A government school in Kerala has created a new ‘uniform’ uniform code: instead of gender-assigned uniforms of skirts for girls and pants for boys, everyone will now wear pants. This is being greeted with customary kudos as a move towards gender equality. 

When it comes to gender equality, being ‘the same as men’ is presented as aspirational. This leaves much unquestioned. It glosses over the idea that all men are not the same and several inequalities remain unaddressed in this idea of sameness. It leaves the hierarchy of what is superior unchallenged. Women wearing pants, associated with men, is marked as modern, which means the superiority of masculinity goes unquestioned. Finally, it assumes that the mindsets of those who make rules are automatically progressive, thus preserving their authority.