I attended this school myself in the 90s- when our skirts were so short they were barely visible. As far as I recall, this was not a major issue at the time? Yet here we sit 30 years later and I feel like I am stuck in a time warp- transported back to 1954. Where progress has taken a step backwards and men with archaic ideas are telling young women to dress ‘modestly’. Surprisingly I have managed to keep my ‘modesty’ in tact and have never been reprimanded in any workplace for dress code infringements.

I am now a mother of teenage girls and they also attend this school- both, I’m sure in violation of the ‘skirt rolling rule’. When I received the offending email last week I immediately felt what can only be described as second hand embarrassment. Similar to the feeling you get when you watch someone on television about to make a massive fool of themselves. Oh dear principal- what on earth were you thinking when you hit send? Although I strongly suspect he is not a frequent visitor to the Mamamia platform, so can possibly remain blissfully ignorant, believing the dialogue on this is limited to a couple of emails from disgruntled parents.

After some more thought the feminist in me came alive and I thought about all of the women of the past who fought hard to promote equality. I also reflected on some of the stories I have heard in my work from victim survivors. Women who blame themselves for being assaulted because their abusers have accused them of not being modest enough or dressing inappropriately. I started to think all hope was lost- until today when my faith was restored and I felt a sense of pride when reading the comments about this article. Some very well reasoned and clearly articulated arguments from young women who attend this school. Keep fighting the good fight ladies- stick to your values and don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed to be yourselves.