Long or short pants?

This post is not in anyway a complete and flawless depiction of any country, race, religion or political stand as a whole. Do not get offended, this is NOT meant as an insult or to offend anyone from any society. I am merely stating my personal opinion based on my personal experience on each cultures.

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Good. Here's a bunny.

Despite what the title might have you believe, this article is less about pants and more about the difference between the idea of appropriate dressing, particularly for students. And for anyone who thinks that this topic is inconsequential, you obviously have never been on the receiving end of someone giving you the eye (You know which eye I'm talking about), or screaming blue murder at you just because your pants were an inch short of the required length in your university's Constitution of Respectable Pants (*Not actually a thing). Let me just give you a quick rundown of the average university dress code from my country. Most universities in Malaysia have a pretty strict dress code. Basically its no shorts, spaghetti tops, belly shirts, miniskirts, or pajama bottoms.

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No.

Its especially enforced when you're in the university library. Or any library for that matter. It's a perfectly acceptable request, and I had no problem with it. So when I came to Korea, I naturally assumed that they pretty much followed the same dress code. After all, Korea was a considerably conservative country as well. Which is why when a friend of mine told me that she had to make a quick stop to the library, I told her I couldn't go in with her since I was wearing shorts* and sandals at the time.

She didn't know what I was talking about, so I explained to her that back home, we weren't allowed into places like the university library if we were wearing inappropriate clothing. She looked at me like she couldn't tell whether I was being serious or not, before telling me that she had never heard of such a rule in her life. Of course you can wear a miniskirt in a library! What is wrong with that?

And we both stared at each other in a mutual omg-that's-so-weird moment.

You'd think that since we were both from Asian countries, we'd have some similar ideas about appropriate dressing. But no. In Korea, it is totally acceptable to wear shorts to class, to the library, basically anywhere you want in the university. Forget the students, I had even seen some of the dorm management staff sporting knee pants during their office hours. This atrocity would have never occurred in Malaysia.

I told her that we don't really consider shorts as respectful dress, and she asked me what did looking respectful have to do with going to the library. It wasn't as if there was a particular person that we had to show respect to in the library. And she had a point, of course.

en.wikipedia.org

Pictured: No one to respect.

Back where I come from, although the dress code isn't strictly enforced in most places, I have known universities that charge fines for inappropriate dressing on campus, as well as university buses that would refuse to pick up students who were wearing short pants or skirts. It is especially important if you were attending a special event, like say, your university orientation. They would specifically request that you dress respectfully and even if they don't, it's kind of hardwired into our heads anyway, so we just reach automatically for our jeans. That was why during my orientation in Korea, I wore jeans all day, even for the after-party which was held in a bar. And my roommate could not for the life of her understand my obsession with said piece of clothing.

By the way, this rule was way tougher when I was in high school. Usually we wear a uniform so it isn't an issue, but on the rare occasion that we are allowed to dress casually, NO ONE wears shorts or mini skirts to school. This one time after the exams, my high school had a spring cleaning day and we were allowed to wear casual clothes. I wore shorts that day because honestly, nobody does spring cleaning in jeans. In the end, not only was I the only student in school who wore shorts, there were even a bunch of slimy punks who ogled me all day long and tried to take pictures of my legs.


                                           

I can see why they would be turned on though.

All because I was wearing shorts. The fact was that it was so uncommon to see a student wearing shorts in the school compound that everyone suddenly acted like they'd never seen legs in their lives. But in Korea, you can wear shorts to attend class or seminars or workshops and no one even bats an eyelid. Here is an interesting fact: Most Malaysians like me don't wear shorts to be fashionable. I prefer shorts because of the most obvious reason ever: I can't stand the heat. Imagine having to walk in the stifling Malaysian heat in jeans, and you will understand my point of view. On the other hand, Koreans obviously do not have this problem, and yet they are free to wear any manner of shorts at any time of the year they please.

Maybe it doesn't seem like a major issue to some people, but I think that this is just a representation of how conservative we are that we cannot even tolerate the barest hint of exposed skin. And we try to impose this conviction on everyone else by shaming or penalizing people who dare to go against it. Even now, this habit is so ingrained in me now that I can't shake it off. In fact the first time I went to the library by myself, I was actually at the front door before I remembered I was wearing shorts. And I went back to my dorm to change into jeans.  To this day, my roommate still finds it hilarious.

I wanted to go on talking about the differences in fashion but that would take too long, so I'm posting it in another blog. Be sure to check it out. I hope I didn't make anyone angry, but this is a pretty neutral topic so I don't see how anyone could get offended by it. Peace out.