Summer 2024

The Evolution of the Skirt, its Alternatives

and their Meaning in the Modern Era
By Thea Hwang

Author Biography
Thea Hwang is a senior at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in New York, New
York. She is interested in anthropology, sociology, and other social science subjects. In 2022,
she launched a website, https://www.newsilkroadproject.com, to examine fashion through an
environmental, ethical, and socio-cultural lens.

Abstract
This article depicts the skirt as it morphs from a full-length, heavily petticoated Victorian
silhouette to the mini and its trousered alternative from mid-19th century bloomers to the various
pant styles worn by women today. Alongside these evolutions of women’s dress, the larger
socio-historical context in the United States and the women’s movement as a whole are noted,
in particular the continual cycle of developments in fashion adapting women’s wardrobes to
accommodate their changing role and place in society, which in turn feed further refinements in
the design and function of womenswear. Despite the social progress in the U.S. from the 1850s
to the 2020s, it would appear that an individual may dress exclusively to reflect their personal
choice and identity only to the extent of any pre-existing privilege they enjoy. For women and
girls, even with feminist movement in its fourth wave, recent litigation over school dress codes
indicate that pants remain a gendered issue. And with gender increasingly understood as a
complex rather than a binary identity and expression, the skirt returns to the conversation over
social norms, this time for men and people read as men who may elect to wear the occasional
skirt.

Keywords: women’s fashion, skirt, pants, dress reform, school dress codes, gendered clothing,
gender bending dress

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Introduction used for several nomadic horse-riding tribes from

the Eurasian steppes) most likely invented pants for
American newspaper editor and women’s horseback riding. As tailored garments that required
rights advocate Amelia Bloomer did not mean to start a multiple pieces of fabric to be assembled together,
fashion revolution, but she kickstarted the re-entrance pants were differentiated from, and more complicated
of pants into western women’s wardrobes in the 1850s. than, the simple rectangular pieces of fabric that the
With the emergence of bloomers, a nascent form of Greeks pinned and draped to use as clothing. The
pants and alternative to skirts, women’s fashion could pants worn by the Scythians, for which the oldest
signify social liberation and change, a progression archeological fragments date back to 3,000 years ago,
which in turn is shaped by the design and use of were non-gendered. Ancient Greek writings, and some
clothes. The Dress Reformation movement (1850- depictions on painted vases, refer to Scythian women
1914), by innovating the design of pants for women, wearing pants (Bain, 2019).
takes both the feminist movement and the feminine
wardrobe to a critical turning point. During World War The ancient Greeks never adopted pants and
II, fashion again reflected societal change with women their draped tunic and cloak influenced Western dress
en masse putting on pants and jumpsuits to work in for the next millennium. Up until the 14th and 15th
factories to support the war effort. Progress on the centuries in the West, both men and women essentially
social and sartorial fronts seemingly marched forward wore long robes, or what might be termed a dress
in the ensuing decades. (Brucculieri, 2019). Around this time, men’s robes
began to shorten, revealing more of their undergarment
Yet, an assumption that by the 21st century or hose, which then evolved into outer garments or
women are no longer constrained between skirts and pants. Women continued wearing long skirts and
pants in their day-to-day wardrobes choices would a clearly defined line between men’s and women’s
be premature, as recent litigation over school dress clothing developed (Brucculieri, 2019). With gendered
codes requiring girls to wear skirts indicate that pants clothing emerging, societal norms and, in some cases,
on female bodies are still considered a gendered dress laws arose to enforce this division. In 1431, a church
form. At the same time, another tipping point may tribunal relied on a biblical passage, Deuteronomy
be at hand with some men in major metropolitan 22:5 (“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains
areas like New York and Los Angeles choosing to to a man, nor shall a man put on a women’s garment,
wear skirts. The skirt is once again at the forefront for all who do are an abomination to the Lord your
of challenging gender norms in fashion and beyond. God”), to charge Joan of Arc, who wore armor which
This paper traces the evolution of the skirt and its required the masculine attire of leggings and a form-
alternative, pants, in women’s dress in the West fitting tunic underneath, with heresy and to burn her
over the past 150 years, while noting concurrent at the stake (Ford, 2021, p. 68). Notably, the quoted
developments in the socio-historical context and Bible verse does not actually require that pants be
women’s status, and on reaching the 2020s, finds that exclusively men’s clothing and skirts, women’s
even as contemporary conceptions of gender identity garments (Bain, 2019).
blur previously bright lines, becoming more fluid
and less binary, much of today’s considerations in 1850s: Dress Reform
dress remains rooted in gender, and in some cases an
anachronistic interpretation thereof. In the April 1851 issue of The Lily, the first
women’s newspaper, editor Amelia Bloomer told
Pre-Modern Western Sartorial readers about and printed patterns for “Turkish”
pantaloons worn with a knee-length skirt, which
History: A Summary became known as “bloomers” (Bain, 2019). This
was Bloomer’s accidental seeding of the Dress
Pants and gendered clothing did not Reformation, a fashion revolution for women to wear
spontaneously emerge in western fashion. According pants. The Bloomerites, however, did not call for
to Adrienne Mayor, a classics scholar at Stanford gender equality through pants. Instead, bloomers were
University, the Scythians (a name the ancient Greeks portrayed as a safe, practical choice that would not,

