The Tribune

AS parents and guardians prepare to send children back to school, the usual conversations for this time of year are coming up. People are asking where they can find the best prices on school supplies. Some are asking about tax-free days and when they will be announced if they are happening at all this year. Hair appointments are being made, shoes are being purchased, eye exams are taking place (for those who made their appointments early enough), and traffic is already increasing as at least one school has already opened.

The heat has also intensified. There have been daily complaints about the heat. This has, of course, been a part of the conversations about the exponential increase in electricity bills for many. Many say that they cannot make it without air conditioning for at least a few hours every day. People who do not have functioning air conditioning in their cars speak of their plight. It is not easy. Every year, we talk about the summer being the hottest we have ever experienced. Perhaps we are not yet ready to acknowledge that, every year, it is also the coolest summer we will ever have. It is only getting hotter.

Heat and the reopening of school converge, and someone asked a very good question in a Facebook group yesterday. “When you do you think shorts will become the school uniform for girls?” It was easy to guess what the replies would be like because people are quick to turn any suggestion that change needs to take place into a danger. The danger they manifest is usually a threat to an old system that does not serve the people, but they usually manage to frame it as a threat to a group of people that they can convince the masses we need to “protect” from the invented danger.

At present, most school uniforms for girls include a skirt of a thick and heavy material. Many of them are plaid, and many of them are dark. Dark colours absorb heat. The colour and the fabric combine to make for very uncomfortable attire for girls who are expected to pay attention in class, behave well, and get good grades. Looking at social media over the past few months and recalling our own conversations with family members, friends, and colleagues, we can admit that discomfort affects our ability to function. When it is hot, it is difficult to concentrate and can be nearly impossible to undertake our regular activities, even as adults.

Why are children expected to push through the discomfort of heat, sweat, and damp clothes? Why do girls have to wear skirts made from fabric that is completely incompatible with our climate? Why are girls required to wear skirts at all? When, as the person who made the post asked, will girls be able to wear shorts? They are, at least, made of a lighter material and attract less heat. They also tend to be more comfortable for many reasons. I can remember, for example, almost all of the girls in my class wearing shorts under skirts to protect against a number of possible occurrences. This continues for students today. They are easier to wash, iron, and generally maintain. They also come with pockets!

When will girls be able to wear shorts?

One person who makes a point of making the most ridiculous comments possible asked, “Short shorts?” Short shorts are obviously not what the person was referring to, and this commenter wanted to detract from the point being made and pave the way for more ignorant responses that sexualise girls’ bodies rather than recognise that girls have the right to be comfortable in their bodies and the clothes they wear.

It is interesting that a number of people asked about skorts. It is unclear why, when the question is raised about shorts, people either countered with “skorts“. Is it because they think it would be more acceptable for girls to be seen to be wearing skirts or articles of clothing that at least look like skirts?

One commenter said, “It will show off too much of their shape, with [skirts] on these boys will be admiring you.” They went on to say, “Imagine pants where you could see the real shape.” Even more devastatingly, they said, “Even the male teacher wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes [off] his students, some of these little [girls] already shape like woman, looking for trouble.” The comment ended with a smiley face.

Another commenter responded: “If an adult male can’t control his eyes from staring at a child’s body in a sexual way then he need not work with children, because regardless of their shape, they are children.”

Someone else said: “In 2020 we still talking about girls shapes and what they possible invoke or evoke in boys and men! Y’all cannot be serious. It is 1000 degrees outside [and] these antiquated skirts and blouse and neckties and long pants are going to suffocate and kill these poor children. Train your young men then we will not be having these types of discussions. If you think sexual assault, rape, or indecent assault is about shape, some of yinna need to be educated.”

One person suggested that shorts are “a good suggestion for the young kids”, but that it “might be distracting for the older ones”.

Another commenter said: “We want our young ladies to accept how they look and have high self esteem, yet we blame them for other people looking at them in an inappropriate manner.”

The danger is not shorts. The danger is not girls’ bodies. The danger is not “shape”. The danger is misogyny and rape culture. What is being threatened by this idea of girls having the option to wear shorts is colonial ideas about dress. We have, for far too long, allowed people who did not live in The Bahamas or experience its year-round heat to dictate dress codes that are completely inappropriate. What is considered professional in The Bahamas is dark colours, long sleeves, suits, neckties, pantyhose, and closed-in shoes, and it is ridiculous. This was allowed to filter into school uniforms for children. We have seven-year-old children sitting in classrooms with shirts buttoned up to their necks and neckties on. Why? What is the reason for trying to preserve what is old, unsuitable, and physically uncomfortable?

We need to choose climate-appropriate fabric. We need to reduce the cost of uniforms. We need to allow children to be children, and not constrained by unnecessary articles of clothing or ruled by the misogyny or predatory behaviour of adults. We need to take the responsibility for teaching children that their bodies are their own and that no one, in any position, has the right to make them feel uncomfortable at any age.

We should be concerned about our children’s sense of self, physical comfort and safety, and ability to learn and participate in school activities. We should not be distracted by the people who are sick enough to think that girls wearing shorts rather than skirts are “distracting” or will be somehow disadvantaged or preyed upon. We have social ills to address. We have education to provide. We need to do them both at the same time, and one must not be at the expense of the other.

Someone in the comments on the post about girls wearing shorts said that it would probably happen “the same time you are allowed to set foot in the Department of Immigration in shorts or a tank top”. We are so accustomed to being policed as adults who are supposedly free that many do not bat an eye at the policing, adultification, and sexualisation of children. Shorts are not the danger. “Standards” are not being threatened. Old, useless systems are being challenged, and the people who benefit from them - in various ways - do not like it. Let them be uncomfortable.

Increase the comfort of the children. Make changes to uniforms, adapting to our climate and classrooms. Do away with foolish ideas of “professional dress”. Just because it has been doesn’t mean it must be.