Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Crossdressing 101

In 26 years (27 in August, for those who care), there are only a handful of times where I've been left completely speechless. Occassionally, I'll run out things to say at that moment; while in most cases, I just don't care enough about the issue, or the person to whom I'm talking; to generate discussion for too long. In rare cases, though, I just don't know how to respond.

This is one of those times...

In Gary, Indiana a gay student was prohibited from attending his senior prom because he showed up in a prom dress. I wish I was making this up...

Interestingly, though, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, a lesbian girl who attended the same prom was allowed to wear a tuxedo while escorting her girlfriend.

The male student, 18-year-old Kevin Logan, was banned from the prom because the school's principal believed that his dress was inappropriate and disruptive to the other students. Logan thought otherwise. Though the school board expressed their regret over the incident, they ultimately stood by the principal's decision to ban the student.

Fitting that this all happened in the hometown of Michael Jackson...

- ACL

13 "Insiders" spoke their mind. Join in...:

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who thinks this story is ridiculous?

Anonymous said...

On one hand, I don't believe that dress codes should specifically be limited by gender definition, but there are cases, like in private schools, where girls are required to wear skirts and guys are required to wear dress pants. As much as I may think that's wrong, they have the right to determine their own rules. If you don't like their rules, go someplace else. Now, if you're looking at public schools, it's different. These schools must be open and available to all students, regardless of race, income, gender, etc. Any rules that discriminate should not be allowed to exist.

I'm curious. Do you know why this school doesn't allow boys to wear dresses?

Anonymous said...

Personally, I think that policies like this are silly and are only around to force people into conforming to the "norms" of socity. Would I ever a prom dress (or ANY kind of dress)? No way! But that doesn't mean that a guy doesn't have the right to, even if we think it's ridiculous.

Andre said...

Interestingly enough, I read that this wasn't the first time that this guy wore "girl" clothes to school. Apparently, he's worn 'feminine' clothes, makeup, and a wig all year round; just never a dress.

Just thought I'd throw that in to mess with your minds a little...

Anonymous said...

To answer your question j.alex:

The idea behind the dress code thing was to dress in way would not provide a "distraction" to the students and faculty. So, from the school's perspective, it's fair to ban anything that draws attention away from the day to day functions of the school (provocative clothing, for instance)

But, seeing that this is a social event and distraction wouldn't be that bad, I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like the students' education -- the most important part of being in school -- is being compromised. I can't seem to understand how the school board could justify this form of blatant discrimination.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Cynthia. Good point, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Freak story, dawg. I didn't even know about this.

I guess I'm wondering why guys would even want to wear dresses in the first place. It all sounds strange to me. I mean, if they want to show off their legs or something, they should do what the rest of us do...WEAR SHORTS!

Andre said...

@ kc: I could be wrong, but sometimes people like to do strange things just to defy the norm. I read that many of the guys who wear dresses are actually straight men who just want to be defiant to a culture that says that only women can wear dresses. My theory might be far-fetched, but I do find it interesting that our culture generally gets more upset about a male who wants to wear "female" clothes than the other way around.

Andre said...

...unless of course, we're talking about the church who prohibits women from wearing pants. But we all know that this is the church's way of keeping women in check.

But, I digress...

Anonymous said...

Hi Andre~
You have been busy , and as interesting as usual.
This post , I think that it is a shame that this boy/man age? was not allowed to attend his prom due to the narrow minded educators of his school. How can the educators teach accepting peoples differences , and human rights if they show prejudice towards someones clothing choices. If this person wore wigs and feminine attire in school before then it seems as this is his choice and it must have been a huge brave step for him to put himself out there. So what he chooses to dress differently, we are all different from each other and if he caused no harm or was not exposing himself , he should have been allowed in , these are older kids not little children who would not understand the situation . The refuser has issues with this situation and was not compassionate nor accepting of this person differences .What a way to teach about the real world , hide it from them!
I say ,if your are not harming anyone , Live and let live! ,

The H.C. said...

anonymous,
I guess there's two of us that think this is ridiculous. After raising 3 teenagers (and having been a bit of a wild one myself) I can tell you that a lot of this is nothing more than a cry for attention. The lesson here is the more we accept behavior the more outrageous it has to become to be noticed. I don't see how this benefits society or our children. Soon, to get attention, kids will mutilate themselves (already happening)or find something equally destructive such as self-amputation. I call this "moral limbo", the lower we put the bar,the lower they will go.

Andre said...

@ greeny: What's goin' on withcha lady?!

I think that this incident is a reminder that bigotry is still around. Too many people think that allowing something to take place means that you're supporting it; an idea that I completely disagree with.

I hate the idea that the Klan parade around town spreading their ridiculous message of hate. But, as long as they are not endangering others, they have the right to do so.

Likewise, unless this guy was doing bodily damage (or maybe psychological damage, but that's a reach) by his gender/clothing preferences, he shouldn't be discriminated against, even if his lifestyle goes against the norm.

Hmmm. I guess I had an opinion about this after all...

@ HC: "Moral limbo". Well put, my friend.

Nice post, by the way, about the Reganaholics Anonymous. As soon as I can put some thoughts together on it, I'll get back with you...

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