The year was 2005, and it was homecoming week at Montezuma-Cortez High School. Decked out in my sister’s best green dress, sporting a face full of makeup, I crossed the floor of Ron Wright Memorial Gym, eager to join similarly clad classmates for the annual “Peach Fuzz” volleyball game.
Matching juniors against seniors, the “Peach Fuzz” game has been an annual homecoming-week tradition at Montezuma-Cortez High School for years. Traditionally, senior participants dressed in women’s clothing, while junior participants sported male attire.
In recent years, however, the dress code has changed, and on Wednesday, Sept. 25, this year’s Peach Fuzz game took place without dress-clad boys. Ask students and they claim that female clothing is no longer “allowed” during the Peach Fuzz game. Ask members of the school administration and they claim that while no written policy exists banning female clothing during Peach Fuzz, there is an “understanding” that such clothing will not be worn.
When I first heard about the changes to the Peach Fuzz dress code, the first question that came to mind was why. Does the “understanding” banning female clothing, exist because boys in dresses make people uncomfortable or are other factors in play?
Members of the high school administration answer that the “understanding” is in place to protect members of the LGBT community. Apparently, the concern is that boys dressed in women’s clothing might be inclined to act insensitively through stereotypical remarks and actions.
Although I cannot help but think that the “understanding” has more to do with the discomfort that many in our society feel when they see males in female clothing, lets, for the purposes of this column, take the school administration’s statements at face value.
If in fact the administration is concerned about individuals acting sensitively toward people of different sexual orientations, wouldn’t the proper remedy be to focus on education as opposed to an outright ban on women’s clothing during Peach Fuzz?
In other words, wouldn’t it be more effective to allow cross-dressing to continue, and if insensitive comments or actions occur, springboard into a discussion of why such insensitivity might occur in the first place?
Personally, I believe the answer to both of the above questions to be a resounding yes. I believe that the M-CHS administration is acting in error by creating an “understanding” that prevents boys from dressing as girls during Peach Fuzz, and I firmly believe that the policy needs to be changed.
I would urge the M-CHS administration to allow boys participating in future Peach Fuzz games to dress in dresses. Allow students to restore traditional cross-dressing practices if they so choose, and if insensitivity does arise, use the incident to start a meaningful discussion surrounding tolerance within our society.
imaclaren@cortezjournal.com
