Let Him Wear A Skirt Then.

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Let Him Wear A Skirt Then.

by Angharad.

school uniform.png


(Image courtesy of Google Images).

The summer that year was a scorcher and amazingly it started in April—well okay, end of April, but May seared its way across the country bringing complaints from farmers about the lack of rain which would cause costs of food to rise; warnings from self appointed health experts about sun burn and subsequent skin cancer; and warnings from councils for elderly people to drink plenty and keep cool.

Most of the air conditioning in England is in big public buildings like hospitals or in commercial areas like stores and shopping centres. Modern schools might also have it, but because it’s expensive to run, they might not.

Sheila Barnes wiped her brow, she’d just changed her son’s bed—he, like so many others was sleeping under just a sheet as the temperatures stayed warm during the night. It struck her as ironic that the weather which meant she could line dry any amount of laundry also had water companies asking people to do full washes to save water. Another week without rain and it would be a drought officially and then hosepipes would be banned, car washes would be warned and so on. She couldn’t believe that it was over a month since the heatwave had started and it was still going strong. So this was how it must feel in Australia or the Mediterranean or other hot parts of the world. It was good for drying the washing, but the grass was going brown and sleeping was difficult even with the fans they had running all night—they just circulated the hot air round the house.

Her son Joseph, usually called Joe, was suffering too. He was coming out in a heat rash, especially round his groin but also his legs and waist area. At half term holiday, he was able to wear shorts and tee shirts and the condition improved. It seemed obvious to her that the problem was caused by the school uniform. She sent Joe to school wearing a short sleeved shirt with tie and shorts. She gave him a note explaining why he wasn’t complying with normal dress code of long trousers.

She’d just finished hanging out her washing when the phone rang.

“Mrs Barnes?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“This is Mr Oldroyd, headmaster at Newtown Middle School.”

Her heart nearly stopped, had Joe had some sort of accident or been taken ill. “What’s happened?” she gasped.

“I’m having to suspend Joseph.”

“Why, what’s he done?”

“We have strict dress codes, here as you know, Mrs Barnes. We explain that in the information pack for new pupils.”

“But I gave him a note to explain why he was wearing shorts.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs Barnes, but shorts are only permitted as sportswear and not in the classrooms.”

“But he’s suffering from the heat.”

“I’m afraid we all are, Mrs Barnes.”

“But that’s ridiculous.”

“The governors make the rules, I only enforce them.”

“But you’re affecting his education.” Sheila complained.

“No, I’m enforcing an agreed uniform code which applies to all students.”

“What about religious minorities.”

“If you’d like to send him in a turban, as long as it has the school crest on it, that’s acceptable, as is a hijab as worn by Muslim girls, they sell them at the outfitters as we explained in the information pack when Joseph started at the school.”

“But that’s ridiculous, foreigners can wear what they like but not English kids,” she was incensed.

“No, Mrs Barnes, religious minorities have some accommodation within the uniform code, but they still wear the school uniform.”

“So you’re telling me Joe could wear a hijab but not shorts?”

“It would be unusual, but yes, he would be within the dress code.”

“I see they allow girls to wear trousers instead of skirts.”

“Yes, the governors changed the code a few years ago, as girls wear trousers as much as skirts these days, and in cold weather we had a sort of fudged policy, and we also decided that as some girls from ethnic minorities were wearing trousers under their skirts, the governors changed the policy to allow girls to wear trousers.”

“That’s sexist.”

“What is, Mrs Barnes.”

“Allowing girls to wear skirts or trousers but not allowing boys to wear shorts.”

“Mrs Barnes, I understand what you say, but the policy suggests the dress code is a blazer, cardigan or pullover; charcoal grey trousers with a grey or white shirt; a charcoal skirt with white blouse; black opaque tights or white socks; a black and white striped short sleeved dress; a school tie and the religious minority additions we discussed a moment ago.”

“It doesn’t say recommendations for boys or girls?”

“Not directly, but I suspect very few boys would wish to wear a skirt.”

“But Joe could wear a skirt if he wanted?”

“Provided he wore the appropriate blouse and socks, oh and the school tie.”

“But not shorts.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“No, the governors have deliberated long and hard about school uniform policy and this is their ruling.”

“So you’re suspending my son because I sent him in shorts?”

“Only until he complies with uniform policy.”

