The American Family Association’s worst nightmare is coming true: Children are being forced to wear women’s clothing to school! New Jersey’s Maude Wilkins School teacher Tonya Uibel hoped to give third-graders some perspective about women’s history had the great idea of having students, both male and female, wear women’s clothing to school. And then a little boy came home upset about having to wear a skirt or something, and his mother Janine Giandomenico took to Facebook.
Except, in a letter to parents, Uibel noted: “If your child is a young man, he does not have to wear a dress or skirt, as there are many time periods where women wore jeans, pants and trousers. However, each child must be able to express what time period their outfit is from. Most of all, your child should have fun creating their outfit and learning about how women’s clothing has changed!”
Ahh, the gay agenda is at it again!
DeAnimator
I think that is actually a great idea. Let men be put into women’s shoes (haha, literally). That might really help further gender understanding and equality.
Richard in DC
I dunno, I kind of think the teacher is out of line a little. I don’t really see the additional educational value associated with wearing traditionally female clothes in this context. Additionally, not every family has girl’s clothing in the house, mind didn’t, and I know we didn’t have any extra money to go out and buy a dress for me to wear for one day.
Richard in DC
Also, though, I have a hunch that this Mom is likely a bigot, just because you feel disinclined to wear the opposite gender’s clothing doesn’t necessarily make you a bigot.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
This is stupid. That teacher needs to come up with something betrer than drag to teach about women’s history. Why not invite some senior citizens to speak to the class? This is out of line. If the kid’s mom is a bigot, screw her. But I do agree that it’s ridiculous to tell boys to wear girl’s clothes just to empathize. Will the girls have to wear jock straps to empathize with men?
fredo777
What a dumb broad.
Daniel
Hmmm, why would anyone associate cross-dressing in schools with a gay agenda? Most cross-dressers are straight and most gays never cross-dress. So why would anyone make that connection?
Oh, yeah, now I remember. We aren’t gay anymore. We have been re-labeled as “LGBT” and so are now in the same category as trannies, hermaphrodites, and men in dresses. Great move, gay movement! Next, let’s add flashers and voyeurs to our “community”. They are so transgressive!
Jeff Atwood
So, if the mother is wearing a pants suit, she’s not cross-dressing?
Fitz
God, fat people are always unhappy.
Lady Ga-Gasp
That teacher is an idiot and should be fired. What an abuse of her authority over little kids. Kids are not there to foist our agendas upon, whether from the wound too tight right or the nutty left.
Lamar
Ludicrous, What good will crossdressing do or teach. Imagine the abuse boys would face on the way to school. It seems like an agenda to embarass males.
Blah
Wow, nice amount of sexism in the comments.
Besides, she said they could wear pants and it was fine. It’s just a bunch of sexist bigots griping about a school assignment. That and ‘manly’ men who are so insecure they feel wearing a skirt would jeapordize how ‘manly’ they are. Yawn.
And inviting ‘senior citizens’ won’t work because kids don’t feel at all connected to the elderly because of our society. And imagine the abuse the boys would face? Seriously? Think about the abuse women- especially young girls- face on a daily basis.
It’s not an agenda to embarrass males, it is to educated them and promote gender equality and empathy.
jeffree
The teacher was well intentioned, but the students could have just researched what women wore in different eras and why. They could have just drawn and labled it: floor length dress, starched shirt, plumed hat, garter belt, corset—ok– maybe no need 2 bring up the corset!!
Not every family can afford 2 buy a kid a new outfit to wear for just one day.
The mom however over-reacted. The kid could have just worn plaid pants and a khaki shirt and pretended to be an archeologist or anthropologist.
The lesson that the kid was that the school backs down when mom yells, and that dressing in a skirt is very evil.
fredo777
@Blah: My dumb broad comment, while arguably sexist, was intended for the mother + not the teacher. I don’t see much problem with the teacher’s lesson, considering the details in the letter sent out. Noone was being forced to wear a dress to school. A big stink over nothing, imo.
DR
Irrelevant to history and an overall poor idea for an assignment. I wouldn’t let my child participate, either.
Ogre Magi
Is that a woman in that video, or a sea-cow?
Jaroslaw
I don’t see why there are so many negative comments towards the teacher. While I admit I didn’t think of the harassment boys would get wearing a dress to school, I think that kind of proves the teacher’s point. Feminine bad/masculine good? I don’t think drawings would connect the way actually wearing something would. Ummm everyone is so broke, huh? Ever heard of Salvation Army/St. Vincent DePaul? I’m sure if you explained to the manager you only needed a dress for one day, they would loan you something or mark it way down.
