Carmen and Sina are 12 years old and have decided to make the most of the start of the electoral campaign. For this they have launched a petition to "politicians and politicians" so that all the girls who attend schools where a uniform is worn are not forced to wear a skirt.
“Why can't girls wear pants uniform to school?” is the title of the letter they have written on the Osoigo platform and in which they consider that "it is urgent that uniforms differentiated by sex disappear" so that equality between girls and boys is guaranteed. These two young women from the Canary Islands relate that they themselves took the initiative when they were eight years old, and one day they decided to put on pants.
“It wasn't easy, but it was beautiful”, they remember in their writing. "So we couldn't jump, or do a handstand, or play soccer or basketball in the yard without showing our underwear." Today they assure that they feel freer and consider that they are treated with the respect they deserve "because they are equal in rights to the boys."
We couldn't jump, or do a handstand, or play soccer or basketball without showing our underwear”
But they regret that four years later no measures have been taken so that all girls can opt for pants. “We know that gender stereotypes have repercussions on our daily lives and on our future aspirations,” they point out. That is why they ask for help to sign their letter with the aim of promoting a law "that expressly prohibits schools from imposing sexist uniforms." And that this obligation be eliminated from the circulars approved by the school councils, as well as the photographs of the schools in which on their websites they always appear with skirts, and they with pants.
In fact, Carmen and Sina already opened the debate in 2015 with their decision and managed to get the issue addressed in the Congress of Deputies. A non-legal proposal of Unidos Podemos was approved in which the Government was urged to change the Equality Law to include this measure. But no further progress has been made.
Congress approved a bill to prevent the imposition of clothing on girls, but the measure was not legally enshrined
Yes, the initiative seems to have taken shape in Galicia. In November the Galician Parliament also approved a similar measure in which the Xunta is asked to eliminate the obligation to wear a skirt the next school year. The PP voted in favor and now it is the Galician executive that has to take the last step. Carmen and Sina end their letter asking "politicians and politicians to fulfill the dream of many girls in this country and approve this law."
