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Schools breaking the law: gender equality activists

Female students yesterday perform a skit to protest against having to wear skirts to school at a Taipei press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying and the Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and gender equality activists yesterday accused schools of violating the Gender Equality Education Law (性別平等教育法) by forcing female students to wear skirts as part of their uniform.

“Although the law promotes gender equality in education, the idea isn’t actually put into practice in schools since girls are still being forced to wear skirts,” Lai Yu-mei (賴友梅), secretary-general of the Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association (TGEEA), told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday. “Such a restriction is not only illegal but also kills diversity in schools.”

Typically, school uniforms for girls consist of long-sleeved shirts and pants in the winter and short-sleeved shirts and skirts in the summer.

Although some schools allow female students to wear pants in summer if they choose, such schools are in the minority, activists said.

Statistics released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Taipei City Government showed that a skirt was part of the summer uniform for girls in 69.3 percent of vocational schools across the country, and that only 2.53 percent allowed their female students to wear pants in summer.

In Taipei City alone, 43 public and private high schools have skirts as part of the summer uniform, but only six of those schools allow students the option of wearing pants in summer.

“Why do we have to wear skirts? Isn’t that stereotyping?” a high school student said in an e-mail complaint sent to the TGEEA. “Isn’t the school talking about gender equality in education? So what is this rule all about?”

The student went on to say that those not wearing skirts in summer would be asked to stand by the school entrance and be punished.

“There are female students who think they don’t look good in skirts, those who don’t consider themselves as girls and those who simply don’t like to wear skirts — why can’t the school be considerate to us?” she said.

Wang Ping (王蘋), secretary-general of the Taiwan Gender/Sexuality Rights Association, said she was against stereotyping and believed that one’s gender identity should be well respected.

“Besides, since skirts restrict the way that one acts, requiring female students to wear skirts could be a way to control how they act or even think,” Wang said. “I’m opposed to it.”

Fu Mu-lung (傅木龍), an MOE official, agreed that the skirt rule was “against the spirit of the [Gender Equality Education] Law,” but the ministry would have to hold further discussions on “whether it actually violates the law.”

Huang was upset by Fu’s response and asked the MOE to act within a month. Fu said he would try his best to do so.
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