School uniform has always been a battleground for teenagers. But in Lewes, East Sussex, it's currently causing a row which has made the national news.
Lewes Priory school has taken school skirts off the uniform menu, claiming to be going 'gender neutral' (while quietly mentioning skirt rolling-up as another concern).
Gender neutrality is a perfectly reasonable aim. But why does it always mean scrapping the female option?
The school in question claim to have a handful of trans students and allude to their comfort and well-being as a reason for the scrapping of skirts. Which is all well and good until you realise that trans charities recommend that gendered uniforms actually make trans kids feel more comfortable, as it's a way of signifying their gender.
Gender neutral does not mean taking away the option to wear the traditionally female garment. It means allowing all pupils to dress in a gender neutral fashion, including skirts and trousers.
There is no reason that schools couldn't allow skirts and trousers are as options and allow pupils to pick whichever feels more appropriate and comfortable for them?
Critics of the protest have said that the girls are making a fuss about nothing and that they should just put on a pair of trousers and get on with it.
But there's a litany of reasons why girls might want to wear skirts, from expressing their gender identity to feeling more comfortable and secure. Being a teenage girl is a riot of self consciousness and if the way you feel okay about your changing body is by wearing a skirt, then why mess with that?
Skirt rolling has also been cited as a reason for going all-trouser. But here's the thing: girls have been rolling up their skirt to make it shorter since time immemorial. Teachers have been telling them to roll their skirts down for just as long. Maybe it's annoying, but pushing the boundaries, testing the rules and working out what affect your legs have on the people around you is part of growing up.
If teachers find short skirts distracting, then they shouldn't be working with vulnerable young people. If male pupils find the skirts distracting then you've found the perfect teachable moment to impart a lesson about self control.
The girls of Lewes Priory school disagreed with this measure and therefore turned up at school wearing the skirts which during the previous term were considered acceptable. The school decided that because of the their attire, the girls wouldn't be allowed to enter school or attend lessons.
There is no good reason to refuse to let young women wear skirts. Therefore either this is about slut shaming, or it's about discomfort with trans pupils wearing skirts. Neither of those sentiments has any place in 2019.
Time and time again we read stories of girls being sent home from school because their collar bones are showing, because their bra straps are distracting, because they are not dressed correctly to learn. In doing so, schools send a message: what you are wearing is more important than anything else.
How can we teach young women that their clothing doesn't define them, if we deny them access to education because they are wearing a skirt?