[News] [UK] Oxford gets rid of traditional gender-specific dress code

[Stephanie Stevens]

USA Today, USA


Jul 29, 2012

Oxford gets rid of traditional gender-specific dress code

By Natalie DiBlasio, USA TODAY


Students at the prestigious University of Oxford in the United Kingdom
will no longer have to wear gender-specific academic clothing after
concerns that the policy, which has been in place for centuries, is
unfair to the transgender community.

As of Aug. 4, men can choose to attend formal occasions, including
exams, in skirts and stockings and women in suits and white bow ties,
The Oxford Student reports
<http://oxfordstudent.com/2012/07/28/sub-fusc-gender-restrictions-thrown-out/>
.

The traditional dress code is strictly enforced by the university,
which has the power to punish students with fines and even expulsion
if they break the rules, the Daily Mail reports
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180251/Men-wear-skirts-Oxford-University-academic-dress-code-changed-meet-needs-cross-dressing-students.html>
.

The new rules come after a motion by the university's Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Trans and Queer society, the BBC reports
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19038488> .

Jess Pumphrey, the society's executive officer, said the change would
make a number of students' exam experience significantly less
stressful, the BBC reports.

In the past, male students were required to wear a dark suit and
socks, black shoes, a white bow tie and a plain white shirt and collar
under their black gowns.

Female students had to wear a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse,
black stockings and shoes and a black ribbon tied in a bow at the
neck.

While students are still required to dress appropriately for formal
occasions, they no longer need to ensure their the clothes are
gender-specific, the Daily Mail reports.

"This is an extremely positive step, and indeed long overdue," says
Simone Webb, president of the university's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Trans and Queer society, the Guardian reports
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jul/29/oxford-university-dress-code-transgender-students>
.


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