Hamilton, Ohio (The Weekly Vice) -- Matt Allsup, a 13-year-old student at Garfield Middle School in Hamilton, Ohio is fighting for "his right" to wear make up - and his mother is fighting right along with him.
At a time when most of the country is talking about lipstick on pigs, Matt Allsup and his mother Mindy Ball are engaged in another kind of lipstick issue. Mother and son are fighting school administrators who ordered Allsup to remove the makeup he was wearing Monday, citing that it was a distraction and violated the school dress code.
The makeup Matt wore, which is meant more as a goth look rather than a "girly" look, involves the application of lipstick, eye makeup and black fingernail polish.
Matt's mother Mindy told reporters that she stands behind her son's right to wear makeup at school 100% and believes the school is violating her son's rights.
"They're gender stereo-typing. He's being sexually discriminated against," said Ball. "Nowhere in the rules does it say that males can't wear makeup."
"When I spoke to the principal, she told me it was distracting because of the black makeup," said Ball. "I said, 'Well, I'll get him pink,' and [the principal] said, 'No, because he's a male, he's not allowed to wear it, the public don't accept males wearing make-up."
Allsup and his mother have since vowed to fight the school's ban on wearing makeup. Besides taking their case to the media, they have said they plan to hire an attorney and pursue the matter in court.
Hamilton School District spokesperson Joni Copas said both females and males will be asked to remove makeup that is deemed to be 'too harsh'. She also stated there have been no further incidents at the school since Allsup removed his makeup.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
So what do you think about this issue? Should a male have the right to wear make up at school? What if he decided to wear a skirt to school? Should it matter?
It's actually surprising to us that the issue hasn't already been beaten to death already. It's been 20 years since I've been in high school, but even then, guys sometimes wore goth style makeup and had ear piercings. I can't remember a high school year that we didn't have some guy trotting down the hall between classes with a fully fanned mohawk that stood a foot high.
It was only a distraction for the first few days as students wondered what school administrators would do about it. When everyone realized that it was a non-issue to teachers and school staff - it became a non-issue to the kids, and the school year proceeded on as usual.
If a boy wants to look like he's been kissing a cow's behind, then so be it. He'll learn to let go of things like black make up a lot faster when he realizes no value comes from it. Not because school admins consider his interests of no value. Just my humble opinion.
Danny Vice
www.theweeklyvice.com
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32 comments:
If he wants to look gay, let him.
Unbelievable. The mother is clueless, pandering to her son's idiotic notions.
As if teachers' jobs weren't difficult enough, now we have a mother who decides to indulge her little brat and launch a campaign against the school. I wonder if she's this involved in other aspects of the school governance. PTA meetings? After school clubs? Curriculum discussions?
My opinion - kick his butt out of school!
It IS discriminatory. If he wants to wear make-up, it should be his right. If a girl has very long hair, then cuts it off, the kids at school make a big deal about it. It's distracting, but in a day or so, they get over it and move on. They're kids! None of them REALLY want to be in school 5 days a week! EVERYTHING is distracting. It's more a case of the school officials forcing their aspect of what is acceptable and what is not on other peopke's children.
*people's....
And to the angry gregorian.....what does "gay" look like? And what makes YOU an expert?
High five to the mom for standing up for her child. It is not the job of the school to parent the children. They are there to educate not dictate. If the school does not have a uniform, then who cares what he wears. If he wants to walk in the door in hot pink stripper heels- go for it! Schools need to learn how to pick their battles.
If it is a distraction, it should be removed. If a girl came to school in lingerie, school officials should take the same action. The issue is whether the act distracts other students from learning.
Women ARE going to school in lingere you dolt!
They wear visible g-strings and tops that are meant to mimick lingere tops. They also wear sheer tops that show the bra undertneith and wear tanks and tees that show as much bra as possible, while low rider (hip hugger) pants are worn.
Is it a distraction? Well for they guys it may be... but people stop being distracted after a few days.