And gosh, I wonder why teachers don’t think outside the box more often.
Lamar
@Blah: I am not suprised that you still haven’t answered exactly how wearing a skirt teaches you about female history. LOL. It’s kinda funny how to celebrate women’s history the teacher is advocating wearing a skirt, this will definetely cause unwanted attention and embarassment to the boys whose parents make them wear the skirt. Anyway women can know wear suits, trousers and jeans (all traditionally male clothes) and this is perfectly acceptable but men still can’t crossdress without getting flak so why put them through this?
Patrick
Perhaps she should teach her son that obesity will lead to an early death.
Devon
The mom might be a jackass, but the teacher was still out of line. There are plenty of ways to teach womens’ history that don’t involve publicly humiliating male students.
damon459
“There are plenty of ways to teach womens’ history that don’t involve publicly humiliating male students.” Really I think that’s the idea women have been degraded by men for centuries maybe if the men were shamed once in a while they might just lay of it about. I also think the deeper issue here is a lot of men have problems with their gender role ie society say’s a man must look a certain way or he’s a faggot and a sissy.
Ksyxx
Wonder what time period did he get? It would’ve cleared up a lot of the misunderstanding. Then it was only for a fashion show, not like they had to wear skirts (or bras… XD) for the entire school day.
jason
What I find aggravating is that women seem to be getting off scott-free, yet again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: women exploit double standards in order to get preferential treatment. Women do not just want “equality”, they want privileges too.
Consider, for instance, that a woman can walk down the street in jeans or dresses. No-one bats an eyelid. Men, on the other hand, would be attacked if they wore a dress. Double standard, isn’t it?
My point is that this is exactly the way women want it to be. They helped to create the double standard. They are not these innocent little creatures they often claim to be.
We in the GLBT community mustn’t shirk from criticizing women on this and other issues. A lot of our oppression comes from women – don’t ever forget it.
Lady Ga-Gasp
I have a solution that will make all the femi-nazis happy and land squarely within the realm of the acceptable:
Have all the boys wear boy’s clothes to school so they can experience the ostracism tomboys have felt throughout history.
Devon
@jason:
There’s a difference between women and feminazis. You’re talking about the latter.
Kieran
I think 3rd grade boys are perfectly capable of learning about Amelia Earhardt and Sandra Day O’Connor without dressing up like them. This teacher sounds like a real Dunce.
Jene
I see no harm in boys wearing skirt to school. Actually it is a very good way to teach them about girls.
christopher
i don’t think the teacher is out of line, i think it would allow her to see what students have the will to complete a full assignment for one. and wearing the actual clothes(mind you it didn’t need to be a dress)but it would allow the boys to feel the same need to be alert. i like the teachers ways, more power to her!
the mother can go (++)her self, she’s teaching her child that it’s wrong for males to wear skirts, it not wrong, if a man has a sick attitude or looks degrading and doing degrading acts then it’s the man not the skirt he choses to wear. and fat cow is right on man! i salute you one less than i do Jesus. how ever i see the kid a whiny little prick who is always going to run to moma cow when he doesn’t want to do something. i mean once kid, once take it for the team, be a real man and and have fun. wearing on skirt or a nice soft silky dress pants aint going to kill you.
Shannon1981
The mom is a bigot, methinks. I don’t get the whole associating gayness with cross dressing, gender bending,etc. And wearing women’s clothing these days hardly means wearing a dress. Hell, I own ONE dress. ONE. And I haven’t worn it in two years. Color me a butch lesbian, but that’s a fact. As someone upthread said, gayness =/= crossdressing. Most people who do that aren’t gay at all. That’s another silly gay myth. And all of this is just further proof that this society is soooo afraid of effeminate boys and men. The teacher wasn’t out of line at all, and I hope the kid gets a bad grade to teach the asshole mom a lesson.
Joyce
What’s so bad about a boy having to wear a dress for one time? I think it would teach all boys a lesson. And it isn’t like they HAD to wear a dress or skirt. Besides atleast they didn’t have to wear panties or a bra for god sakes. No matter how much it would teach them. I think the teacher should have that power, exept she should have to come up with the cloths, because whos going to buy there boy a dress to wear for a single day?