Whilst researching gender neutral clothing, I came across a lot of news coverage on the release of gender neutral school uniforms across the UK. This is an important step towards the acceptance of gender neutrality so I wanted to find out more.
In our recent survey, the question 'Do you think there should be gender neutral school uniforms?' revealed that the majority with 66.67% think there shouldn't be one.
In September 2017 over 150 schools introduced a gender neutral uniform which allowed children to pick what they wanted to wear, from skirts to trousers without gender labels. However in some schools, gender neutral meant banning skirts and dresses and introducing a shirt and trouser uniform for all. But is a no option school uniform restricting a child's ability to express themselves?
I interviewed Liberal Democrat councillor Ben Dowling, who is member of the education, children and young people scrutiny panel, about his opinions on gender neutral school uniforms. Ben is in favour of a gender neutral school uniform if it means any gender can wear any clothing but is against it if the uniform is the same for everyone. He looks at gender neutrality as a positive thing and is in favour of allowing children to express themselves.
"I think choice is important..."
Listen to a snippet of Ben's interview that didn't make the final cut below.
https://soundcloud.com/daisy-ainsworth/ben-extra-clipwav