Cross-Dressing Day Causes Stir at Milwaukee Elementary School

[fix]

I guess I just think it’s not a good idea for the kids to run the school. But times have changed. In my day if someone had suggested that the boys come to school dressed as girls we would have thought it was a joke and not even given it any thought.

Apparently it is called progress.

 

[JimG]

Apparently it is called progress.

Well, the lack of a “student government” in grades K-8 (!) in my day didn’t mean that the kids were considered incompetent. It’s just that they were, well, kids. Teachers didn’t disregard our (name removed by moderator)ut. But no kid that I knew would have wanted to attend meetings or try to makes decisions for the whole school. It would have been boring. And really the individual teacher was the one mostly in charge of what happened in any given class, the principal, not so much, the administration, uh, what is that?

 

[CaptFun]

Meh. I first think of the Curse of Tippecanoe. Not the similarly pronounced phrase “Tip a canoe”

indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/battle-tippecanoe-lieutenantseye-view/ < interesting history behind the battle(s) you mention (called Tippecanoe).

http://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/files/2011/07/battle-of-tippecanoe-detail.jpg

Well … this is a more sensational graphic for “Tippecanoe” - and does capture the sense of the War of 1812 battle … and …



… this was a kind of cool vintage poster for William Henry Harrison’s 1840 campaign (He was called Tippecanoe as a nickname for winning the battle(s) versus the Indian Alliance’s Chiefs Tecumseh and “The Prophet”).

… but the canoe tipping over was a better illustration for conveying my sentiments about school systems teaching crazy values (IMO). Hope you enjoy the artwork though. They may have elevated the thread about something silly to a level of respectablility. If so, I will apologize later.

I don’t know what the “curse of Tippecanoe” is/was. But President Harrison was the shortest serving US President, dying in his first year of office after having gotten sick at his own inauguration!

- could that have been the curse? Or is it kids dressing “funny”.

 

[meltzerboy]

Were all Catholics banned from being actors up until the 17th Century?
I ask this because until the mid-17th Century or so, I believe, all the men and boys played female parts and had to dress up as women with corsets and lipstick and wigs and fake breasts…and pretend to be one.
Would that have meant a Catholic could not be an actor?

By the same token…would a Catholic not be allowed to even attend the theatre, either? In the same way that some kids in this story are being kept home from school so they won’t merely observe it, even if they are not taking part?

Because really…this day looks like just a fun day of pretending–not even. Some kids have fun pretending, some don’t. If you let a ten-year-old for one day play cowboys and indians or whatever kids play today…she’s not going to grow up confused thinking she’s a cowboy or indian.

To keep a kid home is rather extreme. The kid is going to miss out on her classes.
And the dressing up is optional, not mandatory.

.

One could argue that playing cowboys and Indians instills racism in the sense that the Indians are always the bad guys, much as in the John Wayne movies. Children are impressionable that way. I’m not saying that one or two such experiences, whether playing cowboys and Indians or cross-dressing, are going to be the determinant factor in making children racist or cross-dressers; however, I wonder whether such fun activities are really a good idea. If the purpose of cross-dressing is to teach tolerance, perhaps there are better ways to do so. I also wonder how many posters here would argue against children’s playing cowboys and Indians on the same grounds.

 

[fix]

Well, the lack of a “student government” in grades K-8 (!) in my day didn’t mean that the kids were considered incompetent. It’s just that they were, well, kids. Teachers didn’t disregard our (name removed by moderator)ut. But no kid that I knew would have wanted to attend meetings or try to makes decisions for the whole school. It would have been boring. And really the individual teacher was the one mostly in charge of what happened in any given class, the principal, not so much, the administration, uh, what is that?

The only cultural norm is that there is no cultural norm, unless it involves gender issues then the liberal bias must rule.

 

[RACJ]

Awwwwwwwww. That sounds so adorable and so fun for the kids! They are so young, it’s hardly a gender thing to them.

Too bad those prude parents are making it one.

I am going to assume that you are joking. This “Gender Bender Day” is child abuse. :ehh: Rob

 

[Razanir]

I don’t know what the “curse of Tippecanoe” is/was. But President Harrison was the shortest serving US President, dying in his first year of office after having gotten sick at his own inauguration!

Starting in 1840 and continuing until Reagan survived an assassination attempt, being elected in a year ending in 0 inevitably ended in your death.