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unlike long skirts, hinder women in their performance education, to a wider field of employment,
of housekeeping and domestic chores (Bain, 2019). to better remuneration for her labor, and to
Despite this non-political bent, wearing pantaloons
still challenged the harsh lines of gendered dress.
the ballot for the protection of her rights”
Suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton saw dress reform (Boissoneault, 2019).
as part of the battle for women’s rights, saying she felt
“like a captive set free from his ball and chain” in the This view of the Dress Reformation
pantaloons (Boissoneault, 2019). as a distraction from the fight for women’s
rights was shared by other prominent
feminists. In a letter, Susan B. Anthony
lamented that attention was paid to her
clothes rather than to her advocacy (Bain,
2019). The above quotation from Bloomer
not only explains why the Dress Reformation
ended, but also hints at the role fashion
can play in the feminist movement. In the
late 1800s, as women were fighting for the
vote, better education, and access to the job
market, the ability to wear pants distracted
from issues more central to women’s rights
and women’s position in society. Yet, even
as first wave feminists conceded to the
political practicalities of the time, the fact that
arguments for “a radical sartorial reworking
of clothing in form and function based on a
desire for bodily liberation, utility, and sexual
equality” (Strassel, 2012, p. 40) by women
A cartoon of the bloomer costume. National Park had been brought forth. The “transformation
Service / Library of Congress
of [women’s] embodied experience as a
worthy goal” (Strassel, 2012, p. 39) and
The Dress Reformation and bloomers
the fit and function of fashion had been
only lasted a few years, partly because
introduced as a political issue and it would
women did not find bloomers all that
persist.
flattering (Bain, 2019). Women returned
to full-length skirts, which had become
more palatable with the new invention of 1920s-1940s: Jazz Age to World
crinoline, a light wire under the skirt that War II
created the bell effect that was possible
before only with many layers of petticoats. Ironically, “the phrase dress reform
According to Bloomer, women left behind disappeared in the 1920s precisely at the
the Dress Reformation because “[w]e all felt moment when the goals of rationalized dress
that the dress was drawing attention from became naturalized–when they moved from
what we thought of far greater importance– the realm of marginal social movements and
the question of woman’s right to better instead were adopted by the mainstream

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fashion industry itself” (Strassel, 2012, men were sent to the warfront of World War I.
p. 40). This was the age of the flapper, a
figure synonymous with The Great Gatsby,
Prohibition era jazz clubs, and roaring
‘20s’ excesses, but also a look that upended
conventional gender norms. The flapper’s “[s]
heath dresses were form-fitting in the way the
men’s suit was form-fitting: for the first time,
women’s clothing skimmed the body. The
flapper look was angular, athletic, and boyish.

