Kilts Used as Protest Tools

Anyone wearing a kilt stands out in a crowd. Even though it's really just a special skirt to me, I've still had people stop me in the street and compliment my kilt and want to know more about it. So far I've blogged about what’s under the kilt and kilts being banned in schools and Poland but I ran across an intereting article in USA Today describing how kilts are being used as a protest tool by air traffic controlloers

Check out part of the article, it's from June:

Male air traffic controllers don dresses in protest
CLEVELAND (AP) — Air traffic controllers locked in a staffing dispute with the government are upset about a dress code and have shown their displeasure in high-flying fashion, with some men protesting by wearing women's clothing.

The Federal Aviation Administration's dress code, instituted in September, bars jogging outfits, halter tops, shorts and jeans. Approved clothing items include dress slacks, casual shirts with collars and sweaters. Midnight-shift workers are exempt...

But a few times in the past year, male controllers have worn dresses or kilts to work, according to the controllers' union, the 15,000-member National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The point was to illustrate the silliness of the dress code because nothing bars male controllers from wearing dresses, union spokesman Doug Church said.

The dress code is typical of professional environments, said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.

At the FAA's Cleveland Air Route Control Center in Oberlin, one controller was disciplined because he wore an orange shirt that a supervisor said "looked like a highway traffic cone," and another was told his aquamarine pants were "not gender appropriate" for a man, Church said...

In their larger negotiations, the controllers are upset about changes in schedules, no mandatory breaks every two hours, and pay issues, including a pay cut for new hires, Church said...

I don't know much about the whole air traffic controller issue. I don't think their biggest issue is their dress code, they're just using that to draw attention to the other things they want.

In my personal opinion, give them what they want! They have such an incredibly stressful and important job and it alarms me to think that air traffic controllers are being distracted by breaks and pay issues while directing the plane I might be flying in around the sky.

I'm quite glad to see that the kilt is once again being put to good use as a protest tool.

Pipe on!

Kilts Banned

The first time that kilts were banned was back in 1745 when the English were trying to clamp down on the rebellious Scots.

Wearing a kilt always draws a lot of attention.

I ran across some interesting articles on more recent kilt bans.

In 2005 a boy in Missouri wanted to wear a kilt to a formal dance. His school said it didn't fit the dress code and allegedly said that he looked like a "clown".

This article is interesting in that it gives some other examples of kilts and schools:

Other schools around the country also have wrestled with the issue. A principal in Victoria, Texas, ordered two boys into "more appropriate" attire when they wore kilts to school in 1992, saying: "I know kilts. Those weren't kilts and the boys aren't Scots."

In 1993, a student in Fayette County, Ga., was not allowed to enter his prom at McIntosh High School because he showed up in a kilt and refused to change clothes.

And while they weren't trying to dress in kilts, a few boys were allowed to wear skirts to class at Franklin Community High School in Indiana in 1997, when a superintendent said different people express themselves in different ways.

Here's the article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-12-22-students-kilts_x.htm

This Missouri case got a lot of attention. An internet petition was started and a radio station flew him to Scotland to trace his Scottish roots. In 2006 the school apologized to the boy and said he could wear his kilt to future dances.

In 2005 Cambridge University in England came under fire when they banned kilts and other military dress at their graduation ceremonies.

This past spring a 13 year old boy in Florida wanted to wear a kilt to his middle school's prom. The school warned him not to wear it but he did anyway. They wouldn't let him into the dance until someone brought him a pair of dress pants. Their rationale was that his kilt didn't fit the dress code. Here's the original article so you can see him dressed in all his kilted glory.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/051507/met_169959464.shtml

Poland is apparently considering banning kilts due to lewd and drunken behavior by vacationing kilt wearers: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=437362007
Pants will be banned next no doubt.

Pretty interesting.

I set some polls up on the right sidebar, leave your vote and drop me some comments on this post. And hey, if anyone knows how to put a poll right into this blog, drop me a line, I can't quite figure out how to do it.

Should kilts be banned at school dances? Should Poland ban kilts? Should schools be allowed to ban the wearing of kilts in their dress codes?? Tell me what you think.

Pipe on!

What's Under Your Kilt?

People holler this out to my band at parades and at one St. Patrick's Day venue a lady even lifted up the kilt of one of the guys in our band. People are obsessed! No one ever asks me of course, because I'm a girl, so I'm just wearing a very pleated skirt.

Here's some interesting information I found on kilts:

The first time kilts were documented in history is after 1575.

The kilt was mostly worn by those living in the Highlands of Scotland, apparently the lowlanders looked down on it because it was worn by the Highland barbarians.

In its original form it was very large, belted around the waist and fastened at the left shoulder, rather then just around the waist like today's kilts.

A lot of people think that the kilt doesn't really fit Scotland's cold and rainy climate, but there were a lot of advantages to the kilt. It offered freedom of movement, it could double as a blanket, and, because it was made of wool, it was water proof.

After Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 both wearing the kilt and playing the bagpipes were outlawed.

The kilt that's around today is known as the "little kilt" because it just goes around the waist. It dates to the 1720's and was adopted by the British military which is a huge reason that they're still around today. A bit of interesting irony there I'd say!

So what is under the kilt? Ask if you dare, but be prepared for a possibly objectionable comeback, pipers have had ages to develop comebacks and there are some pretty raunchy ones out there!

Pipe on!