A uniform means different things to different people. A police officers or army uniform may give pride to the wearer, and instill fear or respect in the viewer. A nurses uniform might reassure you you are in safe hands. A shop assistant or waitresses uniform may let you know who to ask for help or who can direct you to the ladies room. We in the UK, however, have a peculiar obsession with uniform. Our children wear one almost every day from the ages of 4-18, and then most of us, at some point, will work in a job that requires a uniform.
And it's not just the clothes that constitute the "uniform" either. Particularly in schools and low paid jobs, those in authority are quick to make sure that no deviation, however slight, is made. To different extents, schools have prohibitions on nail varnish, jewellery, make-up....My school did not allow any jewellery, we had uniform coats which had to be worn on the walk to school, and the primary school even had uniform socks. Think of the wasted teaching time each year spent on berating or sending kids home for a hooded top over a shirt, a slightly too short skirt or too high heels, the wrong tie, nail varnish.......is this really what we want the limited education budget to be spent on?
I particularly remember the summer I had my ears pierced. Every day for 6 weeks I cleaned them as instructed but come September, they still hadn't quite healed. My mum went out and bought the tiniest gold studs, which I wore under my pigtails. As soon as a teacher cottoned on, I was made to lift up my pigtails to show that, yes, I had taken my studs out, were my ears bleeding to their satisfaction? and every evening, I repierced them. The excuse was "safety". LOL.
But, I hear you cry, WHAT ABOUT THE BULLYING? Bullying is something that doesn't ever happen in the UK. Because all the children wear the same clothes, they are nice to each other. No matter that some children are wearing hand me downs that are too big for them with shiny knees and elbow patches, whilst others wear brand new. No matter that most areas do not have only one school, and thus frequently arguments break out between rival schools on the walk home. The parents of the "poor kids" who, everyone worries, would not be able to afford the same Nike trainers as his peers would probably be happy to learn that they no longer had to worry about lost jumpers, black shoes which scuff and fall apart and are grown out of in weeks, and getting those white shirts ironed by Monday.
The rest of Europe, America and Australasia manages perfectly fine without school uniforms- some have more, some have less bullying than in the UK. The outfit does not make a difference. However, to some of us, it really does. My whole life, clothes have been a major outlet for self-expression for me. Being forced into a hideous lime green and grey get up every day for 6 years was devastating for my self-esteem, and it wasn't until 6th form that I considered the possibility that I wasn't hideous.
And, is this not sometimes the point? We force menial workers into uniforms of various levels of ridiculousness. The point is clear- YOU minimum wage shelf stacker, cannot be trusted to dress sensibly- but your manager can. Once somebody is in uniform, there is no longer a person. There is a checkout girl, a McDonalds worker, a soldier, a schoolgirl. From the age of 4, we tell our children that their individuality is something dangerous, something naughty, something that will get them bullied. Isn't it about time we changed that?