“So the girls can bare their legs and keep cool but not the boys?”

“It would seem that way.”

“That is sexist.”

“No one has complained before.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“I’m afraid I can’t agree.”

“So the girls can keep cool while my Joe has to stay hot and bothered.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“That is sexist.”

“No, if you feel that strongly about it, let him wear a skirt. He would be in compliance with the school uniform policy.”

“That is total nonsense.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mrs Barnes, but I’m afraid that’s the way it is. I have to go.” He rang off and Sheila was fuming when Joe arrived home with a letter of suspension and a copy of the school dress code. Sheila felt like tearing it up there and then but instead she gave her son a hug who wasn’t at all upset he had an extra day off school.

After lunch Sheila set him to reading from his school books to minimise what he’d be missing, and continued with her housework. Her neighbour Debbie called by and over a cuppa they discussed the situation with Joseph.

“So what’re you going to do?” asked Debbie.

“For two pins I’d send him in skirt or a dress—except I haven’t got one.”

“No, but I have.”

“Of course, Mollie used to go there, didn’t she?”

“You’re welcome to have them.” Debbie offered although it was tongue in cheek.

“Joe would be subject to all sorts of abuse if I made him wear them.”

“But it might show the stupidity of the school dress code, especially if the local paper got wind of it.”

“It would embarrass the old farts on the governors wouldn’t it?” Sheila laughed and Debbie was soon chuckling away herself.

“Shall I go and get them then?”

“He’ll never agree to it.”

“That depends on how you ask him.”

# - # - #

“You’ve gotta be joking,” announced Joe as Sheila held up the clothes that Debbie had brought over.

“I thought you had more courage than that.”

“I’d be a laughing stock.”

“It would clear up your rash and I suspect the governors would climb down, so it would only be for a few days.”

“They’d kill me.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen.”

“You don’t know the thugs I go to school with.”

“Look, most heroes have worn girl’s clothes to escape their enemies, think of it in that way.”

“I’d look a total dork.”

“How can you say that, you haven’t tried them yet?”

The argument went on and finally to shut his mother up, Joe agreed to try the clothing on. The blouse sagged in the front and he was aware of a coolness round his loins from the skirt but it was comfortable enough much to his discomfort.

“I feel a right tit,” he said.

“Hmm,” said his mother pulling at the sagging top. ‘Take your blouse off a minute.” She returned with a bra.

“I am not wearing that.”

“Just humour me, okay?” She helped him on with the offending garment and to his surprise he didn’t catch fire. Balling up a pair of socks she filled out the cups and instructed him to put the blouse on again. Once he’d done so, she played with his hair which was longish to hide his ears—they stuck out slightly. He looked quite girlish and vulnerable and something inside her felt very strange.

She’d always wanted a daughter but when Darren died driving home from work that night, she knew she never would. For a moment she had what appeared to be a daughter and she was reluctant to lose her.

“Can I take it off now?”

“Here, try the dress on—leave the bra.”

Joe grumbled but did as he was told, stripping down to bra and boxers he looked as incongruous as he felt. Under the dress, which fitted him better than either of them expected, the underpants looked ridiculous so she made him change into a pair of panties she’d bought but which were too small to fit her. They fitted him and despite his protests she could see a certain part of his anatomy was enjoying his new clothes.

She handed him the cardigan and he pulled it on blushing as it gaped and revealed his ‘breasts’. With a pair of short white socks and the right shoes, he’d look quite natural.

“Can I change back now?”

“No, you need to get used to wearing a skirt.”

“Why?” he gasped blushing.

“Because, that’s what you’re wearing to school tomorrow—unless you’d rather wear the skirt and blouse?”

“No way,” he asserted standing with his hands on his hips and looking far more feminine than he realised.

“You are, and every day until they change their ridiculous policy and allow you to wear shorts.”

“You can’t make me.”

“Actually, I can, but I thought you’d like to help me make Mr Oldroyd change his rather stuffed shirt attitudes.”

“No.”

“You know that bike you wanted for your birthday, which I said was too expensive.”

“That’s bribery,” he said.

“Well if you were to help me, I might be able to find the extra money...”

“How long?”

“Until they back down.”

“Yeah but that could take weeks.”

“The rest of the term is only six or seven weeks.”

“What?’ he exclaimed.

“Come on, I have to show you how to sit and walk in a skirt.”