1840– Harrison dies of pneumonia
1860– Lincoln assassinated
1880– Garfield assassinated
1900– McKinley assassinated
1920– Harding dies of unknown causes
1940– Roosevelt dies of hemorrhage
1960– Kennedy assassinated

I am going to assume that you are joking. This “Gender Bender Day” is child abuse. :ehh: Rob

I’ll ask this again in complete seriousness. How is this any different from Cowboys and Indians Day? They’re both purely optional themed dress-up days. When a school has Cowboys and Indians, they aren’t trying to get kids to become cowboys or join Native American tribes. When they have Hippie Day. they aren’t trying to get kids to become hippies. Similarly, with Gender Bender Day, they aren’t trying to get the kids to become cross-dressers. I posit that if it were any theme day besides Gender Bender Day, it would have passed without so much as a blip on the radar.

 

[RACJ]

Yeah, one day of fun with dress is definitely going to change their brain chemistry. Sounds like fun to me, but uptight parents will make it a big deal. Barbarism begins at home. The kids who will later bully someone for cross dressing or not being stereotypically masculine enough are most likely the kids whose parents are obsessed with these stereotypical gender roles. Some people just love to make a big deal out of everything and ruin the fun.

No one said that anyone’s brain will be rewired thanks to one day of “innocent” fun. But who are these government school authority figures who are pushing the goofy leftist agenda which tries to shame those of us who believe in traditional values? It is a perverted person who thinks that it is acceptable to flout the values of parents, esp. in a captive setting. :doh2: Rob

 

[Razanir]

No one said that anyone’s brain will be rewired thanks to one day of “innocent” fun. But who are these government school authority figures who are pushing the goofy leftist agenda which tries to shame those of us who believe in traditional values? It is a perverted person who thinks that it is acceptable to flout the values of parents, esp. in a captive setting. :doh2: Rob

The kids, actually. It says it was a student council, not a board of adults, who came up with the idea.

 

[RACJ]

The kids, actually. It says it was a student council, not a board of adults, who came up with the idea.

I am certain that the student council had no adult “guidance” whatsoever. I also believe that the IRS crminals were not directed by Holder and Obama! LOL Rob

 

[fix]

I’ll ask this again in complete seriousness. How is this any different from Cowboys and Indians Day? They’re both purely optional themed dress-up days. When a school has Cowboys and Indians, they aren’t trying to get kids to become cowboys or join Native American tribes. When they have Hippie Day. they aren’t trying to get kids to become hippies. Similarly, with Gender Bender Day, they aren’t trying to get the kids to become cross-dressers. I posit that if it were any theme day besides Gender Bender Day, it would have passed without so much as a blip on the radar.

Cowboys and Indians? Is that anywhere? I would be surprised as that would be culturally insensitive and racist. I am not even mentioning the gun thing. On the other hand cross dressing is seen as a right and something to value deeply as it represents all the values we hold as a society.

 

[RACJ]

I’ll ask this again in complete seriousness. How is this any different from Cowboys and Indians Day? They’re both purely optional themed dress-up days. When a school has Cowboys and Indians, they aren’t trying to get kids to become cowboys or join Native American tribes. When they have Hippie Day. they aren’t trying to get kids to become hippies. Similarly, with Gender Bender Day, they aren’t trying to get the kids to become cross-dressers. I posit that if it were any theme day besides Gender Bender Day, it would have passed without so much as a blip on the radar.

I have no idea how old you are, Raz, but I’ll assume very young, b/c you seem unaware of the relentless full court press pushing the normalization of the radical homosexual agenda over the past several decades. This “Gender Bender Day” is all part of the grand Mosaic which includes everyone, except for people of faith. Yes, to me this is abuse of privilege by school officials whose sole aim is not to educate, but to brainwash. Rob

 

[marymary1975]

Good for those parents who kept their kids at home.

 

[Razanir]

Cowboys and Indians? Is that anywhere? I would be surprised as that would be culturally insensitive and racist. I am not even mentioning the gun thing. On the other hand cross dressing is seen as a right and something to value deeply as it represents all the values we hold as a society.

My high school, at least, has had it as recently as last year. Also, what “gun thing”? I never even used the word “gun” in my previous reply.

I’ll also offer an alternate comparison: How is it different than seeing Bugs Bunny or Spongebob cross-dressing? I’ll admit I’m only college age, but I doubt that Bugs semi-frequent use of cross-dressing was meant to push this decades-long agenda. It’s meant to be funny. Some people may claim it’s twisted humor, but it can be funny.

