Upskirt, downskirt

I thought for this entry it’s about time I step out of the Aussie mediascape and look for something similar in another country, like UK for instance. Luckily, guardian.co.uk has plenty of social stories that fit perfectly within the confines of this blog.

Sexist, feminist or educational???

It seems that miniskirts are turning heads again, this time parents and teachers  suddenly realising the long-established tradition of plaid skirt uniforms is sexually suggestive and promotes “inappropriate thoughts among boys”.

School authorities are frantic to introduce skirts of standard length that don’t get in the way of education, or replace them with pants. The notion of “sexually suggestive clothing encourages rape” immediately comes to mind.

Before discussing the entire discourse of feminism and how the dress/skirt projects women as the weaker, subjected sex, Gaby Hinsliff cools it down. In her commentary piece, she points out that schoolgirls have always shortened their skirts when they wanted to be noticed and that boys’ thoughts are, well, pretty much always inappropriate (Yours Truly will confirm this).

It seems rather ironic that school authorities are realising this now.

Having said that, both stories work extremely well in the online environment because a) they concern parents and their precious children, b) they provoke discussion about gender and society; c) schoolgirl uniforms are so hot.

I wonder how the nation of Japan will react to this?

Drunken Sex High

So you’ve finished your last HSC exam and need to blow off some steam. You’ve had your graduation dinner and perhaps even a function at the pub instead of the alcohol-dry, police-monitored formal.  Perhaps some teachers decided you’re mature enough to share a drink with them. Perhaps one of those teachers is young, attractive and can’t hold those drinks.

Are tales of teacher/student sex the ultimate online news stories because they appeal to almost every man’s school fantasy (not to mention they are scandalous, forbidden, deal with gender and power relations, etc.)?

Or are they just so easy to write, requiring almost no framing – find out what happened, interview the school, the police and some horny teenagers and presto! Then come back later to hear the court verdict.

The above story is basically a recount of a very exciting evening for one lucky fellow and a rather embarrassing one for the woman. It reads like a story, like any good story of young lust. But the peculiar thing is that because the teacher was rather wasted and confused, she is portrayed as a victim despite the typical zero-tolerance stance towards teacher/student sexual encounters.

I drank all those while writing this post

I must say I find the decision of the disciplinary panel surprising.  Rather than putting the teacher away for sex with a minor in her care, admitting that, in a moment of weakness, the pair had “consensual sex”, shows a lot of guts. It may not have been rape, but what kind of message does it send out to the community?

What’s more, the supplied photo is of 50+ bottles of booze and not of anything related to the story! What an easy journo piece!

Has there ever been a male teacher that got off the hook so easily? Probably not, at least not in high school. Male teachers can apparently get in trouble just by saying things. Perhaps making “obscene comments” about women goes a bit too far, but what exactly is wrong with inviting year 10 students to ask “anything they wanted to know about sex”? Anyone who taught 16 year old boys would know it’s all they want to hear about and satisfying their curiosity via a teacher beats other methods (go to Google and type in “can you get”).

It seems the Victorian Institute of Teaching is quite forgiving to its female teachers – last year a teacher was given back her certificate after an incident in 2005, in which the then-23 year old hooked up with an 18 year old student. But in the space of four years the pair got engaged and bought a house. Even the student’s parent was pleased. What a happy ending.

The accompanying photo makes it all better.

Hi, I'm a sex offender!