In this sense, the flapper–like

androgynous dressers since Joan of
Arc–claimed masculine prerogative by
adopting masculine sartorial symbolism.
This suggested sexual liberation” (Ford,
2012, p. 144). Provocatively, flappers’
sleeveless sheaths exposed their arms and,
yet more scandalously, their legs with the
unprecedented rise of hemlines, first to
women’s mid-calves, then their knees. While
the flapper look may have kept the form
of the skirt, the changes brought about in
silhouette and length were revolutionary on
a scale akin to the introduction of pants into
womenswear–the fact that women had two
legs was no longer obscured and women’s In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment
legs in flapper’s stockings were even less extended the vote to American women,
covered in fabric as compared to pants. removing that legal barrier to full citizenship.
The flapper was a highly visible symbol of These new freedoms in physical, economic,
the times. Behind this image were social, and political activity underpinned the flapper
economic, and political changes affecting style, which both fed on and drove further
women’s place in U.S. society, and by changes for women. For instance, flappers
extension attire. The growing popularity of signaled their distaste for the gender norms of
sports starting in the late 1800s, especially the times and their limitations on women by
cycling (one magazine editor referred to “shedding their corsets, chopping their hair”
women’s cycling as an “almost compulsory in addition to adopting the shorter sheath
activity in the modern women’s movement” dress (Rosenstock, 2023).
(Muellner, 2006, p. 167)), helped encourage
less cumbersome clothing for women. Flapper fashions, being lightweight
Socioeconomic changes included women and body-skimming, allowed for ease of
entering the workforce in large numbers as movement and communicated a rational

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sensibility. This represented a dramatic break

from the ornamentation, heavy draping, and Hellen Hulick appearing in court wearing
cumbersome padding of preceding dress pants on Nov. 14, 1938. Andrew Arnott / Los
conventions. “This shift, from clothing that Angeles Times Archive / UCLA
symbolized femininity while obscuring most
of the actual female body to clothing that While the flapper was the dominant
expressed the feminine form by suggesting female image of the 1920s, pants continued
its actual contours, was a visual manifesto to infiltrate womenswear. Through the second
for gender equality, an implicit statement that half of the 1920s, French designer Coco
women’s bodies were fit for public view and Chanel helped bring menswear staples such
physically capable too” (Ford, 2021, p. 150). as tailored jackets and trousers into women’s
The flapper was a visual statement for gender wardrobes (Bain, 2019). Chanel herself “was
equality. Before the flapper, femininity was often photographed. . .wearing loose, sailor-
symbolized with clothing that covered most style trousers, known as ‘yachting pants’. The
of a woman’s body. By contrast, the flapper’s most fashionable young women started to
dress revealed the contours of a feminine wear trousers for leisure pursuits” (Mendes,
body and, in doing so, asserted that women’s 1999, p. 72). Then and into the 1930s,
bodies need not be hidden and could be seen. Hollywood actresses like Marlene Dietrich
This celebration of the female body was began wearing pants on a more regular
an application of the ideals of modernism– basis, shocking audiences by appearing in
embracing form and rejecting ornamentation. tuxedos and double-breasted suits in the films
In this sense, the flapper claimed some of Morocco (1930), Blonde Venus (1932), and
male privilege. Seven Sinners (1940) (Michael Andrews
Bespoke).

For regular women however, pants

were not acceptable wear. In 1938, teacher
Helen Hulick arrived in pants at a Los
Angeles courtroom to testify as a trial
witness, but was sent home and told to return
in a dress; when she showed up again in
pants, she was held in contempt (although
the citation was later overturned) and given
a five-day jail sentence (Downey, 2017).
Dietrich herself was refused entry into a
famed Los Angeles restaurant in 1933 for
turning up in pants; The Los Angeles Times
reported it would be several decades before
that restaurant lifted its ban on female patrons
wearing pants (Bain, 2019).