I agree with Danny here. This kind of thing has been going on for ages. It's hard to believe we're even debating it.
It's makeup, not stripper gear!
It's not that big of a deal!
I'm in the goth community and more of the guys wear makeup that I do! It doesn't distract from anything, it's just who they are!
Get over it and move on to more important things!
This Civilization Is Going DOWN.
My Mother Would grab the Bullwhip Whip the stupidity out my Self.
I'm Glad My Mother was't Insane
That mother is probably a gold digger, smoking, drinking woman who just wants cheap publicity for herself. She probably did not do well in school and feels like she has to "prove" herself to her brat. I wonder in this case, who is the real parent?
Notice to this selfish person calling herself a mom. I DON'T WANT MY KID AROUND FREAKS AND WEIRDOS ESPECIALLY IN SCHOOL. Your "ME PHILOSOPY" is the reason that kids do drugs, drink, and engage in illicit sex. What is next for your brat? Cross dressing. And, Oh, I am going to assume that your brat is a straight A student and involved in positive school activities. GROW UP MOM. Are you also asking for a free public defender. Get a job and life and show your kid that NOBODY owes you squatt or the time of day for your opinions.
The kid can't or won't make it doing normal things, so he dresses hmiself up like a freak (as the encouragement of the woman who birthed him).
Always say yes to your kid does not make him your "friend".
I support the school 100 percent. If you don't like it mom, then move somewhere else. I hear in California you can parade your kid around. Does great for his self-esteem. Spare us all your wine...................
The schools can not legally ban a person (male or female) from wearing make up. thumbs up to the mom here for getting an attorney.... this is a cear cut case.
I would not personally choose to wear gothic make up. but if a person wants to who am i to say otherwise.
the school is trying to take control and enforce what society approves of when it comes to how people should appear. its no different than them enforcing that girls should be thin and tan and blond.
and now the school is trying to cover it up and say that if a girl wore make up that "stuck out" that she would be asked to remove it as well. well guess what this boy is 13. and if a 13 yr old girl walked around in bright eye shadow and red lipstick... that would draw attention. but its a natural thing.
the school is only having a problem with this because hes a guy wearing makeup. it doesnt matter what color.
if i were attending that school i would walk into school and watch them try to tell me as a girl i cant wear makeup....
as for the stripper clothes... there is a dress code in every school that prohibits that kind of wear because its inappropriate for a girl to walk around with their vaginas hanging out. this boy isnt dressing inappropriately... hes fully covered and within policy... and theres nothing that says a male can not wear makeup. there cant be. its against his rights. DISCRIMINATION...
-amylynn
to the woman who said its the brats right to wear makeup:
Oh get off it. Show me where we have free for all in public schools. You are probably some left wing pot smoking liberal who sees the world through rose colored glasses and hugs trees. You have never worked in a public school but like all stupid, self-centered liberals have all the answers.
Its people like you who think that its ok to smoke pot and left over from the hippy generation. Your mom should have beat the stupid out of you when she had a chance before 911.
Better yet, lets medicate him for ADHD and God knows what else you liberals come up with.
What part of NO does he not understand, when society says NO. When he gets to driving, how many tickets is he going to get before he figures out its not OK to break the speed limit. Its not ok to steal etc. Ask him if he smokes and then find out his mother provides him with cigarettes. Does not matter if its against the law. Teachers don't care because they don't want the confrontation with the mother who plays the blame game. Go ahead, threaten an attorney, you won't win and neither will your brat. Go do your English homework and shut up.
As for you, get over it. This ain't no free lunch pass.
To the person who said this is why kids do drugs/have illicit sex/whatever... um, when I was in high school? The freaks were actually pretty well behaved. Their rebellion was confined to clothes. The little rich kids in the suburbs who had nothing to do but smoke and screw and nowhere to go were sitting around in their living rooms while their parents were off at confrences doing whippets and stealing their dentist father's nitrous oxide, and drag racing down the streets. People flee to "safe" neighborhoods & want their kids to get away from bad elements... this just means their clean-cut kids will become the bad element.
