AGAR: Dress code for teacher who went viral?

Article content

When does our right to be ourselves collide with our obligations to others?

Article content

Joe Warmington reported on a case of an Ontario shop teacher who went viral after pictures of the teacher in the classroom wearing over-sized prosthetic breasts were posted online.

Article content

Pre-transitioning the teacher was known to students and faculty as a male and went by a mans name, Warmington wrote. But the teacher now identifies as a woman and is referenced with a female name.

This teacher (who teaches shop) is an extremely effective teacher, said HDSB Chair Margo Shuttleworth.

Protecting any persons gender rights is the stance the school board is taking and they are standing behind the teacher.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

The school board says it sees her simply as a good teacher. But the videos have created much commentary.

Article content

So, what is the issue? Shouldnt a trans person be accorded respect?

Yes, but calling the prosthetic breasts large is an understatement. The teacher presents more as a parody of a woman with breasts the size of a pair of county fair watermelons, with deliberately protruding nipples pushing against the straining shirt.

It comes off more as a stunt, a dare to the employer to do anything about it.

Can the school board impose a dress restriction? Employment lawyer Sunira Chaudhry of Worklylaw.com says yes.

Its clownish, Chaudhry says. It seems sexist to me, because of the exaggerated nature of these breasts with nipples protruding. I think a lot of young women at the school wouldnt just feel uncomfortable, theyd feel mocked.

Article content

Chaudhry asks: What would happen if a teacher came in with natural breasts, nipples protruding, a low-cut top and no bra? Would the board come to the same defense of a cis-woman teacher?

Many women feel that they would not get that defense, that they would get a stern warning from their employer.

I think this is creating a wedge, Chaudhry says, if we are talking about gender rights.

How much latitude does an employer have to tell employees how to dress? Can an employer say to a woman, You have to put a bra on?

Yes, Chaudhry says: Most employers have the ability to dictate some sort of grooming.

Chaudhry says the presentation by the trans teacher is beyond the scope of what any reasonable employer would expect and nobody would be surprised to see an employer stepping in and saying, We need you as a teacher to come to school and dress professionally.

Article content

A transitioning teacher coming to work with prosthetic breasts would hardly be noticed, beyond staff and students learning to address the former mister or miss, and the school would be right to defend the teacher.

But in this case, it is difficult to believe there is any reason for size Triple Z fake breasts other than attention seeking and mockery of both women and the trans community.

Chaudhry calls this incident rushing to the defense of one to the discomfort of many.

If it is fair to defend the teacher, it would be fair to defend a male, transitioning or otherwise, presenting with tight pants meant to show off a prosthetic three-foot-long penis.

Trans people should be respected. But we don’t have to welcome the clown show.