# - # - #

Joe looked at himself in the mirror. He’d been wearing skirts and dresses to school for three weeks and the school had refused to alter their policy. He felt quite comfortable wearing the uniform skirt and short socks, though the shoes his mother had got him with the bar across and slight heel clopped a bit when he walked on hard surfaces.

The local paper had run the story and the governors had held firm, releasing a statement saying that Joseph could continuing wearing skirts and dresses as long as he wished provided they met the standards laid down in the dress code. He tried to encourage one or two of his mates to follow suit to increase the effect, but they declined.

Some of the boys laughed at him but once he’d dealt with the embarrassment and it ceased to be a nine day wonder, he found one or two of the girls actually got much friendlier with him and began to include him in their group. Not only that but his mother had ordered the bike for him.

His resolve was strengthened when the headmaster asked him how much longer he was going to continue this stupid protest. Instead of caving in when the headmaster told him he looked ridiculous, he decided he would stop only when the school changed their policy.

Two of the girls saw him speaking with the headmaster and asked what was said. Joe told them. “You do look a bit like a boy in a skirt,” admitted Jenny.

“I am a boy in a skirt.”

“Yeah, but you could look much better.”

“What d’you mean?” After his makeover at her hands, aided and abetted by her friend Connie, he saw exactly what they meant. They’d styled his hair a little and taken him to get his ears pierced—just little gold stars—then applied a bit of mascara and lip gloss plus a little eyeliner, and he suddenly looked more like a girl in a dress than a boy.

“I can’t go into class like this,” he said.

“Yes you can,” the girls stated and to prove it almost frog marched him into class where there were a few gasps and the teacher did a double take and addressed him as Miss Barnes or Josephine. He blushed but stood his ground.

The girls seemed to approve although one or two of the boys called him a tranny, adjudging him to have gone beyond what was needed for a protest. He didn’t care, he’d got to prefer the company of girls and the bike had arrived.

When he returned home that evening Sheila loved what the girls had done and whisked him up to her hairdressers for a proper restyle and highlights, she also bought him his own makeup and nail varnish and a handbag to keep it in.

“You look really pretty, Josephine,” she said to him when they got home.

“Yeah, I feel pretty good too.”

“Thanks for being my daughter for this past few weeks, I appreciate your courage.”

“We haven’t won this yet, Mum.”

“But once school is out it’s over.”

“Is it?” he asked, “Perhaps you’d better get some more of those opaque tights just in case.”

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Comments

I think she's third from the right

littlerocksilver's picture

I am basing this on the fact there are subtle highlights to her hair.

Portia

Very cute Ang!

A short one-off from Angharad? That's a rarity!

Will we be seeing more of Josephine in the future?

Melanie E.

No so rare

Angharad's picture

There's fifty or more short stories on my author page as well as one or two longer efforts.

I don't intend to write any more of this one but I might just do some more of PFH-TBK if I thought anyone was interested.

Angharad

More PFH-TBK

Angharad,

We (your legion of devoted fans) would love to see more PFH-TBK and Insane and Charlotte and anything else you care to write.

Hugs, Sarah Ann

I'm interested!

And willing to give you information on future developments in PFH if you need them. Yes, more of that WILL be coming, just after I finish my book-book I'm working on.

And, come on, Ang, you got to admit, if you look at sheer volume of writing very little of yours IS one-offs :P

Never stop! Keep it comin'! You're beautiful!

Melanie E.

Well, since you're offering,

ChrisP's picture

I'd love to know what happened to Gaby and the villainous Meadows.

Don't ever feed your Aardvark honey.

More of PFH-TBK? Yes, another

More of PFH-TBK?

Yes, another interested fan here.

Kris

{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}

Too short

Nicely written, it reads good, and also is interesting, though I find it too short. So I´d like to see it expanded into serie.

This a pleasant story, and

This a pleasant story, and one that has the feel of authenticity - yes, this is the sort of nonsense that sometimes happens in England! I get the feeling that Jo is going to be continuing with this long after the school has backed down!

kandijayne

Isn't or wasn't only England.

Isn't or wasn't only England. The US also had similar problems from clothing because of dress codes created by various school districts. Girls were forbidden to wear pants of any kind, even with regardless with weather temperatures in sub-zero levels. Took nearly 20 years to allow girls to wear pants or jeans under the skirt or dress, and then they were REQUIRED to immediately remove same after entering the school building.

