NANTES, 05/14/2014 - High school girls in skirts in front of the Clémenceau high school -
Fabrice Elsner / 20 Minutes
On social networks, high school and college girls are protesting against the "proper dress" required by most school regulations, which they consider sexist.
Jean-Michel Blanquer advocated this Monday "a republican outfit", even if it means igniting the powder.
Debates on this subject have been more or less lively depending on the period, depending on the societal issues of the moment, analyzes Youenn Michel, education historian at the University of Caen.
The debate does not end.
This Monday, the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, again reacted to the movement of middle school and high school girls opposed to the ban on certain outfits deemed "indecent".
On RTL, he called on the students to come "to school dressed in a Republican fashion".
Friday, Emmanuel Macron also spoke on the subject, calling for “common sense” families and educational teams.
As the control of clothing is part of the internal regulations of each establishment, it often happens that the wearing of shorts, jogging, tank top or jeans with holes is prohibited by a school principal.
And that this decision arouses an outcry among his students, as Youenn Michel, education historian at the University of Caen reminds us.
Has the dress of students been the subject of debate at all times?
It happened often, because teenagers are in the process of building their identity, which they also affirm by their outfit.
And when it is not accepted by the educational institution, they do not hesitate to revolt against it.
The debates on this theme were more or less lively depending on the period, depending on the societal challenges of the moment.
They were particularly so after May 1968, because the fact that young women wear trousers did not pass like a letter in the post in the establishments.
However, the fact of wearing pants was a feminist struggle aimed at more equality between the sexes.
What outfits are currently the most contested by school leaders?
Those which tend towards a hypersexualization of the pupils and those which result from community pressures.
Is it always the outfits worn by young girls that are called into question?
No, because in the 1970s the physical appearance of boys was also a subject of debate: those with long hair or who wore caps.
Under the Second Empire, bearded students were also singled out by the educational institution, because beards were considered a sign of political anarchism.
The fact remains that in recent years, it is the affairs concerning the outfits of young girls that have received the most media attention.
However, I do not believe that the principals and principals who prohibit this or that outfit do so in a sexist spirit.
First of all because the majority of them are women and if they prohibit certain outfits, it is not to restrict the clothing freedom of the students.
But it is often to protect them from possible risks of harassment.
The students who have forbidden the wearing of clothing experience it as a deprivation of liberty ...
But school is not a space of complete freedom.
"Freedom is to understand the rules", as Emile Durkheim said.
And the role of the school is also to prepare young people for the world of work, by inviting them to wear neutral outfits.
Isn't the debate on the dress of a pupil also a marker of the political color of the Minister of Education in place?
The fact that a political figure is on the right or on the left does not prevent him from stepping up to the plate on the subject.
Moreover in 2003, Ségolène Royal, then Socialist Member of Parliament for Deux-Sèvres, proposed to ban the wearing of thongs in establishments.
And it is often the political opponents of a Minister of Education who raise the controversy over students' clothing to make it out of date if it defends the principle of a form of clothing neutrality.
Does not the fact that each establishment has its own internal regulations and its own definition of "proper dress" lead to a blur on this question?
I do not think so.
It would be impossible to write internal regulations common to all establishments by going into too much detail.
We're not going to start measuring the length of a skirt, that would be absurd.
And besides, most of the time, disagreements over outfits are easily resolved around a discussion between the two parties.
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Jean-Michel Blanquer asks young people to dress "in a republican way" at school
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