I wore a school uniform from the time I was five until my high school graduation, and in many ways, I am so thankful for that fact. Dressing was never a problem in the morning--my biggest questions surrounding my wardrobe were "blue shirt? White shirt? Pleated skirt? Straight skirt? Pants?" My school had a simple uniform that consisted of white/blue oxford shirts, navy skirts/pants, and navy/maroon sweaters. Senior girls were allowed to wear a bright red cardigan to show their status. My middle school happened to be in the same building as my high school, so I lived in the same uniform from 6-12th grade.

In middle school, many of us girls rolled and hemmed away at our skirts until they were five or six inches above our knees. We flounced around in our little skirts until one day, in 9th grade, our female principal put her foot down. The mostly ignored "skirts must touch the knee" rule was finally enforced, much to the shock of the female population. As we sat in the front office, woefully plucking the hems out of our skirts, we realized how silly the skirts would look if they were to actually touch our knees. Some brave souls may have tried to wear the long skirt--I don't remember. But quickly after the enforcing of the skirt rule, the girls of my school stopped wearing the skirts completely. Sure, we wore the pants sometimes in the winter when it was too cold, but a skirt had seemed so much cuter! It was not such the case anymore. When faced between looking like our mothers in their 1950s school uniforms and wearing the school pants, we immediately opted for the pants. And we never turned back again.

Skirts became largely a thing of the past, only to be dusted off and worn when we woke up one morning to the revelation that all our school pants were still in the laundry. I loved wearing the school pants (made of corduroy) since they were comfortable, warm in the winter, and we found ways of making them look cool. To our immense amusement, during my senior year, Abercrombie and Fitch came out with a pair of dark blue corduroys that were so similar to our uniforms that some of us began wearing them to school, just to see if we would get caught. This went unnoticed for weeks.

In Korean public schools, the girls and boys have distinctly different uniforms. The boys have regular oxfords with some sort of sweater/vest, a blazer, and pants. Girls have short oxfords that are tapered to give a more fitted appearance, vests that are different from the boys, and skirts. Wearing pants is not an option. Since Winter has finally lifted her snowy head above Seoul, the girls walk with their teeth chattering to class, some wearing tight leggings while other still have bare legs. We do not live in the 1940s, and I fail to see why allowing girls to wear pants to school is threatening to the public school system in Seoul. If girls can wear jeans and pants outside of school while maintaining their feminine appearance, they can certainly wear pants to school without resembling the males. Skirts also are physically restraining, which further adds to the Korean ideal that young women should not be playing sports. During lunchtime, the boys dominate the schoolyard with games of soccer and basketball. Where are the girls? Giggling on the sidelines, screeching and crying when a ball whizzes or even whispers too close. Even if the girls *wanted* to play, it is hard to imagine them doing so in their current uniform.

I wonder when things will change--or if they will change. Although there are women in the Korean workforce, the media continues to ram the idea of the docile, sugary sweet, unbearably cute and feminine woman down the country's seemingly willing throat. Maybe Korean women really do love being coddled and babied so much that they'd rather always wear skirts and always stand on the sidelines, fingers clutching the handles of the handmirrors they carry religiously with them, than participate and let loose. Ladies, have FUN. DON'T BE EMBARRASSED. I tell the girls in my extra class this, for they are intelligent, clever, and open-minded individuals. Maybe they'll finally be the generation to become fed up with the old traditions and pave the way for new rules in the school system. I've got my fingers crossed.