'Feminist' removed from shirt in class photo

cornflake said:

I've never been one to encourage children to 'respect authority,' nor was I raised to. I was raised to question and challenge authority. That doesn't, to me, mean kids or anyone else shouldn't be polite, work within the rules that exist (to the extent possible, unless the rules are themselves the problem, etc.), use the framework to change things within it, etc.

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I think this is an important distinction. Challenging and questioning authority is not the same thing as being rude, refusing to follow rules, or doing whatever you want without recognizing any authority.

Part of learning to deal with conflict is learning how best to react in different contexts.

DancingMaenid said:

In any case, I don't see the big deal about class photos, to be honest. If the overall culture is to treat the yearbook as a semi-formal thing, then sure, it'll look best if you dress up a little. But it's a casual thing, I don't see the big deal.

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Yeah, school pictures were pretty informal where I grew up (southern CA). We sat on the ground in the gym or on the grass outside our classroom (in K-6), and got individual shots done by the photographer in case our parents wanted to purchase them. The only formal pictures I remember were the 8th grade "commencement ceremony" pictures, where we had a little "graduation" our parents attended. We did dress up in nice dresses (girls) or shirts and ties and slacks (boys), and they took a picture of our "class" in field behind the school under some trees. And for senior pictures in high school, we were sent to Olan Mills or some such place to have more formal individual pictures taken (at our family's expense) for the graduating senior section of the year book. Many parents purchased those as a sort of memento of their kid at that age.

So maybe the strong reaction some folks are having to the casualness of the girl's (and other kids') attire is based on differences in local school picture culture? But given that this school clearly has a "casual culture," and there's no dress code for the collective class pictures, it's ridiculous to pick on a very mild message tee that is not an attack on anyone.

My question is, do they really think that there would have been some sort of parental uproar if they didn't shop the word "feminist" off this child's shirt?

What "controversy" were they avoiding? And how did that potential controversy compare to the one they ended up creating? Because I guarantee we wouldn't be sitting here on page four of a thread about some girl in some school somewhere having "feminist" written on her shirt.