Three examples:
**What’s Opera, Doc?*– Voted the Best Cartoon Ever in 1994, this short condenses Wagner’s Ring Cycle into a 6 minute short, starring Elmur Fudd as Siegfried and Bugs Bunny as Brünhilde. Bugs is dressed as a valkyrie for (almost) the entire episode, and no one reacted
*iCarly– In one episode, Carly, Sam and Freddie ask their in-universe viewers for videos of them dancing to show the best ones on their in-universe show. They watch them well into the night, and we see their dance-related dreams. Carly’s has her in a dress in the apartment, with several identical men dancing with her. At the end of the episode, Spencer, her brother, takes a now-sleeping Carly up to her room, then goes back down and falls asleep where she was. As a quick joke at the end of the episode, it has Carly’s dream start again, but with Spencer in her place. Yes, in a dress and dancing with the identical men. Not meant to push an agenda (I don’t think, anyway). Just a brief little gag with him winding up in his sister’s place in a dream.
*Kim Possible– In one episode, Drakken makes a machine that makes people switch bodies. Notably, Kim and Ron. For the most part, the episode is similar to the movie Freaky Friday. They have to survive a day as each other. Which is worse for Ron, because of Kim’s “I can do anything”-themed schedule. The closest it ever gets to an agenda, in my opinion, is when Ron makes a throwaway comment about how he did kinda like the skirt.

In all three cases, there’s no theme of “Be whatever gender you want!” The first one is like Greek theatre, where they had boys play girls’ parts. The second one isn’t a major plot point at all, but a quick gag at the very end of the episode. And the third is a body swap/Freaky Friday episode, just with gender bending as a result of the two main characters being a boy and a girl.

 

[jediliz]

I’ll ask this again in complete seriousness. How is this any different from Cowboys and Indians Day? They’re both purely optional themed dress-up days. When a school has Cowboys and Indians, they aren’t trying to get kids to become cowboys or join Native American tribes. When they have Hippie Day. they aren’t trying to get kids to become hippies. Similarly, with Gender Bender Day, they aren’t trying to get the kids to become cross-dressers. I posit that if it were any theme day besides Gender Bender Day, it would have passed without so much as a blip on the radar.

Cowboys and Indians would be politically incorrect and racist!

And what does dressing as the opposite sex teach these children? What will be next?

Where do you DRAW THE LINE?

 

[Razanir]

Cowboys and Indians would be politically incorrect and racist!

And what does dressing as the opposite sex teach these children? What will be next?

1. Again, schools still have Cowboys and Indians to this day.
2. What does Wear Your Clothes Backwards Day teach them? What does Hippie Day teach them? What do any theme days teach them?

 

[JimG]

1. Again, schools still have Cowboys and Indians to this day.
2. What does Wear Your Clothes Backwards Day teach them? What does Hippie Day teach them? What do any theme days teach them?

What indeed? I hope that there is a good answer for that, or if not, maybe be more discerning in having ‘dress up’ days.

 

[Razanir]

What indeed? I hope that there is a good answer for that, or if not, maybe be more discerning in having ‘dress up’ days.

Little kids play dress-up sometimes. It’s just a school-wide version. Or in the case of high schools, a staple for and stereotype of spirit weeks.

 

[meltzerboy]

1. Again, schools still have Cowboys and Indians to this day.
2. What does Wear Your Clothes Backwards Day teach them? What does Hippie Day teach them? What do any theme days teach them?

I think that’s the point. Either it teaches them nothing, and it’s just for fun, or it teaches them tolerance, which I doubt. More likely, if it teaches anything at all, it is to make fun of people who cross-dress, which is just as bad as the racist Cowboys and Indians game. I reiterate that it would be preferable to teach children tolerance and respect for others in different ways.

 

[Razanir]

I think that’s the point. Either it teaches them nothing, and it’s just for fun, or it teaches them tolerance, which I doubt. More likely, if it teaches anything at all, it is to make fun of people who cross-dress, which is just as bad as the racist Cowboys and Indians game. I reiterate that it would be preferable to teach children tolerance and respect for others in different ways.

Wait, the Cowboys and Indians game? All this time I’ve been using it to mean a themed dress-up day where everyone comes dressed as a cowboy or Native American