NOT kilted at work -- your thoughts, please?

[ChubRock]

I have to say I am surprised at most of the responses. Of course they know better than I (a newbie) the reactions, both positive and negative, that kilted man gets. I would think a non-profit would be more liberal minded and therefore more accepting. Maybe if you say you are a cross-dresser they would have to accept it or be sued for discrimination.

I just showed up in a kilt at my school and thought nothing of it. The principal said, "Wow, you have more balls than me." Of course he's Scandinavian . Two weeks later another principal (from the middle school, Jr. high for West Coasters,) was in our building while I was kilted. He said that he has to 'deal' with a kilted teacher in his building. He said he is fine with it if you are representing your culture, but if you are purposely causing a distraction or attention to yourself it is a 'go home and change it' moment. But get this, that principal is Scottish.

Do what you need to keep your job and benefits. Kilt on!

[ChubRock]

And, really don't see that much difference between a wool pleated tartan skirt that a woman can wear to work any day of the week she chooses and a wool pleated tartan kilt - a type of skirt - that a man could wear.

Stand a woman in a wool tartan skirt next to a man in a wool tartan kilt - what's the difference?

Seems a power and control issue over a very tiny thing.

Your milage may vary

Ron

Here, here, now more topless female lifeguards.

[Wolfhawk]

If you're on company time you should wear what ever they tell you to wear. On your own time, wear whatever you want.

I think this statement nails it the best. At most of my jobs, prior to them hiring me, they do not realize that they are hiring a biker and a kilt wearer (I do not do them both at the same time, though). So, when I come into work, I might either be riding my '02 Screamin' Eagle Road King Motor Trike with all my leathers and my biker vest on..... or I might be coming in wearing my kilt. Once I am there, I will take myself to the bathroom and change into what I need to wear for the day on my job (slacks, Polo, etc.) At the end of the day, I reverse the process. Wear what you want to work, change, and then change back at the end of the day and after you are off the clock. What can they say to that? Do they really want to be seen as being a control freak of an employee when he is off the clock. It can be viewed as very bad for the supervisor. You are meeting their requirements while you are on their time but they cannot limit you in what you wear into work and change into and what you wear out of work at the end of the day.

By doing this, it allows you to show the supervisor that you are doing what she asked (during company time), and you are doing what you want (during your time). You need to get a few of us to come to the functions and ask, 'don't you have someone who works here that usually wears a kilt?' and if she sees there are others who wear kilts at their functions, then she might wise up some and see the illogic of not allowing you to be comfortable while doing the work for the company.

I hope your supervisor gets herself less in a twist.

[Merlin]

Wolfhawk is wise beyond his years.
I'm a firefighter so I wear a uniform. During the Scottish festival, the Chief has allowed firefighters attending the event on duty to wear a kilt but on the job...you wear what they say.
We also have a Cultural Awareness day and I plan on being kilted that day also.

[HarborSpringsPiper]

Ain't it a shame though?

At the core is the freedom of females to choose between a wide range of bifurcated or unbifurcated garments in the workplace while some weird convention denies males the same freedom of choice.

Why is it an issue?

Thank you to those men who are bit by bit, step by step, risking in the workplace and helping make kilts a legitimate choice for men in the workplace.

Ron

It is a shame. I used to think we had resolved most of these issues in the 1970s but clearly not. It seems in fact like there has been a backslide on many fronts.

I certainly support the notion that employers have certain rights and expectations when it comes to employee dress and this makes for an area that will always be somewhat murky. I suspect that the discomfort many people have with "different" is the basis of most of the problem, as others have already noted.

Wearing a kilt to work isn't something I see myself doing except for maybe a rather special occasion. It would be impractical for my primary setting, an Emergency Department. I tend to think it would be a distraction for patients in the other, which BTW is also a Community Mental Health organization (makes three of us with ties to CMH in this thread!).
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amendment: I do not mean to imply that I think it would be a distraction for anybody else's situation, just my own.

[Phogfan86]

Gauge your supervisor and her personality and make a call. Fight or hide, but don't do nothing.

In that spirit, I plan to hide. I'm headed for Selkirk Forest, like Robert I, to wait for my next opportunity. This isn't a battlefield to die on.

I went out of my way to look professional on Tartan Day and our workplace cultural diversity day. I have St. Andrew's Day in November to do it again. Ultimately, I'd love to propose wearing kilts on casual Fridays, but her quick reaction last week surprised me. I'll bide my time, wear it on St. Andrew's Day and see how it goes over. With all the fall colors, it seems like the perfect time to wear that new SWK Mackenzie weathered.

[Highland Logan]

Around the end of the year, I submitted a proposal to wear my kilt to work twice a year: Tartan Day (April 6) and St. Andrew's Day (November 30). My supervisor and her supervisor both reviewed it and said okay, but it was made very clear that as soon as it became “a distraction” and kept me or anyone else from getting work done, I wouldn't be allowed to anymore.

Ultimately, I'd love to propose wearing kilts on casual Fridays, but her quick reaction last week surprised me.

I think I'm a tad confused. You had some issues at first and worked out a deal to wear it twice a year. Your 2 immediate supervisors agreed. To continue down the road of pestering them you are becoming the distraction they warned you not to become. You have your 2 days, many more than some on the board.. why keep pushing till you have none?

Just something to think about.

Frank

[NewPiperinNY]

After reading this thread, I am thinking that there may be a lack of 'insight' going on. He asked his boss about wearing a kilt to a function that presumably is going to attract a decent amount of attention for the organization. He was told no, but not really given a reason. I would have to believe that if the attention was supposd to be elsewhere, the most prudent course of action was to keep the kilted gentlemen at bay.

As the leader of the organization, I would not want all the attention on one specific person because of what they wear. While unbifurcated garments are great, they are far from mainstream. Depending upon the community, it could become more of a distraction to the event then is necessary. It's not a 'power to the people' sort of issue, it's about being a teamplayer. The answer may have been abrasive, but is that the person's ordinary MO?

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

In that spirit, I plan to hide. I'm headed for Selkirk Forest, like Robert I, to wait for my next opportunity. This isn't a battlefield to die on.

Good plan.