Not quite what I expected

I kinda figured the school would cave first, then Joe would announce he'd rather stay with the dresses. Entertaining, none the less. I think the tipping point was the makeover the girls did, he finally made the mental switch to Josephine and liked what he saw.

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

Now hereby hangs a tale ...

as opposed to thereby hanging a tale.

Memories? Wee-ll, yes, perhaps for some (including me at one brief stage); but! No happy ending I'll wager.

Oh for the day.

bev_1.jpg

School Uniforms should be Abolished !

Is it not high time for schools to get back to teaching and stop trying to impose uniforms on kids ?

I had to wear a school uniform back when I went to a Grammar School. There were just 2 shops licensed to supply the uniforms, one was expensive and the other was hideously expensive. Result - people could tell what Class you belonged to by the poor quality of the clothes you wore when you were Working Class. Add to that, clothes were bought too big for me and kept until I was too big for them, so I often looked a right nana, which did not make fitting in any easier. I was described as a boy, but had a more girlish body-shape, this just made it worse. Because my Daddy was so ill from diseases picked up in the Army, he had to be taken to a hospital and eventually have his entire stomach and duodenum removed and a pouch made by cutting and sewing some of his small intestine to make a pouch for food to be stored, my Mummy went out and cleaned rich peoples' houses for a bit extra money, so my sister and I could eat. I was granted free school meals, and was humiliated by an excuse for a teacher who said out lound in front of the whole class "Come out here, Boy! Here are your free school meal tickets. I don't know what this school is coming to, letting riff-raff like you come to it." I had to keep my anger under control and be pleasant and say "Thankyou Sir", whilst the girls and boys behind me giggled and made jokes about me, inside I was promising myself that when the Revolution came I would have this teacher made to sweep the streets with a dust cart and broom. I read the works of Marx, and Trotsky, and Prince Kropotkin, and Malateste in Italy, and accounts of the Spanish Civil War, where the people of Catalonia established a working model Anarchy. I joined the Communist Party but was expelled as a "left wing extremist deviationist", and so joined with other Anarchists in London, some 15 miles away.

As I reached the sixth forms, the senior staff recognised some academic abilities I had, they stopped giving me trouble over minor deviations from school uniform rules, they had never had a State Scholar, they needed one badly, and decided I was their best hope. I began to encourage others to follow my philosophy, and we had an Underground, that contrived to bend the rules about uniforms and to ignore all the "School Rules". The Head had me into his office many times, but could never pin down anything on me, he once told me he knew I was behind all the rebellion in the school but he could not find any solid evidence, so he asked me to just ease up on spreading my rebellious ideas !

They got their State Scholarship, I went to a College that was part of London University, and registerered as a female student because by then my breasts were too big to hide. I did not benefit from the State Scholarship - a County Major Grant would have been worth double the money and would have been given me at the start instead of half way through the first year ! I had to work in a restaurant washing dishes after they closed to make ends meet.

A few years ago I thought to visit the old school for old times sake, and it was not there anymore - the school buildings were gone and the playing fields were now all part of a huge housing estate. They had been amalgamated with a Comprehensive School, formerly a Secondary Modern, on the other side of the town. That school did not have Uniforms!

Briar

Different times, different situations

And different places. I know almost nothing about about UK schools, classes, and the like. But here in the US uniforms are being adopted to level out "class" distinctions. There were situations where students were being severely beaten on their way home for their sneakers or a piece of clothing. So schools are adopting uniforms as a way to eliminate those problems. The uniforms are usually available at the area big box stores - decent quality and reasonable prices. There are parents that grumble about having to buy the uniforms, but then they are not shelling out a couple of hundred dollars on the latest trend in Nike shoes, so there actually is a savings over the long run. No class distinction involved, everybody is wearing the exact same uniform purchased at a Target or Walmart or Kmart or someplace like that. Somethings can be good if they are imposed for the right reasons.


I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.

Yes, indeed.

ChrisP's picture

I immediately thought of a report about a youngster who was mugged for his trainers (sneakers), and this, from the Grauniad, was at the top of the Google search results:

"Young people are image conscious, and a lot of bullying is based on appearance. Targeting others for not having the right look, accessory or brand is unfortunately all too common." (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/aug/11/bullying.sc...)

