Dress

His red dress blew up with the sudden gust, startling him and making him drop his belongings in an attempt to protect his privacy. The dress itself was perfectly happy to allow the breeze to do its work. The dressing on the short sleeves danced about and the white ribbon tied across his torso threw up its hands in joy. As his school books hit the ground, he groaned - today would not be his day. No day was ever his day.

The woman he called his teacher eyed him carefully as he closed the door right when the bells began to sing. He murmured an apology and sat beside the only other boy in the class - Jared.

"Kevin, did you do the homework?" Jared whispered while the teacher's back was turned. Keeping both eyes fixed straight ahead of him, Kevin turned his head slightly towards Jared and mouthed "Yes." Jared made a sound like he was going to say something else when the teacher turned around, taking full note of the horror in Kevin's eyes.

"Boys." She said curtly, "If chit-chatting is all you want to you, you are both welcome to continue your conversation in the hallway." It was a threat well understood. Hoping that would be the end of it, the boys quietly shook their heads and averted their eyes from her and each other. However, life is rarely so kind to kids wanting to avoid further embarrassment.

"Your program is an experimental one, to see if it is worth giving men an education. You do realize how important it is for your future that this succeeds, don't you?" A giggle spread amongst the girls around them. "You come in, barely on time, wearing those dresses like you run the place, but we are the ones who wear the pants here - and that phrase exists for a very good reason." In a sweeping motion, she turned their attention to the pair of black trousers covering her legs.

It was a partial truth. Professors often postulated that men used to wear pants hundreds of years ago, back when they didn't understand the senselessness of restricting their pelvic areas. Women had always had the freedom of wearing both but historically preferred pants for the freedom of movement. They needed to work without skirts or dresses getting caught in the heavy machinery they operated. In today's society, it was almost entirely socially unacceptable for a woman to wear men's clothing.

Regardless, Kevin and Jared had been successfully humiliated. Next to Kevin, Jared toyed with the white lace on his favorite blue skirt. Kevin kept his hands in his lap, just waiting for the moment to pass.

The moment did, eventually, pass.

-------

The next day, Kevin and Jared met at the door of the classroom, silently steeling their will to face their teacher again. When they walked in, they were surprised to see her angrily lecturing a student in a grey skirt.

"What are you doing? This is madness and a disgrace." The teacher's voice rang out across the room.

"I'm showing solidarity. I believe in a man's right to education. What you said yesterday about pants is not only historically wrong but totally sexist!" This classmate of theirs was standing her ground, fighting back with facts, strong words, and tears in her eyes. She wore a plain black shirt over her plain grey skirt. The other girls who had already arrived were in small cliques, deciding per group whether or not they were allowed to agree with her.

"Misandry doesn't exist." Retorted the teacher. "I can't force you to change your clothes but I can make you sit in the back of the classroom. Go."

The girl twirled around, letting her skirt flow out and up around her as she did, and boldly strode to the back of the classroom, plopping herself down in the chair of the desk next to Kevin's.

Kevin fought the urge to smile. Maybe today would be a good day.