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With World War II, unprecedented embodied by the mini skirt, with young
numbers of women worked in factories to women no longer wanting to dress like their
support the national economy and wore pants mothers. The mini skirt could perhaps be
as their mandated uniform. Although wearing said to represent the end point of the skirt’s
pants was not necessarily their choice, just evolution, as the counterpoint to the full,
the fact that more women were wearing heavy, floor-length skirts of the mid-1850s.
pants helped normalize and popularize pants Following the mini’s arrival, hemlines would
as womenswear. “Though donning overalls rise or fall and skirt shapes adapt to trends,
and jeans, clothes associated with rough but any of these iterations would fall within
masculinity, initially seemed ‘very odd,’ the spectrum anchored on one end by the
even embarrassing, some war workers only Victorian silhouette and on the other by the
reluctantly returned to dresses after leaving mini.
the factory for office, retail, or other spaces of
women’s labor. For slacks–along with having The 1960s also saw the increasing
‘your hair tied up’ and wearing ‘a welder’s normalization of pants as womenswear. This
helmet’–brought. . .‘liberation.’ Pants, is perhaps best exemplified by American
associated with hegemonic masculinity, could actress Mary Tyler Moore in her role as the
signify power and freedom” (Boris, 2006, p. lead character’s spouse on The Dick Van
123). Dyke Show, the iconic television situation
comedy that ran from 1961-1966. Over the
1960s-1990s: Counterculture to objections of the show’s sponsors, Moore
sneaked pants into her character’s wardrobe
the Power Suit more and more until fitted capri pants became
her signature look (Bain, 2019). Moore
1960s America roiled with change,
would have an even greater influence in
from the civil rights movement and anti-war
women’s fashion and second wave feminism
protests to counterculture influences and
when she became the lead in The Mary
second wave feminism. The iteration of the
Tyler Moore Show, which ran from 1970-
skirt during this era of change was the mini.
1977 and was a first in American television
The rise of the mini skirt is often credited to
for having a single working woman as its
British designer Mary Quant, although she
central character. Despite this groundbreaking
herself attributed the mini skirt to the young
premise, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was
women on the street (Calahan & Zachary,
not unequivocally feminist. While Mary
2019). The ever-increasing numbers of
embodied many of the advancements sought
women entering higher education and the
by first wave feminism, having the right to
workforce, the spreading ideals and calls for
work, vote, and handle her own business
democracy and equality, and the introduction
transactions, all this fell short of second wave
of the birth control pill all formed a tapestry
feminists’ demands for equality (Fuselier,
of change in the 1960s that included a
2016, pp. 5-6). The “moderate, subtle nature
youth-led whole cloth change in who was
of The Mary Tyler Moore Show” showed a
making and consuming fashion (Calahan &
“relatable side of feminism” (Fuselier, 2016,
Zachary, 2019). One expression of change
p. 6), whereas second wave feminism, as a
in the “youthquake” fashion revolution was

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radical movement, ran into opposition on further away from traditional, socially
many fronts in the United States. constructed gender roles, helped open up
possibilities for people who may be gender
As foreshadowed by The Mary queer, though transgender was still far from
Tyler Moore Show and inspired by the being commonly accepted as an identity.
women’s movement, many American women
wore their pantsuits and miniskirts into By the 1980s, the power suit
workplaces and schools, and these styles had arrived for women, who adopted
became accepted womenswear at many of the traditional business suit into their
these venues by the 1970s (Hillman, 2013, wardrobes. The 1980s’ power suit, however,
p. 156). Yet, as feminists who promoted the generally paired a jacket with a skirt. For
freedom of choice in dress pushed American another decade or so, pantsuits remained
society to accept changing fashions such as less common and were generally deemed
pantsuits and miniskirts for women, gender- inappropriate attire for women in corporate
bending dress, like women wearing pants, in boardrooms or as members of the bar arguing
challenging broader societal conceptions of before the courts. For instance, until 1993
sex roles and femininity was connected to a there was an unofficial rule that women
politics of gender (Hillman, 2013, p. 156). in the U.S. Senate could not wear pants
Questions that divided second wave feminists (Bain, 2019). In the halls of power, it would
were “[d]id nontraditional, androgynous, or seem that pantsuits, due to their gendered
‘masculine’ self-presentations help to create association, took longer to gain acceptance
a new feminist version of womanhood, free than skirt suits. Ironically, these were the very
from socially constructed gender roles? Or spaces that second wave feminists fought
did rejecting traditional feminine gender hard for entry into and, once having gotten
presentation signal that feminists sought their feet in the door, competed to succeed on
to abandon their heterosexual female the same metrics as their male counterparts.
identities?” (Hillman, 2013, p. 157) Perhaps as some women started to break
down the gender barriers in government, law,
Ultimately, a woman’s self- and business, the patriarchy sensed the threat
presentation was a question of “what it to their previously, exclusively-gendered
meant to be a woman in an era of woman’s chokehold on power and sought to hold
liberation” (Hillman, 2013, p. 157). The era’s back women’s professional progress in less
iteration of the skirt, the mini, and its more explicit ways, such as attire. Such a move
widespread use of pants by women signaled would not be dissimilar to the challenge faced
that more options in terms of hemlines and by first wave feminists and the dress reform
tailored wear versus drapery were available to movement when bloomers first appeared over
women of the 1960s and 1970s. Importantly, a century earlier.
the femininized miniskirt and the more
masculine pants were not mutually exclusive
options for women. It should also be noted
that the “nontraditional, androgynous, or
‘masculine” presentation option, in moving

