Enough whinings and Let's fight for our freedom!!!

[Raphael]

Over the years, I have heard people whining about that they cannot wear their kilts for various occasions. I think it is time for us to band together and get something done about it. Instead of writing about it here, let's bring it to the street and make our voices heard. We need to let people know that we are not a group to be mess around with and that we have rights.

Instead of reacting to situtations, let's be proactive about it. There are lots of things that we can do to get our points across.

Every movement should start with a letter writing campaign. We need to write to schools to enquire about their dress codes and to suggest that kilts should be allow to be worn for school and dances. This will open the eyes of the policy makers.

Employers are tough but we can still be proactive about it. We need to work harder to become the policy makers. We need to be the people in charge and lead with example. We gotta rally up the support of our coworkers and show our bosses that our kilts do not interfere with our daily work. If possible, get our clients to express to our management that the kilt is just a garment, and nothing else.

Let's get ourselves into gear and start typing!!!!

[auld argonian]

You know, this is one of the reasons why I proposed doing a bumper sticker that reads:

I wear a kilt and I vote.

I mean it more as a thought-provoking jest but the point is that even kilties have an agenda. I see a whole lot of "I'm a senior citizen and I vote" bumper stickers in the lot at the grocery store. If the bloody AARP can remind people to think about seniors, what about kilties? (And what about SENIOR kilties, eh?)

I'm just a little tired of seeing those stories about kids being kept out of their proms because they want to go formal kilted...again...what is that all about? What possible harm is there in going to your prom in kilted formalwear?

And being told that you can't show up for work in a kilt when other folks are wearing God knows what else? Inconceivable!

Members of this forum can usually be counted on to at least e-mail the "offending parties"...granted, sometimes a full assault is not the best tactic and sometimes it is better to let the individual deal with a situation on their own...and nasty, insulting e-mails and letters should be right out...that's no constructive benefit to that and we should not lower ourselves to that level.

Knowing our numbers, I doubt that a kilted boycott of anything is going to make a significant impact....okay...maybe on a whisky company...but that's different. Shall we now boycott Jacksonville, Florida until they let that lad wear his kilt to the prom? (I do see that they have a Highland Games coming up...that kid should get some recognition there for standing up for the cause, shouldn't he?) I dinnae think that we're gonna see a Million Kilted Man March anytime soon, either...

But we're not asking for something outrageous here either...I just think that those who have never been kilted might not get the idea of it...still, they should respect our rights here. I'm something like nine or ten generations away from the last of my ancestors who lived in Scotland but they're the branch of my family that gives me inspiration and makes me want to live in a way that would make them proud. I seriously doubt if any of those ancestors even ever wore a kilt but here and now it's a symbol of my connections to them and solidarity with the rest of the Celtic Diaspora.

So you got a point there, my friend...

Best

AA

[Blu (Ontario)]

... Instead of reacting to situtations, let's be proactive about it. There are lots of things that we can do to get our points across... Every movement should start with a letter writing campaign... etc.

Are you suggesting that wearing of kilts is some sort of movement?... or are you talking about fashion freedom?

... We need to write to schools to enquire about their dress codes and to suggest that kilts should be allow to be worn for school and dances. This will open the eyes of the policy makers.

Unless you are part of the school system of have a vested interest in it, you may just be perceived as a crank.

... Employers are tough...

Employers are concerned about corporate image and anything else that might affect the bottom line... yes.

... We need to be the people in charge and lead with example. We gotta rally up the support of our coworkers and show our bosses that our kilts do not interfere with our daily work... etc.

I'm not sure where you're going with this Raph...a few months ago you declared tht you had chosen not to wear kilts to work any more. Changed your mind?

Anyway, there has always been and always will be discrimination based on peoples genital configuration. It's human nature. I don't believe for a minute that a few letters from us kilties is going to change anything.

I don't know of any kilt wearer that hasn't had at least some challanges to overcome. Maybe it's a "rite of passage".

[GMan]

Well said!

[Big Mikey]

Raphael's post was put up on April 1! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more.

[Skweres]

I work at a Sears warehouse and they wont let me wear a kilt..........not even a khaki

[Rigged]

We have too many conflicting interests at play to form unified movement with a unified message. The "Men In Skirts" event in New York illuminated the problem.

The question I posed at the time was, "When someone from network news sticks a microphone in your face, with the camera running, what's your message?"

[Riverkilt]

Mods, not wishing to reopen a closed thread.

Do wanna support Raphael's position that employers are tough and that letter writing may help.

I sent the CEO and CFO/HR of my agency an executive summary of the reasons I wear the kilt and should be allowed to wear the kilt. Ran the usual range of arguments.

In response CEO came down to see me in my office (a big difference from being invited upstairs to his office). He was very cordial. He said my clinical supervisor had been "mixed up" and that he had never said I needed to stop wearing kilts or be fired. He said he wanted me to think about whether being kilted as a therapist affected my ability to establish rapport and build a bond with my clients, then talk about it sometime next week. He did say he had been very hard in the clinical supervisor at management meeting over other issues last week and thought the CS had been mixed up. And there is no dress code roll out pending, only dress code development and he said the points in my letter would be looked at.

Then, he said that though he has a common English last name, his paternal ancestry is, in fact, Scottish. A great grandfather was a Scottish orphan taken in by an English family. No one ever knew the orphan boy's family name.

In turn, I gave him brief immediate feeback that one of my clients had, without my knowledge or urging, taken it upon himself to travel to a highland games and buy a kilt from a vendor and wear it. The client is a highly placed executive in a large local business.

So, perhaps some hope, perhaps not. But the point is the letter/executive summary to the CEO and CFO/HR appears to have been helpful.

I support Raphael's premise.

Ron

[bjcustard]

That's great news Ron. I hope it all works out to your satisfaction.