The Tribe-Une

The Case For Men

Friday, December 17, 2010 By A. Hamilton with M. Neumann

Judah Christian School is a wonderful place to worship the Lord, build lasting friendships with amazing people, and receive a meticulously rigid education. Though some may have complaints about certain details, it is, overall, a home away from home for many in the student body. Yet, we have been at this school long enough to realize that nothing is perfect. This school is no different. In all our years at Judah, we have been aware of a problem festering problem; its ominous shadow is ever-present in these halls. Well, now it is time to play doctor and look this ugly dilemma in the face. We can only hope to find a solution that everyone is happy with (yeah right). Now, like lawyers before a judge and jury, we will simply present a case. Before going further, this problem should be given a name. We would very much like to slap the ‘sexism’ label on it and be done with it. But that in itself seems to be reaching an absolute extreme. So let’s call it feminism . Yeah, that’s right. If you don’t know the definition, then by all means, keep reading. If you do and are scared of controversy, then stop and move on to another article. Now, a case cannot be made without evidence. If one were to look closely, he could spy this going on all around us. How many more yellow slips are given to the guys while the girls get patted on the heads with warnings? We see too many girls get away with blatant infractions while boys are subject to harassment for even the most miniscule details. Why is it that the men here at Judah are not given the same dress code leniency as the women? They are not able to express themselves as well because of it. The hair code? Tucked-in shirts? Where is the fairness? Grace is a hard thing to find in these hallways if you are a boy. Girls just seem to get the benefit of the doubt. We are all for being gentlemen, but are there not some things that just cross the line? In an exercise for Mr. Williams’ AP U.S. Government class, each student was assigned the task of creating their own bill. Both of us wrote bills stating that the enforcement of the dress code was unfair and needed a remedy. Unfortunately, only one of us was able to be present for the actual presentation of the bill to our mock congress and plead our case. Another inopportune factor was that the males were in this instance a minority. We even cited the school handbook itself bringing up mentions of the counter clause to the infamous “tucked-in shirt” rule that males at Judah have come to love to hate. The clause that people seem to forget is the one which states “un-tucked blouses should be worn with a tucked in undershirt .” Interesting. Yet another common-knowledge rule: “ belts are required on pants with belt loops .” Look around the classroom. Think about how many girls are violating one or both of those rules at this very moment. Now look at the boys in the classroom. How many are not wearing belts or have un-tucked shirts? There are probably a few of them too, but they certainly are more obvious. At least to biased teachers. You can’t just deny that there’s a problem here. The dress code is just one instance, but remains to be the one most supported by evidence; it remains to be the issue that girls have the upper hand in. But that is simply not what this is about. This is about the unfair enforcement of rules that every student is bound to follow. We would appreciate the same courtesy of the female members of our student body in how we follow the rules. What about being ladies, or “Daughters of God” as would probably be a better choice of words? What about following the rules we agreed to? Before the regulations to the Judah dress code it is stated that “students should dress in a manner that Judah staff won’t have to be constantly hassling them.” Do we (the guys) get hassled? Absolutely. Do girls? Yes. Girls, however, receive verbal warnings while boys receive immediate yellow slips in most cases. Boys here should not have to be subjected to watching the leniency that these girls receive. What crime have we committed to be put on trial with a biased jury? We have as much a right as anyone to stand up and speak our minds on this, and it’s certainly about time we did. We can only hope that this gets us somewhere. If not, we can become just another couple of male students to ‘complain about the rules.’ Let us make this perfectly clear: this is not strictly matter of dress code. It is an undeniable evidence? Yes, and easiest to focus on. But it is not that simple. This problem is not only felt in this school; no, it can be felt all around the world. The women take advantage of being gentler, quieter, and more “well-behaved.” We felt that we have to impress this on your minds; in the name of equality things must change. For all the guys in this school that feel pressed by the limitations of simply going to school as a male here, this is for you. It has come to the final stage of this case, and we switch our role to that of the judges. This school is found guilty of feminism.