I recently asked my headmaster (at a school in a very middle class, well educated and politically aware area) why boys were not allowed to have hair longer than their collars when girls are allowed to have long hair and also “unstereotypical girls hair- e.g. short hair”. As he is a politics and history teacher, I expected him to have some idea of equality and for him to turn around and say “OH MY WORD I had no idea that rule existed we must abolish it immediately”; but as a true politician would, he managed to skirt around the question and with a slight stutter in his voice, he answered the question very vaguely. From what I could gather, he basically said “It looks scruffy” – but in a few more words. Needless to say, I was FUMING for the rest of the meeting. I am a 15 year old girl and have decided to recruit a few male friends to help me fight this sexism and stereotyping, in the hope that he may listen to a male voice.
