The first time, I was slightly amused that all the girls were on one half of the room and all the boys were on the other half. The second time, I wondered about it. And by the third time I, as well as the entire class was curious beyond belief. That was nearly five years ago. So of course we studied the phenomenon. And as a class, we came up with a lot more questions and a few realizations.
Here are some of the realizations of that first year. They apply only to first through third graders with an average clothing size of 8-10.
With only rare exceptions, most:
1. Girl shirts can be classified as light in color.
2. Boy shirts can be classified as dark in color.
3. When girl shirts are darker in color, they always have other traditionally female type components such as flowers, embroidery, cupped sleeves, scalloped necks, etc.
If you are completely lost, at this point, take a break and go to ANY store. Shop for general clothing for a boy or girl in size 8-10. Sears is the worst and Old Navy is the best, in my opinion. At least at Old Navy you can buy plain t-shirts. But it isn’t great anywhere, believe me -- I've looked.
In the next year, the students and I began a search for a PLAIN navy blue size 8-10 girls t-shirt or a PLAIN pink boys size 8-10 shirt. With the assistance of my students, I have been searching for these items for over three years now. And although we have found blue shirts for girls, they always have had "girl" components that keep them from being plain. The only pink shirts for boys we have uncovered have come from a fifth grader in Mr. C's class who came and talked to us very eloquently about why he choose to wear pink. Unfortunately, we had to disqualify the shirt, because it was NOT size 8-10.
The unavailability of these colors in these sizes, as well as the more general, but less quantifiable, impression that girls and boys clothes, especially in the sizes generally associated with the development of so many sex based perceptions, was fodder for debate off and on throughout the next several years. Like many multi-year projects, it was always laying in the back of collective classroom identity, brought forth on many occasions, and sparked by pictures of boys and girls in picture books, particular gender based clothing choices of the occupants of our community, or just remembered and shared with others as it occurred to them.
The first few years, we were mostly collecting data, observing, connecting, and questioning. Why were their signs in the stores separating the "boys" clothes from the "girls" clothes? (In later years, a student actually compared this with the Jim Crow Laws, saying that the segregation of the sale of clothes made it so many girls were not allowed to shop in boys departments and visa versa by way of signs.) Who decided the colors, the styles, and which gender got them? Where the differences in the clothes in the stores the reflection of the parents desires, the children's desires, or the clothing industry's decision of how boys and girls should be represented? Clothing color and style effected us regularly.
Once, two years ago, a boy asked to wear a girls pink jacket. Prompted by teasing on the playground, we took a writer's walk around the building, recording other's reaction to him. As other students believed we were simply recording sights and smells and sounds, we noticed laughter and snickering, pointing and under-breath comments in every single classroom we approached. Another teacher even pulled me aside, laughing, to ask me why he was wearing pink.
This past year, our investigation reached an all time fury of activity. Kids started turning beyond questioning and on to action. The whole thing seemed so deeply rooted, so much a part of everything, that students were lost at first for a way to make a difference. And then many of them decided to make the difference in the only they could: one child at a time, one outfit at a time. There were girls in dark shirts, and a few boys in light colors. Several girls borrowed their brother's clothing and then made a point of sharing how others had reacted to it outside of our classroom. The idea behind this pseudo cross dressing was to make it more common, one child at a time, and therefore less outrageous. If it was more accepted, again one child at a time, then the clothing industry would begin to offer more non-gender-based choices. This was a child's interpretation and implementation of a grassroots campaign based on changing one own's action to implement change in the larger community.
Advertising campaigns were developed with thought provoking questions such as "Who decided what you wear? The clothing industry? Your parents? Or you?" This was based on the discovery of some children that their own parents were not supportive of their desire to shop or wear clothing that was designated for the other sex. Mind you, wewere primarily talking colors here. For example, a dark green shirt with a dinosaur on a girl. Or even a plain pink shirt on a boy and a plain navy blue shirt on a girl. Something we still couldn't find.
The effect was transformational. Each child reacted in their own way, at their own level. The change was more profound in the girls, I believe because it was more accepted by parents and because girls were more outraged by the history of limitations in girls clothing and driven by their desire to not be limited to all the connotations of today’s sex driven culture. This summer,
I was happy to hear from a former parent that I was not the only one who continued to be affected by this ongoing study. She says, "XXXX is still very dedicated to her gender issues and won't let me buy her anything that looks too girly. I am so glad that she had you for that year, and the gender exploration has been a huge part of what I am so thankful for. I feel like it is so easy for girls to get sucked into that "girl culture" that has been marketed at them and I feel like it makes them stop exploring life in order to constantly examine the image they are creating. I am hoping that this will give her some ammunition for the years ahead."
And I, as continuous inquirer, have also been unable to let this one go. I have, in spurts and moments, in stores across Florida, to just happen by the children's section, looking for that pink or blue shirt.
And that's how I found it.
In the Orlando Wal-Mart Superstore.
The day before my departure.
I was wasting time I didn't have, walking through the boys department when I found it hanging beside button downs in boy colored blue. I bought it so you have a size 8-10 boy who will wear it, or would like to use it in your classroom, just let me know. First I looked for it at Wal-mart.com, but it was not there.
Perhaps it was a fluke, but I choose to believe that a small classroom in Bloomington, IN somehow made a difference that is finally showing up on the shelves. Only time will tell. Time, and more grassroots efforts to de-genderalize our children's clothing, allowing them the choice to dress in ways that reflect their personalities instead of their gender.
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