My feelings on ‘kilt lifting’



I wear my kilt as part of my normal everyday clothing. It is NOT and never has been a ‘costume’ or a fashion statement.



I object VERY strongly to unsolicited comments about what I’m wearing under my kilt and to unwanted, uninvited and invasive attempts to look.



My answer to these people is a very polite but extremely firm ‘mind your own business’ and that any attempt to look will be treated as assault, and that I would have NO hesitation in calling the police if any further attempts were to be made.

Many of these ignorant people seem to think they have a right to ask or to take a peek. By doing this they are treating the kilt as a fancy dress and showing me no personal respect as a member of society.



Imagine the scenario … walking down the street, there is a woman wearing a skirt…I go up to her….ask her if she is wearing knickers and I want to look up!!

What would her reaction be? .. A laugh?...A smile?...A ‘go ahead’, feel free? …Let’s treat this as a joke and a bit of friendly banter ? Somehow I think NOT. She would likely scream her head off….shout for help and the police. I would end up in prison.



But it seems to be acceptable behaviour to do the same to a man in a kilt… WHY ?????

I do not think it is acceptable, in any form, for a stranger ask or attempt to look at what’s under my kilt. I see it as extremely insulting, a gross invasion of my privacy and I will NOT tolerate it at any time. My reply to them includes asking them what they would do if I did the same to them….how they would feel and what would they do to me? Very often this shows them that they have behaved extremely poorly and usually generates an apology …‘I never thought of it that way’.



Until the majority of real kilt wearers adopt a similar attitude we will remain the butt of jokes, ‘funny’ comments and unwarranted invasions of our privacy. We should be working hard to remove and or control the titillation aspect of wearing the kilt.

Amongst friends this behaviour MAY be acceptable at times, but, in my opinion, it is certainly NOT appropriate in public.



As for Max’s comments:-

"Hey you're in the wrong country for that"
"Trains for Scotland leave at King's Cross, you're on the wrong tube / travelling in the wrong direction"

That is just as insulting….would the same people do the same to Arabs, Indians, Muslims or Africans dressed in their national costume.

Of course not…they could be prosecuted under the Race Relations act. So what makes them see it as acceptable to pass fatuous and infantile comments to a man dressed in Scottish national costume.



I never let any of these comments pass unanswered…I stick up for MY rights as a human being to demand respect from others..