Then and Now

When I was in high school, The 6-inch Rule referred to the length of a girl's skirt/dress from the hem to the top of her knees. At any time, any teacher or other school official could, and would, make a girl kneel on the asphalt so her skirt could be measured with a wooden ruler. If the skirt was more than 6 inches above the girl's knee, she could, and would, be sent home to change.

But we could wear halter tops. So, you couldn't show leg, but boob was ok. What can I say, I went to an experimental high school :)

When my darling angels were in high school, the 6-inch rule referred to how close a boy could get to a girl. If the boy got closer than 6 inches, any teacher, school official or even the girl, could shout "Six-inch rule! Six-inch rule!" in a high-pitched panicky voice; apparently, if the two sexes got closer than 6 inches, all kinds of terrible things might happen.

First of all, that's just dumb. Everybody knows you get pregnant from drinking the water. Besides, if you can't get closer than 6 inches, then how can you possibly get your freak on?

Well, the answer is you can't. According to a recent article in the Seattle Weekly, "In 2005, Seattle School District's chief academic officer issued a memo prohibiting freak dancing, but left it up to individual schools to both define and police it." That seems dumb to me. What if the person defining it is a 50 year old single woman, twice divorced who just so happens to like clubbing?

The article goes on to say, "In practice, Seattle school administrators define freaking a bit like they do pornography—you know it when you see it—but there are some general prohibitions: dancing against a wall, grabbing ankles, hands below the knees, the use of chairs or other furniture for impromptu lap dances, pantomiming of sex acts, trains, or contact between any areas that a bathing suit would cover. Ingraham High School has even created a mnemonic device to help its students remember: Face to face and leave some space." How cute. I suppose it's better than shouting, "Six inch rule! Six inch rule!"

Here's the deal:
1. I am going dancing Saturday night, and I fully intend to freak dance
2. No wall dancing? What about up against the banister?
3. Grabbing ankles - now there's a visual!
4. Who needs a chair when the guy will get down and let you straddle him?
5. Does flipping some obnoxious guy off count as pantomiming a sex act?
6. Ok, no trains; but what about planes and automobiles?
7. All the more reason to wear a string-bikini.

But, back to the article. It further states that during one patrolling session, a school's activities coordinator actually caught the student-government officers leading the freaking. "They can't help themselves," she said. I like that; I'm going to use that excuse the next time someone comments on my dancing.

Students themselves appear to have trouble defining what was considered obscene and extreme. "We all agreed that a girl bent over, touching the ground, that's inappropriate," they concluded. You think?

So, now they have what is known as the "45-degree rule." Anyone whose torso is more than 45 degrees from perpendicular to the ground is too low and risks attracting the wrong response from the opposite sex. But 90 degrees is A-OK. Coolio!