But yeah. This is only a big deal because the administration is making it a big deal.
Hey lets all give kuddos to the mom that is actuall supporting her child. She is showing him how to stand up for what he believes in. Congrats Mom you should be nominated for mom of the year!
Wow. I am so glad I homeschool my children.
This is discrimination. Adolescence is a time of experimentation and figuring out who you want to be. It is the job of public schools to crank out uneducated, unthinking drones. Any variety is punished and discouraged.
It is good to see a mother standing up for her child and being involved. Kids go through fazes and when it is something as innocuous as make-up, it should be allowed.
Parents, and schools, should pick their battles when it comes to children. Schools are funded to teach children academics. Instead they waste their time trying to micromanage every aspect of a child's personality.
The only reason this look was distracting was that the teachers made a big deal out of it.
To anonymous at 6:23AM, how does what a kid is wearing affect how hard a teacher's job is? Oh yeah, that is right. When the teachers are more concerned with having the kids all look alike than actually doing the job they are paid to do.
To anonymous at 3:29pm who said she/he doesn't want her/his children to be around "freaks" this kid, well, I homeschool, partially because I don't want my children to be around close-minded, unimaginative, group-minded children like YOURS probably are.
To El garrobo: actually, it is parents not being involved with their children and standing up for them that is of a cause of the downfall of civilization. This kid will probably grow up and be very mentally stable and a productive citizen because his mother is there for him, is involved in his life, and is teaching him to not just roll over for stupid people who happen to be in power.
I agree with Kainenchen. It is the apparently "perfect" and "normal" kids that are drinking and sleeping around-right after their Young Life meetings. All kids seek to express their individuality and most kids who do it through their clothes and hair are better behaved (and usually smarter and more well-read) than the drones.
tiredoffreeloaders...
first off your response is completely idiotic. no one mentioned liberals or pot smoking hippies. so way to be on offending people who arent even in the conversation...
it IS this boys right to be free of discrimination. hes been told not to wear makeup because boys shouldnt wear makeup. not because its breaking the law. speeding and stealing is breaking the law. and no matter how he dresses or what makeup he wears he should be treated equally. society is not the only one who says its wrong to speed and steal. its the law. there are no laws saying this boy can not wear makeup.
i bet you were so pround of yourself when you published your comment. well let me tell you how uneducated and retarded you make yourself sound. dont worry my homework has been done. and i know what is right and what is wrong. youre telling me to do my english homework however the words and way to type to speak is so dimwitted.. i seriously asked myself if you were really that stupid or just a mild brain lapse. maybe you should find something better to do with your time than to come online and bash people and make yourself seem so dumb.
and to all of the people think that the parent is the blame. this parent is doing what she should do and its something we dont see many parents do... shes standing up for her sons individuality and right to a free education. he should not be removed from school because of makeup no matter how dark it is... this boy will grow out of his ways and grow into what he will be in life. but for now hes a child and should be left alone. as long as hes not breaking the law or hurting anyone. i dont see the problem.
amylynn
Another example of Americans being silly. If the kid wants to dress goth,so what.... No big deal. It's not hurting anyone and isn't as harmful to the eyes as seeing what the majority of Americans look like at beaches everywhere...Like beached whales. America most often becomes indignant over the most trivial of stuff. I swear! Some folks commenting are angrier at this kid than they are at the scum/pedo/criminals/subjects that permeate this website.
Condoning goth dress isn't a liberal thing. Hell,Rudy Guiliani often enjoys dressing as a woman. That's makeup and clothing.
And one more thing...
Frankly,I'd ban the use of make up,cologne,and perfume....Because the majority of those using such items seem to have an inherent inability to use them within moderation. Oh,and yes,I'd ban overweight folks from wearing bathing suits.
