Pictured in the 'too-short' shorts that got her suspended: Teen wears cut-offs that caused controversy at her Montreal high school
- Lindsey Stocker, a grade 11 student at a Montreal high school, was singled out for wearing shorts on May 21
- She is seen wearing the shorts in pictures taken for the Montreal Gazette
- In front of her class, she was told they were too short and that she would have to change or face suspension
- Stocker instead printed posters that read, 'Don't humiliate her because she's wearing shorts. It's hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects'
These are the 'too-short' shorts that caused administrators at a Montreal high school to kick student Lindsey Stocker off campus.
Stocker donned the jean shorts To Beaconsfield high school on the first hot day of the season, and was temporarily suspended when she refused to change.
The grade 11 girl is seen wearing the controversial shorts for the first time, in pictures published by the Montreal Gazette.
'Too short': These are the denim shorts that got Montreal teen Lindsey Stocker suspended from school
Stocker unwittingly started a revolution by refusing to change out of a pair of shorts, when she was told they were not appropriate for school on May 21.
She refused, and instead printed a poster that she plastered over the school, questioning why girls' bodies were the focus of the rules instead of boys' behavior.
During third period on that day, two vice principals entered her classroom and told everyone to stand up so their outfits could be inspected.
'And when they came to me after about two rows of looking they stopped and told me my shorts were too short and I had to change,' Stocker told the National Post.
Get shorty: Lindsey Stocker says she was humiliated in front of her class for wearing a pair of shorts on a hot day
'They continued to tell me would be suspended if I didn't start following the rules. When I told them I didn't understand why I had to change they told me that it doesn't matter - I don't have to understand the rules, I just have to comply by them.'
Stocker felt singled out and humiliated in front of her class, but what concerned her more was a set of rules that focused on girls' bodies rather than boys' behavior.
So instead of complying with the rules, she went and printed up about 20 posters and stuck them up all over the school.
The posters read, 'Don't humiliate her because she's wearing shorts. It's hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.'
Statement: Although Stocker's poster only remained up for about 10 minutes before teachers took it down, it had the desired effect
Support: Stocker has had strong support on social media and other girls at her high school are wearing shorts to school in solidarity
The posters were taken down by teachers after about 10 minutes, but they live on in social media.
Stocker also has won the support and admiration of other girls at school.
'Most people are agreeing with her, women shouldn’t have to cover themselves up completely because we shouldn’t be viewed as sexual objects,' student Sierra Drolet told CJAD News.
Lauren Paquay, 15, showed up wearing shorts in support of Stocker. She said the dress code verification - making girls stand up with their arms by their sides to ensure their outfits are fingertip length - is 'humiliating.'
School rules: The school district spokesperson says there are dress rules for both girls and boys
'People are being judged for the way they dress, they have to change because boys look at them. The boys should be the ones who have to learn to treat women better and look at them in a different light,' she told CBC.
The chairperson of the Lester B Pearson School Board told CJAD News that Stocker has been suspended for not following the rules.
'The rules are there to help the children learn and prepare them for their future work places, high school is a job for them, they are there to learn to function in society, so it’s important that the rules be followed,' Susanne Stein Day says.
'Girls and boys have rules on dress codes; it is not a girl, boy thing, that’s not the point.'
Stocker disagrees.
'I was in violation for showing my legs,' she says. 'And that, point blank, is a problem for me.'
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