It all started when I wore my SWK Nightstalker kilt to work on St. Patricks day with the blessing of my most immediate superior. I got quite a few positive responses, and said that I might wear another kilt on one of our "casual Fridays". It should be mentioned that my immediate superior is "kilt friendly" and said that since the dress code does not specifically mention kilts, that as far as she was concerned, wearing the kilt on "casual Friday" was ok, if I was professional about it.
I have a multi-tiered level of superiors that I work for, in a professional medical setting, and work with the public. My "chain of command" is really somewhat confusing, and difficult to explain, but I am required to please each one governing different areas of my profession.
One of my other superiors approached me on Monday and said that I was not to wear a kilt anymore, at any time. This launched us into a rather protracted, and marginally tense, discussion concerning the matter, with the bottom line being that I believe a kilt to be a mans garment, not unprofessional, and I felt that the double standard of allowing women to wear trousers or skirts, and men being only allowed to wear trousers was discriminatory. Of couse, the same old tired line of "in our culture" and "you can wear kilts in your off time" were offered as excuses and/or reasons. Exasperated, she said that she would set up a meeting for me to discuss this with the committee members that decide these issues if I wanted to take it that far. I said that I would appreciate that, and the meeting has been set for Friday afternoon. Until then, I must obey the dress code, and not wear any kilts.
I discussed this with my wife, whom I admire and respect as the best advisor, help mate, and friend that I could ever have been blessed with. She thinks that I have taken things to far. That I am running the risk of being percieved as unhappy, disgruntled, or at best, a trouble maker, and should drop the issue. The world is not going to change overnite according to my whims, and the fact that I wear kilts everywhere I go is a statement in and of itself that should suffice for now. Basically, it's too much, too soon for our society right now. I should mention that she has always been supportive of my kilt wearing, and she's never been shy about being with me in a kilt.
Since then, a committee meeting has been going on in my head almost non-stop. I think about the struggle for the womens vote, the courage of the few women who disobeyed cultural rules and wore trousers in public for the first time. I am old enough to remember the fight to be able grow long hair, the resistance to that change that we, as men, went through. I think about how I went overseas to fight in a war to defend our freedom, and that Ghandi said, "Be the change that you want to see in the world". I think of the freedoms that women are allowed in society, denied to men, and the dwindling all male societies that have fallen by the wayside because of female opposition. I wonder about my own courage, and how far I'm willing to take this, and also my obligation to provide an income for my family.
I have to agree with her that I am running a risk with my employer. Although I am a technical expert in my field, in short supply at this time, I remember what my Dad always said that "The graveyards are filled with men who believed that they could not be replaced".
Am I going to far with this? Am I cutting off my nose to spite my face? Is it too much too soon? Am I a stupid ***, living in my mind in some parallel universe? Why can't I just let this go? It's the principle of the thing, isn't it?
I will be checking back to this thread over the next few days for advice from this great kilted community, and going over past posts on this subject. Any advice given shall be deeply appreciated.
Highest regards,
Reggie