Ban on 'Distracting' Miniskirts at School Is Set to Spread
THE OBSERVER: Parents back heads over controversial ban on miniskirts

Concerns could be addressed by specifying skirts that cannot be customised. Photograph: The Observer
When Mary Quant first raised the nation's hemlines in the 1960s, it was seen as a symbol of women's liberation. Fifty years on and the miniskirt is still causing consternation, and now faces a ban in Britain's schools.

Dozens of schools are considering following the lead of St Aidan's High in Yorkshire and St Alban's in Suffolk, which have banned skirts altogether this term and insisted girls wear trousers. In others, letters have been sent to parents saying that the current fashion for wearing school skirts as short, and as tight, as possible is a real problem in school, and dealing with the issue is a distraction from teaching.

At Kinross High in Perthshire, some parents received a stinging note telling them: "The length of your daughter's skirt is such that she spends a great deal of time pulling it down. It detracts her attention from the learning process."

Last week another Scottish head, Robert Kelly, rector of Berwickshire High in Duns, said short skirts were encouraging "inappropriate thoughts" among boys. Kelly, who had gathered together female pupils for his lecture, referred to a recent anti-rape advert. >>> Tracy McVeigh, social affairs editor | Sunday, September 19, 2010

Flashing those legs could become illegal in Poland

Photo courtesy of Google Images

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: One Polish legislator has announced plans for a bill that would ban miniskirts and other "enticements" -- with the goal of reducing street prostitution. But the move is also part of a wider culture war.

A Polish lawmaker has called for a miniskirt ban as part of an overall crusade against the "enticement to sex" by women in public.

Artur Zawisza, a Catholic member of the breakaway "Right of the Republic" party (Prawica Rzeczypolpoliteij), wants to ban miniskirts as well as heavy makeup and see-through or low-cut blouses in a proposal he says is aimed at prostitutes. His initiative would rob Polish streetwalkers of a means of making a living, he says, according to Newsweek Polska. A Miniskirt Ban in Poland? (Read on)

Mark Alexander