We had to wear uniforms, including expensive blazers and boaters, which we coated with fibreglass resin to make them last (the hats, not the blazers!)

The big issue for us was hair---everyone tried to get away with an extra half-inch, and the fascists tried to make us into Cromwellian Roundheads.

(I wish I knew how to insert a pic of Kim Jong Un and his merry bunch of loonies--fascism is relative.)

Don't ever feed your Aardvark honey.

we had a protest like that at our school

during a heat wave, some boys wore skirts to protest the fact they couldn't wear shorts. Sadly, I was far too chicken to be one of them, and after a couple of days, the weather cleared, and the guys went back to pants.

DogSig.png

My cats, all seven of them

My cats, all seven of them petition that you quit playing favorites EAFOAB and start some new serials. Don't stop writing bike just add to any of the fifty one hit wonders you have written. We, all eight of us, always enjoy any of your writing.
Signed
Heather Marie and her feline petitioners
Sia
P.P.
Thomas
Abbey
Buffy
Tessie
Pumpkin

Summer Fun...

Oddly I have a similar story sitting in my 'to be finished' box. Same basic idea but with a different plot... Wonder if I should even finish it now. :/

LN

The Legendary Lost Ninja

Write your story

Angharad's picture

But wait a week or two to post it. This has been playing about in my head for weeks and as I started thinking about writing it someone else posted one about school uniform codes.

After a week or two, most readers will have forgotten the predecessors, so yours will seem an entirely new topic.

Angharad

Both happy,

ChrisP's picture

Sheila and Joe. A gradual paradigm-creep, leaving them in a very different situation from where they started.

Thank you, Angharad; this was a delight to read, and as finely crafted as all your work.

Don't ever feed your Aardvark honey.

Great title

That phrase could go far.

Loved the story!

Kaleigh

Another good read,

I never had to put up with that nonsense when I went to school. My kids though, but someone has already covered the USA take on it, it is the same in Texas.

Funny thing, they don't play the same games with high school, grades 9-12. The kids are much more politically active (some of the older ones vote) and the parents are also not impressed by the idea.

pun

I enjoyed the story, but cannot believe that nobody commented on the pun of the head master's name.
It would seem that old roids (A.K.A. old bloody pains in ...)
are universal in school administration)

In the state of Oregon, in the North American Colonies ...

As I remember, in the 50's girls had to wear skirts. They had to kneel to test the length. Boys had to wear polished black shoes, slacks, and button up white shirts.

The very idea of a boy wearing a skirt was completely unthinkable. He'd not even been allowed on the bus, and if he did get on it, one of the older kids would have beat him severely. Yes, at that time, it was Red Neck country.

Isn't it odd that now in the 21st century, here in Portland, people can and do wear any thing they like from a girl in a tiny tank top with tight leggings and no bottom, to a man who looks like a lumber jack, to a man in a mini skirt.

Yes, Portland, Or ee gon is very strange. :)

G

keep it gooing

you could keep it going it is a rill good beginning to a potently good series

First Day Off

Piper's picture

For the first time in a few weeks I've actually been able to sit down and enjoy a truly good read. Thank you for providing such an excellent short story to aide in my quasi day off. :D


"She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them."
— Geraldine Brooks


At least he hasn't been beat up yet

The full makeover will probably ruin the protest's effectiveness but on the other hand Josephine seems to want it to continue for the foreseeable future anyway.

Stupid

I understand the skirt - that's what Swedish loco drivers did, BTW, in a similar situation, but why the bra and girls' shoes? Stopped reading at that point.

Mother and freind are monsters

So a previously hetrosexual boy with no previous crossdresing tendancies is forced into girls clothing and blackmailed into staying in them. There was no reason for the bra or makup in real life he would have faced real potential danger yes boys have occasionly worn skirts to a scool in protest but only the skirt. Yes its a story but again it reinforces the idea that doing this to a boy/male is ok and will have no long term bad consequences. In real life he would have been attacked at school by the meatheads. Both male and female and mother would have had to collect her scared and freightend and hurt son who would never have been able to go back without fear of attack

It's nice to read this again.

WillowD's picture

The first time I read this I hadn't created an account here yet. I actually found this story again because I had googled for some images of fairies. This image of the school kids came up (I have no idea why) so I clicked on it and saw it was this story.

Weird huh?