School Dress Code Sexism

In today’s society people think it is their place to tell others—especially girls—how to dress. When girls are raped at colleges, or just even in the

School dress codes shame students and teach other children that is okay to judge and harass young women

School Dress Codes School dress codes can sometimes be viewed as sexist or unfair because some believe that they are “only applied to girls” and that the boys do not really have a dress code, and they can wear whatever they want. Also, sometimes really strict dress codes can take away a person’s freedom of speech or their rights. Some tend to believe that school dress codes need to change. School dress codes are to harsh today, and need to be equally enforced on both genders.

Gendered dress codes also lead to the tough subject of ‘rape culture’ and how dress codes are heavily influencing this. Rape culture is the idea of blaming the victim of sexual assault and saying it is their fault because of their actions. In an article the author makes a statement about gendered dress codes, she says, “dress codes deny boys personal responsibility and teach them that their classmates are objects that they are entitled to instead of people they are equal to” (Meehan 1). This quote from the article, “I Can See Your Body”, is explaining how gendered dress codes are teaching males that women are just property and if they do not follow the rules males can do as they please. This also goes with the idea of rape culture in today’s society and treating women as property. In many countries women are considered less equal than men, they are considered as property, but in the US that is not practiced. In the article, “I Can See Your Body”, the author explains how gendered dress codes enforce rape culture by stating, “gendered dress codes and the values they reinforce don’t only hurt girls, but also have a negative impact on boys. By teaching boys that women are distracting sexual objects, that they are not responsible for their reactions around women, we create men who think they are entitled to women’s bodies” (Meehan 1). In this quote she

School dress codes have been around for an long time, but in some places schools have the dress code set in an different way in a lot of places. I'm sure one of the reasons schools have some clothes restricted is because of the clothes some people wear sometimes. Like clothes with rips in the jeans and skirts and shorts that raise above the people's knees. I would then understand why some schools would have put in that rule. Although schools give a dress code with limits and regulations, they just need to be less serious and you should be allowed to wear any non-noticeable.

Dress codes in middle and high schools are a form of discrimination against teenage girls in today’s society. Parents and students all over the country argue that dress codes are directed mainly at girls and are a blatant example of gender inequality. The idea behind the strict enforcement of a dress code is that it will teach self-respect and raise moral standards for the students. However, when the reason for many dress code violations is questioned the rationale is often to prevent distracting the male students. Young women across the country are being shamed and punished for wearing what schools consider immodest and being a distraction to their male peers. This discrimination against female students results in their clothes being strictly regulated and dress coded more often than male students’ clothes are. The enforcement of these discriminatory dress codes has become a form of public humiliation for female students. Theoretically, a dress code makes sense and should be effective. In reality, it does not affect how students dress but causes a distraction and interruption of a girl’s education.

Schools are slowly taking away people 's individuality, but only seems like they are focusing on girls not boys. “ The way boys and girls get in trouble for violating dress codes is different and girls are disproportionately targeted for disobeying it” (“Rosalind Classroom Conversation”). Rosalind agrees that girls are targeted for dress codes more than boys are. In a girls point of view it seems unfair that boys can wear anything they would like, for example muscle shirts, shirts with alcohol, shirts with naked women on them, but not even get dress coded or a warning (Bassett). Meanwhile, a student that was a girl gotten dress coded because her collarbone was showing and it was deemed that it was inappropriate, even after her mother brought her a scarf in that covered her collarbone (Alvarez). Another student which was also a girl got dress coded because her skirt was a few centimeters under her finger tip. They had to send her home, she had missed all her classes and what they were teaching that day because of what they thought it was inappropriate (Bassett). Analuiza states that “ The only reason I go to school is to get my education. When I get dressed in the morning, my intention is not to provoke or be sexualized. My intention is to feel comfortable in my own skin” (Bassett). As a girl I believe that Analuiza is correct with what she had stated, that girls should be able to feel comfortable, and not be sexualized or feel like they are

At a local elementary school, a fifth grade girl is teased by classmates about her clothes being raggedy and not so stylish. Five weeks later, she overdosed on her mother’s pain medication and died at the local hospital. Beside her bed, her mom found a note that said, “I am so tired of people making fun of me and my clothes.”

