The B.C. Teachers鈥� Federation has 鈥渃ome out swinging鈥� against incendiary comments made by two Chilliwack school trustees regarding dress codes.
Glen Hansman, BCTF president, immediately spoke up after hearing that Trustees Darrell Furgason and Heather Maahs had spoke so harshly at a board meeting. Furgason said it is a girl鈥檚 responsibility to dress modestly, and called teaching boys not to react as an untested 鈥渆xperiment.鈥� Maahs said that if girls are allowed to wear what they want at school, it would put girls in danger on school grounds and increase predatory behavior from men in the community. She said girls who dress certain ways are 鈥渓ooking for the wrong kind of attention.鈥�
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鈥淲e thought it was important we come out swinging,鈥� Hansman told Black Press on Thursday. 鈥淭his does contribute to body shaming in general.鈥�
He said the days of putting the onus on women, young women and even little girls to dress 鈥渕odestly鈥� are long gone.
鈥淚t makes it all about other people鈥檚 urges or desires,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat your body is an object that is either something to be desired, or be disgusting.鈥�
While he agreed boys are also subject to body shaming, discrimination against girls鈥� bodies is more evident within old school dress codes. And he commended the intent of the motion made on Tuesday by Trustee Willow Reichelt to put the decisions back to parents and students. Her motion was to create a district-wide policy that would replace all the individual school dress codes, and that the policy would respect each family鈥檚 morals and socio-economics.
But that was seen as a left-leaning 鈥渋deology鈥� by Maahs, Furgason, and Trustee Barry Neufeld as well.
While Maahs and Furgason both said they don鈥檛 want the board interfering with dress codes, Neufeld did agree it鈥檚 an issue that could be best discussed by the Education Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC). However, because of the wording attached, he voted against sending it to EPAC as written.
While the motion was put forward by Reichelt, most of the wording was not hers. It was taken from Victoria School Board鈥檚 new dress code policy, with a minor addition.
Hansman noted that Victoria was the first school board to create a less restrictive, more inclusive district-wide policy. And since Chilliwack鈥檚 trustees have been in the news over the last few days, it seems more districts are rushing to create similar policies.
鈥淚ronically, as with the adoption of SOGI, the absurd pronouncements made by these trustees have had the opposite affect and are spurring other districts to show they aren鈥檛 like them,鈥� Hansman said. 鈥淰ictoria led the way last year and it鈥檚 long overdue, making sure we鈥檙e not making assumptions about gender. It鈥檚 about time.鈥�
It鈥檚 actually fairly common for older policies to still be in use at the board level around the province, Hansman said. Especially with the fuss around SOGI recently, boards have had less time to revisit old policies and bring them up to date.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of old ones that haven鈥檛 been taken off the shelves and dusted off,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ociety has kind of moved on and we are expecting from students a kind of formality and attire that doesn鈥檛 even really exist for staff anymore.鈥�
Of course, not all trustees were against Reichelt鈥檚 motion to create a policy with the assistance from EPAC.
Trustee Jared Mumford spoke in favour of the motion, and explained his reasoning to Black Press.
鈥淚 believe the message being delivered to students via some dress code is that the way a girl dresses somehow determines her value, and that girls are somehow responsible for a boys (or man鈥檚) behaviour,鈥� Mumford said. 鈥淚 would prefer to send a message that normalizes girls鈥� bodies so that they are looked at the same, regardless of what they are wearing, and where boys are expected to be responsible for their own feelings and behaviour.鈥�
He believes in the intent of the motion and supports a change in dress codes.
鈥淪ome argue that current dress codes prepare students for the 鈥榬eal world鈥�, but that is demonstrably untrue. In the real world, men see women dressed in spaghetti straps, leggings, and shorts every day and are expected to behave appropriately, yes, even at work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am not against a dress code, but it is clear to me that the current template needs to be amended. If standardization is required to do that, then that鈥檚 we need to look at as a board.鈥�
He said the motion wasn鈥檛 to create a policy at the table, but to suggest a policy with EPAC鈥檚 help.
鈥淰ia EPAC, we will be able to get the viewpoint from all of our major stakeholders, including parents, teachers and administrators. It鈥檚 the right way to proceed.鈥�
As for some of the other comments made on Tuesday by the trustees, Hansman did not hold back his thoughts. At one point, Maahs named a local school and said there is already a problem there with 鈥減imps.鈥�
鈥淚f she has firsthand information about criminal activity, she should be reporting that to the police,鈥� Hansman said, noting that all teachers and staff at every school in B.C. has a duty to report abuse of any kind.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to take her at her word, and if I don鈥檛, the alternative is that she鈥檚 making stuff up,鈥� he said.
As for Furgason, who noted he felt 鈥渦ncomfortable鈥� across from female students who were not modestly dressed in his opinion, Hansman said it was 鈥渃reepy鈥� thing to say.
And yes, the topic will be coming up over the weekend, as the BCTF holds it Annual General Meeting and elections from Saturday to Tuesday. Hansman has now served three years as president, and will be kicking off the weekend with welcoming remarks. The event will close on Tuesday with the election of new executives, which go into effect in July.
鈥淚 will be acknowledging all the work that still has to be done,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, violence against women and girls has not gone away in society and it鈥檚 long past the point where it鈥檚 the responsibility of girls and young women to get the perpetrators and stop doing this.鈥�
jpeters@theprogress.com
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