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Okay, quickly, political correctness. No, you didn't mention it first. Yes, you suggested it had 'gone mad'. Yes, I referred to that at the end of a piece of supposed humour. Live with it.
I'm afraid I don't see your point re: the skimpy nature of school uniforms. Unless you're arguing that it's the adult version of them that is deliberately skimpy.
Yup. Got it in two. Well done. They are not trying to pass as adolescents, but even you are admitting that they are co-opting the schoolgirl uniform image. Nobody is putting forward the 'isn't it shocking what young people are wearing today' argument. we are discussing adults taking a look which applies to people under the legal age of consent and adjusting it to permit, encourage and display adult sexual interaction.
there isn't exactly an "untouchable" vibe happening...when everyone involved knows they're likely to cop off just by attending. So we're back to aesthetics, it seems.
No. The 'touchable' stems from the context, the intent of the wearer and the nature of the event. The 'untouchable' is a factor in the choice of outfit. It is an association that the person choosing to dress that way is hoping to trigger by donning the outfit and, in many cases, by adopting exaggerated mannerisms and role play.
Aesthetics - the science of sensory perception or the philosophy of beauty or art. I'm sure that nobody cares whether I find this particular look attractive or beautiful, but I agree, it is a matter of perception. If school uniform is perceived as sexualised then we come on to the next point...
by and large the people who go to School Disco....are normal human beings playing with consenting adults, with no interest in molesting children or anything like that. Why? Because human beings are contextual thinkers and movement through fantasy spheres by healthy adults is not nearly as complicated as some of us like to think.
I've already agreed that SchoolDisco is not a centre for massmarketing kiddie porn, but I do not see how you can claim that there is no link between the uniforms worn in one context and the other. Without that link there is no logic, no identity to the adult costume. If it does not reference or map onto the 'real' uniform then what makes it a costume, how is it defined as a dress code? Once you have accepted the link between the real and the fantasy, can you really claim that it can only act in one direction? That our reading of the fantasy costume is informed by our understanding of the uniform, but not the other way around.
I'm not proposing to gather a News of the World lynch mob and picket the next SchoolDisco with paedophile placards. What I am suggesting is that unquestioning acceptance of the mainstream nature of this fantasy feeds into and complicates our view of adolescent female sexuality and availability as a society; something which is already problematic enough.
Are you arguing that the police should feel victimized because of the sexualization of their uniforms?
No. Many members of the police and nursing professions are uncomfortable with the appropriation of their uniforms for sexual purposes, but that is a different argument. The point I made related to two points: the age of the uniform wearer and the lack of choice is wearing that uniform. A policewoman or nurse has made a concious choice as an adult to enter that profession, knowing that it involves wearing a uniform. The extent to which that affected their decision is entirely up to them and they are free to change their mind at any point. School attendance is compulsory and very few children are given the choice of which school to attend by their parents. If they find themselves in a school which enforces a uniform or dress code, then there is very little they can do about it. Secondly, you don't get (dire Burt Reynolds films aside) underage cops. Put these together and no, the two instances are not analogous.
I am sure that most people can see the difference between a thirty-something professional dressing up for a night out and a fourteen year-old in the clothes she is required to wear.
or
If the adult in the uniform attracts the innocence of the child, then the child in the uniform attracts the sexual availability and interest of the adult.
Pick one.
Okay, one more time. Woman, girl, different. That why we have law. If daddy goes to SchoolDisco on Saturday night and goes to pick up his daughter from school on Monday, he does not stand there confused in the playground because the pretty lights and bouncy music have gone. I really don't know how many times I have to explain this for you. It is not that everyone taking part in this 'scene' is going to be mistaken for teenagers - it is the blurring of the boundaries between the available and the not, the independant and the protected, the legal and the illegal. It is not about the 'she looked twenty-five, your honour' defence it is about perception, allusion, inferrence and association. It is incremental, slow and bloody hard to prove, but by sexualising the uniform and then enforcing its use by young women and girls we can only slowly adjust our perception of these women.
Does this lead to action? Not necessarily in the extreme sense you are trying to force on me. But is regarding this section of the population in such a light 'a good thing'? I would suggest not. |
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