Ross advised... "Forget it..."

Ross and I were climbing the stairs... We always climbed the stairs... others abused the elevator... and we laughed at them...

As everyone using the stairs... looks ahead... but ahead on the stairs is the back and bottom of the people ahead of you... 
Ross and I while climbing the stairs noticed a couple of girls in very, very short kilts... they were holding their skirts down with their hands... and attempting to cover their bottom and all the rest... I looked at Ross... and he smiled at me... and when we reached at the top of the stairs he told me: "Say nothing... I know... I know what you are going to say... Let it go and forget it... That's how things are... do not make your day miserable... You cannot fight the world..." 
He had tried... and like me, he had failed too...

But I was disturbed and ashamed... Holding the skirt down was darting a message to us... yelling from their bottom... out: "Dirty old men...!"

***

The principal emailed me a message... "Come and see me and bring the union rep with you..." 
I was thrown off... I did not know what he wanted... and had no clue what to expect... During my off period, I went to see him... "No need for a union rep... what is the issue...?" I asked...

"The vice-principal may sue you for sexual harassment...," he blurted... " I hear that you have commented about the way she dresses..."

"I have not mentioned anyone in name... But if that is the case... go ahead and sue me...," I told him...

The vice-principal in question had suspended a female student for uniform, dress code violation the day before... and I had commented in class that teachers must first look into the mirror to see what they are wearing and then take out their frustrations and rancour on students... 

The VP in question came to school with very low cut dresses and exposed cleavages... In fact, the more funny-happy-go-lucky male students acted up in class so as they will be sent down to her office... They loved it... They had begged me to be sent down... to her...!

Again Ross advised me to forget about it... "Don't make an issue... They are assholes...," he said... The way he expressed himself displayed extreme anger and frustration... Ross rarely used "assholes"... It was not part of his vocabulary... But he was frustrated and wanted to vent... above all, wanted to express solidarity with me... Ross was scared that I might retaliate with something which eventually may harm me more that the VP or the P...
There was no follow up to it... But I requested that another VP will be my contact and I refused all requests from the admin... to let things go... 
I never dealt with that VP again...

  

These maybe good for other occasions...            But not for a VP at a school...with dress code...

***

Scene Three...

I was driving to school and saw a couple jogging... The male   was in T-shirt and shorts... The female was in traditional Islamic dress with the head covered too... The male was jogging in front and the female was following... as the tradition dictates.

               

These are traditional coverings for females... and this is a traditional covering for males... If males get Westernized... Let females out of the oppression too...  

If females should jog while covered... the males should be covered too...

The hijab and the niqab are symbols of oppression... and oppression in all its forms is not human...

Islamic culture should realize that women are not for males pleasure and they are not commodities...

Maybe eventually they will realize that...

***

My engineer friend wrote in his email...