I see a lot of posts saying that it is discriminatory for the boy to not be allowed to wear makeup in school. On that notion I agree and makeup should be taken out in general, the stuff is bad anyway(another story) But the main argument is that schools are trying to "brainwash" the child by forcing their views on him. Well because of extremism this statement almost makes itself invalid. What is and isn't acceptable in society SHOULD be determined slightly be the school. Simply because the school is a BIG part of society.
People are saying it's wrong to teach society's morals in school.
Let me put it this way. Is it wrong to teach children that slavery is wrong? How about killing?
(But those acts are illegal, those should be taught)
Well neither is jumping off a bridge without a bungee chord (unless the intent is suicide) but ultimately it will most likely result in death, should we not teach against that?
The point is it IS up to our schools to teach, and since we spend not only a large part of our lives at school, we spend most, if not all, of our childhood and learning abilities there.
Teaching what is right and wrong should be near the top of the list.
Ty,
You are wrong. It is NOT up to the schools to teach kids right from wrong. It is up to the parents.
This attitude-that the school should be teaching morals-is a big reason America's children are graduating without being truly educated.
This comes down to style and taste. What one person likes another doesn't like. And make-up on men is acceptable in some places in society.
I find certain clothing styles to be in poor taste, but this is not a communist country, and variety should be encouraged.
All incidents like this do is encourage the bullies and kill budding self-esteem and self-exploration.
I support the mom and kid. Seriously, allow him freedom of expression now before he's all grown up and misses his chance. As for the other kids, they'll get use to it. It'll be old news and blow over before it happened, unless it gets all legal and on the news... he'll get his own yearbook page if this blows up. Screw it, who is he hurting? Don't make him Harrison Bergeron. Not for something as petty as this.
I completely agree with the child and mother. I think the child should be allowed to wear the lipstick, eyeliner, and whatever else he chooses to wear. I was suspended from high school many times for wearing things that were socially "unacceptable". I have worn black eyeliner to school, I have had colored hair (purple), I have worn a so-called skirt (kilt) to school, I wore pants with chains on a regular basis. People shouldnt have to censor themselves because someone else is too squemish to see or do it themselves. I should be able to wear colored hair, spikes, chains, and eyeliner if I wanted to. I want it back to the time when you could buy a disney movie that involved something that would be deemed too graphic for todays young minds! I grew up on that shit! I turned out to be a perfectly normal citizen! I pay my taxes just like everyone else, that should be all that matters.
Its not teachers jobs to teach your kids morals. Its the damn parents! I work in the customer service business, and I dont know how many times Ive seen parents and their children come in and the kids go crazy, with the parents ignoring them, expecting someone else to say something to their children. But when you say something, they get offended and say that i shouldnt tell them how to raise their children. If they would do it, I wouldnt have to say anything. Everyone thinks this is wierd because a mother finally takes an interest in what her child is doing. Good, someone finally takes notice on what their children are doing. Everyone should take a lesson from this woman. Anyone heard of the Columbine shootings? Their parents didnt give a shit about what those kids were doing. Mabye the next generation wont turn up as messed up in the head as the rest of my generation is.
To those of you that say hes gay, go to hell. Ive known many men that wear makeup, and theyre some of the straightest people Ive ever had the pleasure to meet. If it brings it into perspective, all of the men that were public figures wore makeup. George washington, the father of our country wore makeup on a regular basis. Name any male figure alive thats in the public eye, they wear makeup in the public.
So, as Ive thoroughly stated, my opinion is that the child should be allowed back in school, and be allowed to wear whatever he wants.
This is just stupid. The mom is an idiot for encouraging this behaviour. He is probably gonna grow up all kinds of mental. I am all about freedom of expression, but do it when you are an adult. Doing stuff like that in your teen years will only gain you the ire and hate of your peers, who will probably make his life a living hell.
This is what happens when goth or EMO tards have bastard children. Maybe it's sow can conjure a healing spell after the little freak of nature gets his ass kicked daily. WTF is wrong with people?
