It is easy to say that you want to change the world, but to actually take the initiative is tough. In an attempt to free students of preconceived notions and conformity, a Japanese school celebrated "Sex Change Day' on 11 November, Tuesday.
According to Goo News Japan, Fuji Hokuryo High School in Yamanashi Prefecture encouraged students to re-examine the meaning of "masculinity" and "femininity". Around 299 students, 117 boys and 182 girls, who participated in the unique event wore the uniforms of their peers from the opposite gender.
めっちゃくちゃ楽しかった #Sexchangeday pic.twitter.com/q2vcVkBXsB
— しらすさくら (@saku0419t) November 11, 2014
According to Tokyo Girls' Update, most Japanese schools insist on uniforms. And like most schools across the world, uniforms are gender-specific.
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Some schools even insist on male students donning Gakuran (a kind of jacket) made world famous by Anime characters and Japanese movie heroes and female students wear the typical sailor uniform.
For the "Sex Change Day", however, rules were thrown to the wind, as male students of Fuji Hokuryo donned plaid skirts and ribbon ties around their necks and the girls wore slacks and neckties.
Confirming to the core practice of freedom of choice, participation in the event was completely optional. The students received special lessons on how gender change can influence their behaviour and of those around them. The students were also alerted on the dangers of accepting the "norm".
Other than the exchange of clothes, there was no change in the itinerary and classes went on as usual, the idea being what they look like or dress like shouldn't be a deciding factor in scholastic matters.
As these sorts of events are not very widespread in Japan, the school's efforts are getting nation-wide coverage from the news media and thanks to the internet, the whole world is reading about it.
Some students even posted their "sex change" pictures on Twitter. A801Ryu posted the following picture with the post: "ーwwwww #sexchangeday "
