Sports Clothing Hot Potato Polemic

[Catalogue of ills]

I think the problem is that sexual desire is so tied up with shame that it's impossible to have any genuinely open conversation even regarding socially acceptable forms of it. Liberation sounds fun, empowering even, freedom from stigma, acceptance of reality, then you feel sick and want to cool it with a cold shower, bed of nails and a load of puritans kicking the fuck out of you.

So you won't judge me on my

Spoiler alert

Barry from EastEnders

[close]

fetish?

[kalowski]

, I think there is a tendency for adults to treat teenagers like either children or adults when it suits them-  ie, being 17 and a half and being told "You can't go out past 10pm, you're only 17" then "How could you make such a stupid mistake? You're practically an adult". Or not being allowed to see 18-rated films at the cinema when you're 15, but still having to pay adult ticket prices.

Actually, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

[Blue Jam]

Ahhh the thumb of conflict

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR
I DECLARE A THUMB WAR

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Beach volleyball just makes me think of that incredibly homoerotic scene from Top Gun. Also at our school, the girls would have a competition to see who could get away with the shortest skirt by taking up the hemline, to the extent that female teachers would go around with rulers to make sure that it was regulation length.

[Huxleys Babkins]

School uniform scientists working around the clock to invent a skirt that's both simultaneously regulation length but also barely covering the arse.

[mothman]

When my eldest started secondary school, the uniform was black trousers (no leggings or jeggings), polo shirt, sweatshirt. Then it wa decided they'd go the full post-Brexit fifties old-school look and in came proper buttoned shirts, ties, a blazer and grey trousers for the boys, tartan skirts for the girls. And really despite that there's the same flouting and bending of the rules, it's just the new more-formal look actually lampshades it. Girls roll the skirt up so it barely covers their arses. Most of the boys seem to have "lost" their blazers....

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Maybe the lads could take part by seeing who can get their trousers closest to half mast, or who can have the highest waistline.

[TrenterPercenter]

We had a uniform policy similar to what Shoulders described black jumper, black trousers, white shirt, think the girls could wear a black skirt if they liked.  This was all predicated on economics which they were very open about in that most kids were coming from families that could only afford to get these simple items - you could pay extra for the schools badge embroidered on the top (though why you would is another question).

School uniforms from a PR perspective are of course part of the class system; people want their "little darlings" to look like they are going to a posh school and this means fancy uniforms (and there is a symbiotic relationship here with schools wanting to show they are a posh school to the market).  I'd hazard a guess the US obsession with this is in fact probably from the UK and not the other way round harking back to the glory days of Britannia and the flogging of educational places to foreign students (at extortionate prices allowing them to buy a bit of British citizenry by proxy).

My work has seen me work with a whole mix of schools from private schools were kids are already pretty much fully formed adults by aged 13 and getting dropped off by chauffers, to utterly bottomed out state-funded schools with literally starving kids in them and success deemed how many kids don't enter the criminal system before 20. 

Education really is the one of the key enforcers of classism; it's obscene if you dare to spend even a few minutes to think about it.

[Kankurette]

Amazing to think that in the 90's you could take photos of your kids at sports day or take a camcorder to the Nativity play but now those things are (rightly) a total no-no. When we were on school trips we used to get tourists asking if they could get a group photo showing "Typical British school uniforms" and our teachers always agreed and let them, now they'd probably have a legal disclaimer memorised for such occasions.

I think there is still this idea that teenage girls in school uniform are fair game though, the idea that girls grow up faster these days and know men are looking at them and enjoy the attention, and hey, everyone knows school uniforms are sexy, no-one can deny that or stop people having School Disco club nights or whatever. There's also the idea that school dress codes are intended to "prepare girls for the world of work" while they seem to be have a weird emphasis on sexual modesty rather than looking smart and professional and tasteful, and while we don't have the same thing for boys to stop them growing into the sort of men who think it's acceptable to wear novelty ties and those black leather trainers that kind of look like proper shoes to a job interview.

The thread in another forum about the Everton nonce is full of these comments. About how girls grow up fast these days and you can't tell if a girl is 14 cos so many of them look older.

Trenter, I've seen comments about uniforms being an equaliser cos everyone looks the same, but even then, it's not true. Your bag or coat will still mark you out, for instance.

[bgmnts]

Girls look older so you have to have sex with them!

It's the rule.

[imitationleather]

Girls look older so you have to have sex with them!

It's the rule.

My Nan was the oldest-looking girl I ever saw.

Wish I'd known about this rule before she died.

[chveik]

trying to determine if uniforms are worth it or not is a waste of time, the truth is that schools can't properly be egalitarian when the rest of the social fabric is full of inegalities.

[flotemysost]

Somewhat tangential, but in this weather, I really feel for anyone with a larger bust, or (as discussed in the recent obesity thread) anyone with a bigger body, or essentially just anyone who can't easily "hide" and therefore automatically becomes a target for unsolicited attention and comments from twats, simply for visibly existing (I mean, I'm sure it happens all year round, but it seems there's something about having to dress in a way that doesn't hide/obscure your body that gives idiots a licence to force their opinion on you).

Imagine having the AUDACITY to not want to completely sweat to death when you walk to the corner shop, so inconsiderate.

[Paul Calf]

Ahhh the thumb of conflict

The thumb of all fears.

[TrenterPercenter]

trying to determine if uniforms are worth it or not is a waste of time, the truth is that schools can't properly be egalitarian when the rest of the social fabric is full of inegalities.

Completely.  Come at me bro time for some make up sex.

[AllisonSays]

Kind of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, isn't it? Although maybe not because i can't think of an egalitarian way to do it. Rare example of a post where i change my mind completely within two sentences.

[chveik]

Completely.  Come at me bro time for some make up sex.

heh come here, you

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Hot Sports Polemic Clothing Potato

[Blue Jam]

Hot Sports Polemic Clothing Potato

Orchestra stalls
Puck will make amends