As soon as I woke up I knew that this would be another scorching hot June day. It also meant that the boys’ decision to stage a skirt-protest against the dress code not allowing shorts would be implemented that day. I smiled. I had the most dashing skirt I was planning to wear. I decided to really girly up. Instead of having my long blonde hair in a low ponytail I decided to let it flow down to my shoulders over my ears. I picked my favourite white blouse and some thin tights. The tights somewhat negated the purpose of the protest but I couldn’t resist.
Reluctantly I abstained from painting my nails, even if that would have looked good in my sandals with a moderate heel. That, as well as make-up was against the dress code and I didn’t want to break the dress-code on a the day of the protest against the dress-code would I? I happily put my ballet stuff in my big bag for my class after school. I was fortunate that my rather intensive ballet curriculum was allowed to count as my PE requirement.
As I had expected most of the boys were wearing skirts as agreed. They sure weren’t sissies since they all knew what was coming. Our headmaster was a ruthless disciplinarian and brooked no infringements of the rules. Still, they hoped that he would come to his senses as result of the protest, no matter how unpleasant the consequences in the short run. I did get some comments about my tights, as expected.
Also as expected they were all punished. Tom, leader of “public opinion” among the boys protested that I wasn’t.
Headmaster: Have you noticed something about Kelly the last year?
Tom: Yeah, he has been kind of sissier than usual with those girly jeans, soft shirts and all that but that doesn’t make him a girl. For one thing he uses the boys’ restroom!
Headmaster: Really? That’s serious. When did you last see Kelly in the boys’ restroom?
Tom: Eh … I don’t know ….. But he must. He’s a boy so he must use them. It’s not like he uses the girls’ restroom. THAT would have been a scandal! I know he’s a boy. He used to have PE with me before he started that sissy ballet thing. I saw his weenie. So he should be punished just like the rest of us!
Headmaster: Kelly officially became a girl just before this school year. She has used a special restroom this year. Your power of observation is most “remarkable”. And since Kelly is a girl she is a allowed to wear a skirt according to the dress code.
Comments
nice one, Bru!
loved it
A smile a day
keeps the doctor away?
Unfortunately I'm slightly allergic to apples.
Another Bru gotcha
I was expecting a story similar to my "Small Protest" which unfortunately is available only at Reluctant Press.
In my story, only ten boys participate in the protest. It takes place at a private school here in the states. Our protagonist is third generation British. His grandfather emigrated and being stalwart Englishman, he sent his son across the pond for his education in a proper public (as in not supported by the state.) school. When our protagonist's father wanted to send his children to that same school, his mother put her foot down, refusing to be separated from her children for 12 years.
So granddad decided to make a huge donation to a local private school and influence them to recruit a "Headmaster" from England to see to it his grandchildren got their proper education.
Same story... dress-code forbade shorts but lacked the wording to make skirts for girls only. The first attempt involves 10 boys who surmise that since the shorts in there "sports kit" (gym uniform) are part of a school uniform that they should be acceptable... not. The ten of them go to the gym locker room to trade their long pants for the shorts just before school.
They are subsequently sent to the office first period. The Head asks for an explanation and vetoes the idea. He gives them each a copy of the dress code and points out that nowhere in it does it suggest that their sports kit is acceptable anywhere but in PE. He then gives them five minutes to read the code and return to the locker room and change back, offering them amnesty for the breach.
One of the nerdier boys points out to the others that skirts are not relegated only to girls and that in the winter when it's cold, girls are allowed to wear trousers so it should be acceptable for boys to wear skirts. Six go change, but four decide to wear skirts. They reasoned that the could borrow a uniform skirt somewhere. The refusal results in a one day suspension with an admonition that when they return to school that they will be in strict compliance to the dress code.
Our protagonist, mother is a lawyer and goes over the code before approving his participation in the protest. She finds that when wearing a skirt that the girls have to wear "approved" undergarments. The other complication is that his sister's old uniform is too tight in the waist and won't do. So Mom to the rescue buys him a full set of girls uniforms and when he points out to his friends what his mother said about the underwear, they are all prepared with "approved" underpants.
It turns out that the nerdy one who found the loophole has transgender tendencies and gets his mother to buy the full uniform for him. He then confides in the protagonist that he likes wearing the girl's uniform and the protagonist realizes that he too finds it enjoyable.