Here's where it gets interesting to me though.  I've mostly grown up where strictly male and female roles have started to subside, and it's becoming the norm that you have stay-at-home dads with moms working or dads cleaning and cooking. You on the other hand, just like most adults and my parents for example, grew up in a time where male and female roles were social norms. It's interesting to me because for the most part, those who grew up with these norms never really debate the merit of them. They accepted them as a fact of life and continue to accept them, provided males and females are happy with their roles.  You on the other hand, have been a staunch critic of the sexist roles ever since I have known you.  You will disagree with me here but I don't really think that there is a right or wrong opinion to have on the topic. Maybe this is the future engineer in me talking but I like the idea of efficiency, with people doing what they know best. I don't like the idea that let's say in a relationship, the male would have to cook simply to please new societal norms even though his female partner is the better cook. In the same way, you shouldn't be forcing a female to cook when the male is a better cook. For me personally, I simply think of a relationship as a team where each person brings forth their strengths and weaknesses and you work out a plan to best fit everything. If it goes against societal/gender norms, then so be it but I don't think that we should go setting new rules trying to reverse the past, and in turn simply just flipping the script and repeating past mistakes.  The other part of this gender discussion from your blogs is the dancing/modelling. Here is my hopefully thought-provoking question for you: you mention that you hated fashion shows and dance routines for their portrayal of the female body yet in the past, you've criticized those who have covered up their bodies for their own, or someone else's, religion/culture. Maybe I'm understanding something wrong here but it seems as though you're sitting on both sides of the argument here. I would obviously love to hear you clarification of this if it interests you.  Here's my opinion on the topic. I was friends with a lot of the girls in those dance routines, Christmas skits and fashion shows, and sure, some of the clothing has been more provocative than others but, none of them were ever forced into wearing anything they themselves didn't want to wear. They always brought in a few outfits and chose one collectively. Another thing to consider is that it was high school, where for some, popularity trumped all. The girls (and the guys too, but to a much lesser extent) always tried to dress in a way to get others attention, again some more than others. Regardless of how much or how little you cared about looks, deep down, you wanted to look good to your friends and to those who you may have been attracted to. The more provocative clothing hasn't changed all that much throughout history and I don't think I would be wrong in saying that there is always some small part of you that wonders what some people would look like if they were wearing less and showing more. It's human nature and it's been that way since the beginning of time and I don't see it changing anytime soon. You are right however that there is quite a difference between genders as to what is attractive or expected clothing-wise, but I don't think that there is any one right way to dress for either gender. For some guys, the most attractive woman could be wearing some sort of a suit, some dress, jeans, a dress, etc. There are different clothing types that fit different types of people and nobody should be forced to try and fit into something that they don't like or want to wear. For guys, you really have much less variety, with the only reasonable options being jeans, business casual or a full on suit. I could argue that any of those are more uncomfortable for guys than say a dress is for a girl. In the end, a dress is really only a modification of the robes we used to wear thousands of years to go, while for guys nowadays, everything has to be nicely tailored, ironed, etc. I would love it if I could wear trackpants to work but that can't happen as a professional. It's always dress pants, dress shoes and a buttoned up dress shirt, regardless of the weather or how uncomfortable it may be. In the summer, even if it's 30+ degrees outside, we're expected to wear long pants while women can get away with a skirt or dress. We had the same problem back at school when kilts still used to be a part of the uniform. Guys always had to have long, thick black pants on while for a few months, girls had the option to pick and choose. Nobody has a problem with Irish/Scottish men showing some skin and wearing kilts so I don't think that it's fair to really make much of a fuss when women do the same. (I just googled the origin of skirts and found out, maybe interestingly for you, that the oldest skirt ever found was found in Armenia dating back to about 5900 BC) Looking back a little at what I just wrote, it seems a little bit hard to follow but I'm sure you'll get the gist of it. I guess my main point, although not nicely articulated, is that clothing trends come and go. Now we are in a time where showing less is more as it was at the beginning of time and will eventually change back to covering up and showing less. Life is full of cycles and fashion is definitely one of them in my opinion.

Dear Friend,
Mixing Islamic dress code ( Hijab and Niqab... and all the rest...) with Western indecent exposure and contrasting them is a logical fallacy... unbecoming of an engineer... 
The Islamic dress code is oppression of females... in the name of tradition and religion... Essentially oppression of females by males...
The Western cultural norms emanate from profit and greed... They are essentially exploitation of females - and now more and more of males - for money...
They are two different ways of demeaning women... and demeaning human culture...
 The "devout" Islamist Jihadists and the Islamic patriarchy - the male dominated culture - treats the Islamic Prayer Mat better than the 2-3 or more wives that they have... and they believe that virgins are waiting for them in wherever they go after killing... beheading... mutilating people... 
For Islamic Jihadists the virgins are a reward... for the Westerner women are commodities for buying and selling...
I hope in time we understand that oppression and exploitation of women hurts them and demeans the human race... 

... And Diogenes with a lamp in the daylight looking for man...!

There are reports that thousands of Native Canadian women are missing or murdered...  The number maybe as high as 4,000... The government is not certain... It maybe higher... … And a national inquiry is to begin shortly... announced Ms. Bennett - Minister for the Status of Women... These women are murdered or abducted and missing for two reasons... 1. They are women...  2. They are native too... Depressing statistics... Depressing patriarchal culture...

I guess at one point in time... All of us will accept gender equality... and do not suppress and kill and rape and mutilate anyone... be that female or male... Maybe there will come a time when all of us will be equal... in the workplace, at school and at home too...