Israeli high school girls fight for right to be cool

 Israeli high school girls have taken to social media to protest against rules that let boys wear shorts in the sweltering summer heat but bar girls from doing the same.

The teenagers, who come from mainstream secular schools across Israel, say their teachers insist on the ban to protect them from unwanted male attention, despite recent temperatures of up to 45C (113F). “Why does a woman have to suffer sexist and chauvinist comments just because it’s hot?” one anonymous writer posted on Facebook.

“There’s a situation here in which they are blaming the victim. They tell the girls not to come in shorts because the boys stare. We are the victims and they’re blaming us,” a 14-year-old student said in remarks quoted by Haaretz newspaper.

Girls who defy the ban say they have been barred from sitting <g data-gr-id="21">exams,</g> have had their <g data-gr-id="18">cellphones</g> confiscated and have had their parents called into <g data-gr-id="20">school</g>, the paper said.

Students involved in the shorts protest have even written a letter to the far-right Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Channel 2 television said. “Recently there have been many reports of cases where girls from all over the country were discriminated against in schools over a dress code which is different for boys and girls,” the letter said.

“We are in an educational system that is supposed to be equal and so we are asking you to intervene in the matter and support the struggle for a unified school dress code for boys and girls <g data-gr-id="25">and of course</g> to enforce it without discrimination,” it said.