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The New Millenium

their undergarments and being reprimanded
Today in the U.S., women’s right to wear by teachers or teased by boys; they argued
pants persists as a question rooted in gender. that the skirts rule sent a message that girls’
For most, pants have become a wardrobe comfort and freedom to engage in physical
staple that can be worn in formal or informal, activity were less important than those of
public or private spaces. Yet, two recent boys. Students and their parents challenged
incidents underscore that pants remain a the school’s skirts requirement as sex
gendered, and potentially controversial, discrimination under the U.S. Constitution’s
clothing item for women and girls. In March Equal Protection Clause. In 2019, the trial
2019, senior Hannah Kozak was surprised to judge agreed that “[t]he skirts requirements
learn that female students at her Pennsylvania causes the girls to suffer a burden the boys
high school were barred from wearing pants do not, simply because they are female”
under their cap and gown at graduation. (Mervosh, 2019). In 2022, the full U.S. Court
Kozak had to take numerous steps just of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed
to be able to wear pants: she spoke to the that the skirts requirement violated the girls’
teacher who was her senior class advisor; she rights, observing it was “difficult to imagine
contacted the school principal; she presented a clearer example of a rationale based on
her argument in front of the school board; impermissible gender stereotypes” (American
she then received special permission to wear Civil Liberties Union, 2023). The U.S.
pants, but deeming an individual dispensation Supreme Court declined to review the case in
insufficient, called her local television June 2023, leaving the appellate decision as
news station. It was only after the media final.
interviewed Kozak and reached out to the
school for comment that the district reversed Over 100 years after pants had
the rule, allowing all students to wear developed into an alternative to skirts
professional business attire, including pants, for women’s attire, it would seem that
to their commencement ceremony (Mettler, pants have not fully shed their gendered
2019). connotations when worn by a female body.
“[M]ost gendered clothing doesn’t refer to
The second instance started in 2016 human biology; instead it reflects a social
and needed litigation to resolve in June 2023. convention. ‘Women’s clothing’ isn’t clothing
A North Carolina K-8 charter school had a that is especially suited to female bodies–it
dress code requiring girls to wear skirts, and is simply any clothing that women typically
not pants or shorts, as part of its “traditional wear. This means that every transgression of
values.” The girls found skirts less gender norms is also a potential revision of
comfortable on a daily basis and less warm in those norms: if enough women wear pants,
winter than pants; wearing skirts forced them then pants will become women’s clothing”
to pay constant attention to the positioning of (Ford, 2021, p. 263). While many might find
their legs during class and led them to avoid this statement self-evident, it also does not
certain activities, such as climbing or playing reflect the reality of 2024. Even as women’s
sports during recess, for fear of exposing position in society has advanced and many