The protests lasts until the end of the school year with no change meaning months of wearing girls clothing.
I'm sure you can see where the story goes from there.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
A substantially more substantial story
than my little one.
Quite different as well.
Someone
Has egg all over their face. Let's hope they don't try to take their frustration out elsewhere.
Summer break
is not that far away.
I have not idea how they will react. Quite embarrassing not to spot the girl in their midst.
For Lack of a Comma
Whole hundred thousand dollar and multi million dollar contracts have fallen apart due to the misplaced comma or lack there of. Remember Bill Clinton and his, "depends on the definition of what is,is" to squirm out of being impeached? There are some truly intelligent kids in school and they aren't only skating by to get to the end of school.
The school rules can't be escape proof as there is always the interpretation by a judge or headmaster of same. Bru, bless her pink heart, has put out her upside down tail of her latest attempt to inflict her blonde insanity on all of us. How do I know she is blonde this week? When she's a brunet or black hair her mind seems to run on track like normal people.
Hugs Bru, where you been? My spies haven't reported in on any of your escapades this past couple weeks. Listen, although I haven't received any reports, I need to borrow your black cocktail dress. The one with a little more material than a handkerchief?
Barb
Life is a gift, meant to be lived not worn until it's worn out.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Hey, nowadays I'm only dark blonde (well, before it got gray)
I used to be almost peroxide blonde when I was younger.
Quite obviously the girl Kelly is not that different from the boy Kelly.
Of course you may borrow the black cocktail dress. Just a word of warning: Don't go to any nightclubs with ultraviolett light. Then it turns transparent.
Cute
Thanks, Bru!
Emma
Fun read
You're used to the praise, but what else can I say?
Thank you
QModo and Emma for telling me.
I needed a bit of cheering up tonight.
Headmaster's use of pronouns is quite well done
Another good one Bru. Thanks!
>>> Kay
Dress code
Yay, another twist on this theme and as always, a good one from Bru.
Time is the longest distance to your destination.
Fertile field
Dress codes is a very fertile field. So much stupidity, inflexibility and loopholes can be found in many dress codes.
However, I just may have written enough dress code stories. Assuming I have counted correctly I have written 14 stories where a dress code is central to the story.
IIRC
IIRC, I only wrote one dress-code story. Maybe I can think up another.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Twisted
"The tights somewhat negated the purpose of the protest..." Indeed, tights are good at keeping one warm.
Not breaking the dress code in protest against the dress code? Doesn't sound quite right. I'm curious to know how the boys were punished. Were they aligned for a paddling, preempted by someone using a sidekick, a roundhouse kick, and a sequence of punches? Panty-fighting sounds interesting.
I didn't expect the twist, of course. I was expecting the narrator to be a cisgirl. I had to check back to see if Kelly really was the narrator. Yes she was. It would have been bad writing otherwise to have "Tom ... protested that I wasn’t [punished]" followed by "Have you noticed something about Kelly the last year?"
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Explainations
To take things in order:
The story is set in the UK (Headmaster, not Principal). I have been told that in English English tights may be thinner than in the English spoken further west (alternatively MUCH further east). Still, it somewhat negates the freedom and heat exchange from bare legs. The irony in the story is that Kelly while on the surface joins the protest, she isn't really breaking the dress code.
The punishment most likely would be in the form of detention or, if the headmaster is really conservative, in the form of "lines" to write. Unfortunately, from his point of view, corporal punishment is out of the question. Another question is why it's always corporal punishment and never sergeantal punishment.
I have the bad habit of assuming that my readers can follow my thinking. Many do.
Tights
In the USA, if they're somewhat heavy and opaque, designed either to cover the legs or keep them warm, they are called tights. If they're sheer, they are called pantyhose. If they are not connected at the top to a panty, but only come up to the thigh, they are stockings. Hose includes stockings, pantyhose, tights, knee highs, and socks: pretty much anything which covers the foot and is then covered by a shoe or boot. I suspect our British and Irish (not to mention Australian and New Zealand) cousins are exposed enough to American English to understand our terminology, just as most US readers here probably understand that tights in the UK are more than they are in the US.