Kilts and Cross-Dressing and Utah (oh my!)
Originally I was going to make my first post to the TGB a bit more of a commentary on GenderQueer identities: and then this came up and I had to share it with everyone…
Utah School Forces Student to Change out of Kilt
Basically, a student was forced to change out of a kilt because he was mistaken for a “cross-dresser.”
Riddle me this: if I, as a female bodied, GenderQueer, masculine person was to wear a kilt (which happens frequently, I might add) to this school, what would happen? Would I be a cross-dresser, now that the principle is aware that a kilt is traditionally masculine? This is yet another example of the problems associated with having such a strict gender binary. We get these kinds of knee jerk reactions to any article of clothing that steps outside what society sees as normative.
On another note – I realize this is Utah, and, by default, a little conservative (not all residents, of course). That being said, I still find it amazing that “cross-dressing” is so openly criminalized in public situations.
...and for a comparative study in gender. James Bond (Sean Connery) in a kilt.
Thanks everyone!
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3 comments:
welcome aboard!!
Hi Mae! Good post! I read that article on my favorite website www.fark.com, and was like "whoa! wait a minute!" It is very interesting to me that even in a place like Utah (sorry folks) that an educator would be so stupid to assume a KILT was a skirt. I had to wrap my head around the fact that this is someone who is in charge of EDUCATING young minds here in the U.S.! This was a public school, no?! AND the kid's last name is McFarland. All of that aside, I am truly terrified, I repeat-TERRIFIED of ever having a child and aside from their mom and dad (who are both Allies, mind you) subjecting them to anything that will support our society's accepted criminalization of Queer people. Maybe I will freeze my eggs for years down the road when things are better...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
*sigh*
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