A leading UK school has banned pupils from addressing staff as “Sir” or “Miss” — calling it a battle against “cultural misogyny” inspired by the principal’s “sage,” Taylor Swift.
Harris Westminster Sixth Form executive principal James Handscombe introduced the policy in an assembly at his London school Monday, saying it was “part of a wider reset” that couldn’t be left up to “old men to fix.”
“We are changing the way that students refer to staff … No longer will it be acceptable to call us “Sir” or “Miss,'” he said, noting the inspiration of Swift singing “F–k the patriarchy.”
He called the two titles “deeply unequal” because “‘Miss’ is how you refer to a small girl.”
“I don’t think that any of you are being actively woman-hating when you call ‘miss’ over to get help with your chemistry, but we’re all feeding into a view of the world that diminishes women.
“Men get to be fearless leaders and alpha types, get credited for hustling,” said the Harvard grad.
But “behind the backs of women it’s asked whether they deserve it, whether their career comes from good ideas or good looks, power moves or diversity lists,” he told the pupils, aged between 16 and 18.
Handscombe called the strike against “cultural misogyny” part of a “continued commitment to a better and more equal world,” telling the teens: “I’m 100% your ally here.”
“We can’t expect old men to fix this … we’ve got to do it ourselves,” said Handscombe, a teacher for at least 24 years who started studying at Oxford university 31 years ago, suggesting he’s at least in his 40s.
During his assembly, the school head repeatedly referred to a “certain notorious keyring” as inspiration for the change.
He later explained on Twitter that it was “a Taylor Swift reference,” pointing followers to song “All Too Well” — which mentions a ” “‘F–k the patriarchy’ keychain on the ground.”
That oblique nod “allows me to express a sentiment in language unbecoming to a principal,” said Handscombe, who bragged about referencing six songs by Swift, his “offstage sage.”
He finished Monday’s assembly by paraphrasing a Swift quip, joking: “I’d like to close with the reassurance that no men were harmed in the making of this assembly.”
A tweet of his assembly transcript received a spattering of abuse, with one calling him a “woke idiot” and one teacher replying with “Ffs,” an initialism of “for f–k’s sake.”
“I’ve been ‘Miss’ for 35 years, and I’ll be that until I retire,” the teacher wrote. A retired teacher also said “it didn’t enter my head to find it offensive” to be called “Miss,” saying it was “lovely to hear.”
One critic even called it “straight out of [George] Orwell’s ‘1984,’” adding: “A very good school pity about the virtual signaling Head.”
The overwhelming response, however, was praise.
“What a very rare thing – a good idea in education, picked up by the press and almost universally applauded on Twitter. Well done, Mr. Handscombe,” one PR consultant tweeted the principal, who confirmed that he’s “been very pleased with the response.”