School dress code, is it fair, is it not? Schools need to cut some slack on dress code. Specifically to loosen dress code at Rocky Mountain Middle school. Some people think it is offending some do not. This is to clear everything up, so here we go.

School dress codes are very sexist and to demonstrate that Lindsay establishes credibility. Not only does Lindsay use credible sources she, herself, is a reliable source. Lindsay has lived through high school with the administration shaming women and promoting rape culture. Rowena is a female writing about how dress codes are sexist towards females. In the article she quotes Laura Bates, The Boston Latin School Change.org petition, Dr. Larry Wilder, Maggie Sunseri, and Liliana Severin. The people she quotes are credible because they all have done extensive research on this topic. One example is Laura Bates, she said, “Often they report hearing phrases like, ‘boys will be boys,’ from teachers…. Girls are receiving very clear messages that male behavior, male entitlement to your body in public space is socially acceptable, but you will be punished,” (Rowena, 3). Lindsay shows Bates’s knowledge on this topic by stating she is a Founder of The Everyday Sexism Project.

The controversy about dress codes asks an important question: are dress codes targeting girls and transgender students? Several sites including:https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/table-talk/what's-fair-and-unfair-about-student-dress-codes, stated that when they spoke to girls they said they feel shamed and judged by dress codes. Are dress codes limiting students creativity. Should these girls really feel harassed men and boys at their school?

Dress codes is a standard of clothing for school, office, club, or restaurant. Schools have dress codes to promote professionalism and a distraction-free learning environment. More standards of dressings are set in place for girls than males. This causes an unequal amount of bias towards women and sexism to occur in the dress code.

Laura Bates wrote a very controversial article on May 22, 2015. Her two page article, “How Dress Codes Shames Girls and Perpetuates Rape Culture,” set a tone that is hard to forget. Laura includes detailed examples that capture her readers attention and open one’s eyes to the harm that public school dress codes are doing, not only to the physical image of a girl, but to the self-esteem of many girls as well. There are many thoughts and emotions that follow this topic, because of the many girls that have been affected personally by dress codes, or rather, dress code violations. In this groundbreaking article, the question of whether or not a school dress code shames girls and perpetuates rape culture is answered.

Since I first started attending school, I have always been apart of public schools. The dress code was always very lenient. I believe if students made appropriate choices they would be able to decide how they want to dress. However, some students have not, which has led to this decision right now. From the article “NYC High School Dress Code Crackdown”, the author states,”While there are parents who are objecting to the crackdown, there are many who agree with the school’s policy. One mother said some girls at the school have dressed too provocatively. “The girls wear these little booty shorts…,” said one mother, 34. “They look like they’re training to work in strip

The students ignored the rule for dress code, because they thought they were being sexist. “ High school boys wearing dresses strike a pose with big smiles on their faces. They know they’re breaking school rules, but they hope their gender-defying outfits will spark change”. A high school boy on a cheerleading team in Ohio was denied lunch in early February for wearing a bow in his hair. Boys at West High School in Columbus, Ohio, then wore bows in their hair to show their solidarity for him”. The students think that the school is telling the students what to wear even though they probably represent as a different gender. The world is changing so the students think that the school policies should too. “ With changing times, students are fighting to express their identity freely. Nineteen percent of the 7,800 students surveyed in middle and high school across the country said they were prevented from wearing clothing deemed, “inappropriate” based on their gender, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2013 National School Climate Survey, Teens are asking their schools to update policies to reflect the changing norms in society”. With the changing world the policies and dress code rules need to be updated to this world society. Girls ignored the rules for the dress code, because it was focusing more on girls and not teaching the boys