Demanding Dress Code

Katie Colombo

10/17/14

Demanding Dress Codes

Do dress codes undermine girls by telling them what is appropriate to wear to school and what is not? If you attend a public school, there is a high chance what you wear is affected by the dress code. Many teachers and parents agree that a dress code is absolutely necessary, but when does telling students what to wear become too much? More often than not, dress codes are targeted at girls. Whether the end of their shorts don’t reach the length of their fingers or their bra strap is showing; girls are constantly being scolded for dressing inappropriately. Although dress codes should be in mind when going to school, they often belittle a girl’s confidence, cause them to get blamed when they distract other students, and teach them it’s their fault when being harassed.

Girls are constantly told to cover up; that they are distracting male students and teachers by wearing shorts that are “too short” or a shirt thats strap isn’t “two fingers wide”. Many girls feel embarrassed in front of their peers when they get called out for wearing something that is not “school appropriate”. Frankie Linsay, who attends South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, wrote in her blog, “The way that the administration pushed the issue in mass e-mails to their parents and over the loudspeaker during morning announcements made [me] very uncomfortable.” At many schools, the way teachers enforce the dress code is not appropriate. Girls that wear clothes that do not match the dress code are sought out in front of their friends and are many times told to change or go home. For many girls, this can be embarrassing and can demolish their confidence. Girls are already self conscious enough, they don’t need the eyes of all their peers on them while the teacher tells them their clothes are inappropriate.  

When Haven Middle School in Illinois banned leggings and yoga pants, many girls, such as Sophie Hasty, acted out. Holding signs that read, “Are my pants lowering your test score?”, many girls rebelled against this ridiculous ban. Girls are constantly being blamed for distracting male students and teachers during school. In reality, it is not the girl’s fault that a male student can not focus in class. Instead of telling girls they need to cover up, schools should be teaching boys how to control themselves. Many teachers like to claim that the clothing choice of females are causing the learning environment to suffer. But whose education is suffering when girls are being pulled out of class, sent home, and even suspended from school for wearing clothes that do not match the dress code. Ava Emilione said,  “We shouldn’t be responsible for other people’s actions. When the school board is telling a girl that she has to dress a way so she won’t be distracting, that’s telling a girl that she needs to change herself, to make sure she’s not distracting. We are more than distractions to boys and the school environment.” For a lot of girls, the clothes they choose to wear to school are a way of representing who they are. Being asked to change what you wear so you won’t be distracting is like being told to change yourself.

Rape Culture is a serious term that basically describes the likelihood a woman will be blamed for her rape. Is rape okay when the women wear clothes that may be seen as provocative towards men? Does it become the woman’s fault? Of course not. Not only rape, but harassment towards females in general is indirectly being blamed on what girls wear to school. By telling girls they have to wear certain clothes to school so boys will be able to control themselves is like telling girls it is their fault when boys harass them. Corinne Gatson wrote about an experience she had during school while a teacher reminded them to dress appropriately in her blog: Dress Codes for Girls: Are Teachers the New Objectifiers?. “This teacher told us that we had to be more mindful with the way we would sit and that we had to be careful not to move our legs the wrong way because, well, you know, the boys...The boys were predatory, and because of that we were the ones tasked with the responsibility to self-consciously keep ourselves covered and folded up from their prying eyes while they allegedly scanned under the desks for the girl in the skirt with her legs apart.” Instead of teaching girls to cover themselves so boys behave, schools should be teaching boys to control themselves.

Statistics show that although many states do not authorize schools to implement dress codes, many schools do it anyways. Only 18 states out of 52 require schools to have dress codes. However, most schools all over the nation require certain clothing to be worn.. These statistics show that dress code is not always a necessary rule, and often times schools assign a dress code based on their own belief.

There are many solutions that are present today that do little to help the controversy on dress code. Many schools think that sending out an e-mail, making an announcement during school, or singling students out will cause the dress code problem to disappear. However, this is not likely. Instead of telling girls what they can or can’t wear to school, we should be teaching boys how to behave around girls. Yes, I agree some girls wear clothes that shouldn’t even pass as a dish rag, but that’s not always the case. Many times, when a girl is scolded for her choice of clothing, it is so she does not distract the male students and teachers. Girls should not be at fault for another person’s poor behavior. Instead of adding to the dress code, schools should be disciplining boys on their behavior.

              Sources: 

D'anastacio, Cecilia. "Girls Speak Out Against Sexist School Dress Codes." The Nation. StudentNation, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Gatson, Corinne. "Dress Codes for Girls: Are Teachers the New Objectifiers?" Ms Magazine Blog. N.p., 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Carrol, Rory. The Guardian. N.p., 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

"Harvest Preparatory Academy." - Dres"Dress Code of Conduct « Skullastic – SHOP SCHOOL SUPPLIES, T-SHIRTS & COOL STUFF." Skullastic SHOP SCHOOL SUPPLIES TSHIRTS COOL STUFF RSS. N.p., 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.s Code. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

Coleman, Christina. "Tell 'Em! Teenage Girl Tackles High School's Sexist Dress Code Policy (DETAILS)." Global Grind RSS. N.p., 2 June 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.