As we face another day of drab weather, pity those who are so warm at school that they have to wear shorts. No, seriously, you should spare a thought for the girls at Beaconsfield High School, Montreal, Canada, because they're getting shamed for wearing shorts. Lindsey Stocker, a Grade 11 student (that puts her at about 16-17) was told to change out of the denim shorts she'd worn to school on a hot sticky day on 21 May.
This was because two vice-principals doing an outfit inspection deemed the shorts 'too short and I had to change,' she told The National Post.
'They continued to tell me I would be suspended if I didn't start following the rules. When I told them I didn't understand why I had to change they told me that it doesn't matter – I don't have to understand the rules, I just have to comply by them.'
But she refused, and after feeling humiliated by the way she was treated – which was far more about shaming her for her clothes choices than by boys for their behaviour, she says – decided to make posters to put up around the school in protest. They read: 'Don't humiliate her because she is wearing shorts. It's hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.'
She then plastered about 20 of the posters up around her school. Other students joined in the protest, wearing shorts to school in solidarity. 'People are being judged for the way they dress, they have to change because boys look at them.' Lauren Paquay, 15, told CBC.
'The boys should be the ones who have to learn to treat women better and look at them in a different light.' What did this action result in? Well, Lindsey has been suspended for not following the rules.
Susanne Stein, chair of the Lester B Pearson School Board, told CBC exactly how the school's rules go: 'The boys can’t run around with their belt buckle low on their bottoms so they have their underwear showing.'
Fair enough, but we're not sure shorts = underwear showing. Stein continued: 'You have to abide by the rule of your employer, society in general.'
Really, do you? Should society be imposing these rules? 'I was in violation for showing my legs. And that, point blank, is a problem for me,' says Lindsey. Let's hope the school board let her go back to classes regardless of what she wears on her legs.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.