The B.C. Teachers乌鸦传媒� Federation has 乌鸦传媒渃ome out swinging乌鸦传媒� against incendiary comments made by two Chilliwack school trustees regarding dress codes.
Glen Hansman, BCTF president, immediately spoke up after hearing that Trustees Darrell Furgason and Heather Maahs had spoke so harshly at a board meeting. Furgason said it is a girl乌鸦传媒檚 responsibility to dress modestly, and called teaching boys not to react as an untested 乌鸦传媒渆xperiment.乌鸦传媒� Maahs said that if girls are allowed to wear what they want at school, it would put girls in danger on school grounds and increase predatory behavior from men in the community. She said girls who dress certain ways are 乌鸦传媒渓ooking for the wrong kind of attention.乌鸦传媒�
RELATED STORY:
乌鸦传媒淲e thought it was important we come out swinging,乌鸦传媒� Hansman told Black Press on Thursday. 乌鸦传媒淭his does contribute to body shaming in general.乌鸦传媒�
He said the days of putting the onus on women, young women and even little girls to dress 乌鸦传媒渕odestly乌鸦传媒� are long gone.
乌鸦传媒淚t makes it all about other people乌鸦传媒檚 urges or desires,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat your body is an object that is either something to be desired, or be disgusting.乌鸦传媒�
While he agreed boys are also subject to body shaming, discrimination against girls乌鸦传媒� bodies is more evident within old school dress codes. And he commended the intent of the motion made on Tuesday by Trustee Willow Reichelt to put the decisions back to parents and students. Her motion was to create a district-wide policy that would replace all the individual school dress codes, and that the policy would respect each family乌鸦传媒檚 morals and socio-economics.
But that was seen as a left-leaning 乌鸦传媒渋deology乌鸦传媒� by Maahs, Furgason, and Trustee Barry Neufeld as well.
While Maahs and Furgason both said they don乌鸦传媒檛 want the board interfering with dress codes, Neufeld did agree it乌鸦传媒檚 an issue that could be best discussed by the Education Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC). However, because of the wording attached, he voted against sending it to EPAC as written.
While the motion was put forward by Reichelt, most of the wording was not hers. It was taken from Victoria School Board乌鸦传媒檚 new dress code policy, with a minor addition.
Hansman noted that Victoria was the first school board to create a less restrictive, more inclusive district-wide policy. And since Chilliwack乌鸦传媒檚 trustees have been in the news over the last few days, it seems more districts are rushing to create similar policies.
乌鸦传媒淚ronically, as with the adoption of SOGI, the absurd pronouncements made by these trustees have had the opposite affect and are spurring other districts to show they aren乌鸦传媒檛 like them,乌鸦传媒� Hansman said. 乌鸦传媒淰ictoria led the way last year and it乌鸦传媒檚 long overdue, making sure we乌鸦传媒檙e not making assumptions about gender. It乌鸦传媒檚 about time.乌鸦传媒�
It乌鸦传媒檚 actually fairly common for older policies to still be in use at the board level around the province, Hansman said. Especially with the fuss around SOGI recently, boards have had less time to revisit old policies and bring them up to date.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of old ones that haven乌鸦传媒檛 been taken off the shelves and dusted off,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淪ociety has kind of moved on and we are expecting from students a kind of formality and attire that doesn乌鸦传媒檛 even really exist for staff anymore.乌鸦传媒�
Of course, not all trustees were against Reichelt乌鸦传媒檚 motion to create a policy with the assistance from EPAC.
Trustee Jared Mumford spoke in favour of the motion, and explained his reasoning to Black Press.
乌鸦传媒淚 believe the message being delivered to students via some dress code is that the way a girl dresses somehow determines her value, and that girls are somehow responsible for a boys (or man乌鸦传媒檚) behaviour,乌鸦传媒� Mumford said. 乌鸦传媒淚 would prefer to send a message that normalizes girls乌鸦传媒� bodies so that they are looked at the same, regardless of what they are wearing, and where boys are expected to be responsible for their own feelings and behaviour.乌鸦传媒�
He believes in the intent of the motion and supports a change in dress codes.
乌鸦传媒淪ome argue that current dress codes prepare students for the 乌鸦传媒榬eal world乌鸦传媒�, but that is demonstrably untrue. In the real world, men see women dressed in spaghetti straps, leggings, and shorts every day and are expected to behave appropriately, yes, even at work,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 am not against a dress code, but it is clear to me that the current template needs to be amended. If standardization is required to do that, then that乌鸦传媒檚 we need to look at as a board.乌鸦传媒�
He said the motion wasn乌鸦传媒檛 to create a policy at the table, but to suggest a policy with EPAC乌鸦传媒檚 help.
乌鸦传媒淰ia EPAC, we will be able to get the viewpoint from all of our major stakeholders, including parents, teachers and administrators. It乌鸦传媒檚 the right way to proceed.乌鸦传媒�
As for some of the other comments made on Tuesday by the trustees, Hansman did not hold back his thoughts. At one point, Maahs named a local school and said there is already a problem there with 乌鸦传媒減imps.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚f she has firsthand information about criminal activity, she should be reporting that to the police,乌鸦传媒� Hansman said, noting that all teachers and staff at every school in B.C. has a duty to report abuse of any kind.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 going to take her at her word, and if I don乌鸦传媒檛, the alternative is that she乌鸦传媒檚 making stuff up,乌鸦传媒� he said.
As for Furgason, who noted he felt 乌鸦传媒渦ncomfortable乌鸦传媒� across from female students who were not modestly dressed in his opinion, Hansman said it was 乌鸦传媒渃reepy乌鸦传媒� thing to say.
And yes, the topic will be coming up over the weekend, as the BCTF holds it Annual General Meeting and elections from Saturday to Tuesday. Hansman has now served three years as president, and will be kicking off the weekend with welcoming remarks. The event will close on Tuesday with the election of new executives, which go into effect in July.
乌鸦传媒淚 will be acknowledging all the work that still has to be done,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淎t the end of the day, violence against women and girls has not gone away in society and it乌鸦传媒檚 long past the point where it乌鸦传媒檚 the responsibility of girls and young women to get the perpetrators and stop doing this.乌鸦传媒�
jpeters@theprogress.com
Like us on and follow us on .
