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Australian mother starts petition so daughter can wear pants to school
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Wearing skirts will limit the freedom of girls who like to run, ride bikes to school, climb and engage in outdoor activities. (Shutterstock/-)
“We’ve had a win!” said Simone Cariss following news that her daughter, a grade-one student named Asha, would be allowed to wear pants for her uniform at a Catholic school in Melbourne, Australia.
Cariss created an online petition demanding gender equality in school uniforms at Our Lady of the Nativity Primary School.
Cariss' anger was sparked when the school rejected Asha’s request to wear pants as part of the winter uniform. As with most schools, girls wear skirts while boys wear pants. At Asha’s school, girls are allowed to wear pants but only during sport uniform days. Apart from that, they have to wear tunics in winter and dresses during the summer.
In the petition, Cariss said wearing pants helped her daughter to be more active at school. By contrast, wearing skirts will limit the freedom of girls who like to run, climb, ride bikes and engage in other outdoor activities. Asha often asked why she could not wear pants like boys.
“‘Because you’re a girl’ is not something I am prepared to say to my 6-year-old daughter,” wrote Cariss. “I have raised her to believe she can do and conquer anything, regardless of her gender, and that she can like what she wants to like and not what gender stereotypes dictate she should like.”
“My daughter’s school does not have a school board or council to take our concerns to,” Cariss added. “The alternative is to make an anti-discrimination claim against the school.”
The petition has been signed by more than 15,000 supporters. The hashtag #girlswearpantstoo has also spread throughout social media.
(Read also: Puerto Rico relaxes school uniform rules for LGBT students)
According to the latest update, Cariss celebrated her victory by saying that a school uniform review committee would be established at her daughter's school. Also, Asha has been allowed to wear pants to school.
"There should be a choice for girls to wear pants at all schools," said Cariss as quoted by Mashable, adding that it was necessary for schools to be as gender neutral as possible. (kes)