This is a prime example of why we need "pro choice" in regards to abortion.
To all of the people who are commenting on this mother and her son, I want to tell you to get over it. I mean, really, the time to dress crazy is when you are a teenager. I was a punk/goth/whatever label you want to put on it when I was a teenager, and I never got into trouble or hurt anyone. My clothes and my music were my only way of rebelling. All of my friends were the same. All of them grew up to go on to prestigious universities. They all have high paying jobs now, and they all dress like everyone else. When you grow up, you have to fit in.
I see nothing wrong with dressing like this when you're a teenager. It's a personal choice. However, if the school forbids it, the mom should say, "Well, you can dress like that on weekends, but this is how life works". There is no reason for her to go running to the media and talking to lawyers. Like some of the others here have said, this shouldn't even be an issue.
I am the mother of a 13 year old son. He wants to dye his hair purple, but I don't let him because it is against the rules at school. Other than that, I really wouldn't care. He is a good kid. He has straight A's. He is on the quick recall team and in the school orchestra. All of you out there who are making judgments that any mother who would let her kid wear stuff like this would have to be a smoking, drinking, gold digging drug addict are just out of line.
How can you come to that conclusion based on what you've read or seen here? The reason I wouldn't care if my son wanted to dress like that is because I would rather him do it now than when he is 30. At 13, it isn't like you are trying to go out and get a job. Dressing goth at 30 (unless you make a living as a rock star who caters to goths...usually teenagers) is just ridiculous. Even Marilyn Manson dresses up for the red carpet.
Just to restate, I strongly agree that the mother is out of line for making such a big deal of this. I mean, in real life, you don't get to wear goth makeup to work unless you work at Hot Topic. She needs to teach her son that there are times when it might be ok, but it isn't always appropriate. It's not a god-given right to wear makeup to school. So to the condescending folks on both sides, I have to say, Get over it!
I disagree that the mother is out of line. The government is taking too much control out of the hands of parents when it comes to raising children. The major tool that allows the government to do this is the public school system. It is time parents start taking back their parental rights (and fulfilling their parental duties instead of relying on the school to do it) and insist that schools do nothing but teach academics.
Do you want to know what is wrong with each new generation of children? More and more it is being left up to teachers to raise and shape children, while they neglect teaching academics. It makes me sick when I hear parents speak of their toddlers, "Man, (blank) gets to go to Headstart or pre-k, (or whatever) next year. I can't wait for him to go to school. I will enroll him the day he turns 3."
What is wrong with parents today? Since when did it become desirable to have the state raise your children for you? A stated purpose when public schooling was founded was to create a homogeneous working class.
I think he should be free to wear makeup if it makes him feel good about the way he looks. If you don't feel confident it could distract you from learning. The other students probably accept him more than the school. His appearance doesn't mean that he's not as smart, kind, and valuable as any other student. He could be a straight-A student for all I know. I dress differently than everyone else, but I get straight A's and get accepted into special programs. If the same thing were happening to me, people would assume I got bad grades and was a freak by my appearance, not knowing who I really am. If people who don't even know him are calling him a brat, how do you think it would make him feel? I feel SO bad for him because people are so unaccepting and judgemental. Maybe all he wants is to be unique! I know that's why I try to stand out and dress the way I do. So please cut the kid some slack! I seriously hope that when I go to middle school people won't treat me like they treat this kid. (Even though I don't wear makeup.)
Please be nice to him and don't call him names. I'm just a kid sticking up for another kid, and I know, if he were in my school, I would accept him for who he is.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
i go to school with this kid..
trust me he is "out of the closet".
he's just doing all this for attention. last year he was nothing like this so dont fall for it, it's just a phase. he's came out to everyone in the school that he's bisexual.
i think it's an act of maturity, to young people, well a lot of the time their mindframe is somewhat limited...automatically they'd acknowledge make up to be for adults.
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