 years old and she got pretty angry. She said "wear formal clothing in school" or something like that, which I can't translate into English.

Well, the fascist xenophobic ***** forced me to take off my clothes, but I refused. Then I walked 200 meters in town to our PE hall, and then I were about to get paid a small sum for my "gender change". Of course the two girls refused to pay me. See how I can be fooled.

[BOZG]

Deus Ex?

[BOZG]

The scool just wants the students to look respectable. They don't want some make-up or lack of clothes or colorful hair to detract from the quality of the learning enviroment.

How exactly does what you wear detract from the quality of the learning environment. I know that I find that I work much better if I'm more comfortable and relaxed and you really can't relax within a strict rules system.