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stultifying gender norms have receded, the by someone in the entertainment industry, as
gender pay gap has stayed much the same a woman who is still not brave enough to say
for the past 20 years. According to the his name, as a woman who lives with chronic
Pew Research Center, “in 2022, American pain, as a woman who was conditioned at
women typically earned 82 cents for every a very young age to listen to what men told
dollar earned by men” (Kochhar, 2023). The me to do, I decided today I wanted to take
continued hetero-normative domination of the power back. Today I wear the pants”
the power structures of society and the media (Brucculieri, 2019).
and the persistence and weight of “traditional
values,” as exemplified by the school dress If pants remain a transgressive
code cases, signal that today’s world remains form of dress for women, at least in some
gendered and hence the visual cues of dress contemporary settings, then for men or people
will be interpretated on gendered lines. read as men to wear skirts would be taboo.
In 2016, actor Jaden Smith wore a Louis
In the United States today, as fashion Vuitton skirt for the designer’s womenswear
is a highly visible form of expression, advertising campaign. The New York Times’
perhaps women should dress for impact and fashion critic described Smith’s modeling
with voice. Women can continue to wear of the skirt as not gender neutral or gender
pants in everyday life as a matter of course bending or gender free, but in fact, entirely
as well as embrace and fight for wearing gendered, because the modeled “clothes and
pants as a statement of power and personality. their conceptual allegiance have not changed
Hillary Clinton, well-known for her pantsuit at all” since Smith is “not a man in transition.
uniform, used this sartorial choice to both . .or a man wearing clothing that looks as if
fit in with her male counterparts but also it could be worn by either gender. . . .He is a
stand apart from them, a visual reminder man who happens to be wearing obviously
that as a woman running for President she female clothes.” (Friedman, 2016). Actor and
was different from the male candidates but singer Billy Porter similarly crossed gender
also familiar (King & Allen, 2020). Fashion dress lines on numerous occasions, including
historian Cassidy Zachary noted that despite in a fusion of tuxedo jacket and ultra-
women having by now worn pants for puffy gown at the 2019 Academy Awards.
decades, pants “maintain this idea of power, Musician Harry Styles marked a milestone
of independence, control” over the body and as the first male to have a solo cover on the
is still “viewed as a very feminist statement, iconic fashion magazine Vogue and did so
to this day” (Brucculieri, 2019). As such, the in a Gucci gown to challenge gender-based
female actors and musical artists who have clothing stereotypes. These instances of men
chosen pants for highly publicized red carpet wearing skirts cross gender lines, but have
events over the traditional formal gowns not brought widespread change in standard
make a statement and actively shape the masculine attire, even as some men today
fashion conversation. Famously, Lady Gaga in major metropolitan areas in the U.S. don
wore an oversized suit for the 2018 Women the occasional skirt. As gender has started
in Hollywood celebration as an act of self- being viewed as less binary and more of a
empowerment: “As a sexual assault survivor fluid identity, more options for gender-neutral

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or bending dressing have also materialized, and opposed and denied when the wearer
leading to the question as to where the skirt lacks status? Gendered dress may evolve as
and pants fall on this identity spectrum. As social norms shift, sometimes ahead of and
individuals aspire to an era of wear-what- other times behind the prevailing values, but
you-want, dress as a visual medium exists as a highly visible medium dress will always
within the larger society and may never shape a person’s relationship to their physical
escape the eyes and judgment of the beholder. self as a body covering, to their social self as
a sartorial language read and received by the
Conclusion larger world, and to their inner self through
the expression of identity.
This article traced the evolution
of the skirt from the Victorian era to the Acknowledgments
mini and its alternative from bloomers to
the various styles of pants worn by women I would like to thank Dr. Romi
today. Even in 2024, with the seeming Mukherjee for advising the research seminar
freedom to wear-what-you-want, the conflict that planted the seed for this article and
between individual choice and social teaching assistant Altair Brandon-Salmon
norms persists. Increasingly, gender has for helping structure this paper. I am most
come to be understood in the United States grateful to Prof. Holly Gaboriault for pointing
as complex and multi-faceted, more of a me to many of the resources I drew on for
fluid rather than binary identity, leading to research. Finally, I must acknowledge my
expectations that traditional gendered dress mother, Selina Tay, for her legal practitioner’s
codes would fall away as outdated social guidance in interpreting the court cases
constructs are discarded. This may be true discussed here.
to a certain extent and perhaps as a gradual
and not always linear progression, but References
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yet school dress codes imposing the skirt
on girls at the expense of individual choice
persist well into the 21st century. As some
men and genderfluid or transgender people
today choose to wear skirts, will that choice
be accepted and held up for the privileged

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