Dress Code Discrimination

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.

Any girl that has ever attended public school knows about the struggle of a dress code. On those hot days as the school year approaches, girls pour over their closets trying to find an outfit they won’t get called out for or sweat to death in. All their dresses are too revealing, their shorts too short, and their shirts reveal way too much shoulder—or so the schools say. Girls have been attacked time and time again with dress codes. Policies are almost always directed strictly towards girls; some even specify for girls only. These dress codes are not only sexist towards women, but they limit female’s freedom of expression and their choice to feel comfortable, and they do not teach female’s to have self confidence.

America, the “land of the free, and home of the brave.” Unfortunately, this doesn 't mean “land of the free to wear whatever one desires.” In fact, school dress codes are taking away American students’ self expression, infringing on their freedom of speech, and enforcing sexist discrimination all over the country. A recent case, that occurred at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, New York, blatantly displays the negative effects dress codes are having on students, especially females. In the first couple of days of the semester, this high school managed to give 200 detentions to students for violating the dress code. Ironically enough, 90 percent of these students were girls (Swafford). The discouraging part is that schools are easily able to get away with this kind of discrimination. This is made possible by state laws that give school boards the power to enforce whatever dress codes they think are necessary to promote a distraction free learning environment, maintain discipline, and to push students to dress similarly in order to create a uniformity in the schools (“School Dress Codes”). The purpose of dress codes may be to create a distraction free learning environment; in reality, however, they produce an environment where students feel discriminated against and aren 't free to express themselves.

First and foremost why schools should have a no-strict dress code is because it brings girls self-esteem down. When girls get dress coded they might feel: sad, angry, annoyed and upset. And especially body shamed. “As a women, I know almost no women who like their body, who feel good about there body, almost none, but you don’t know how it got there,” Perlman said in an interview. As a result, Dress codes are body shaming girls from when they were in their teens, to adulthood. The average number of girls getting dressed coded has increased by 20% in the past year! That’s crazy! About most of the dress code, girls feel body shamed! One 15-year-old girl said, “I feel bad because it's my body... and there's no reason for the school to be telling me to cover up,” she said. Lastly, if schools had a less strict dress code with the excuse of girls showing too much skin, we would all be more confident with our

School dress codes send a loud and clear message, “Your individuality is inconvenient.” (Rowland 22). The constitution guarantees the right to free speech,which can be interpreted as the right to freedom of self expression, and students use clothing to express themselves. Another message that dress codes send is that “the self identity that you want to express does not belong here.” Self expression is not an inconvenience or a distraction, it is the lifeblood of our nation. (Rowland 22). Schools tell students that they should be confident in themselves, but how can they if they cannot express themselves? School dress codes now are more about shielding the boys then protecting the girls which implies that boys are immature. Calling a girl’s clothes distracting is implying that she is at fault for any disruptions. “That 's like saying that because a store has a cash register, it 's the store 's fault if it gets robbed!” (Menza 1). Students are going to be distracted anyways. Sexist dress codes are like saying that an article of clothing, or a body part showing on a female will distract male students from learning. Dress codes should be simple for both genders, everyone should wear clothing that covers up the same area. With dress codes, students are forced to dress the same as other students, taking the individuality out of school, but schools try to send the message, you are individual. Figure 1 shows a strict dress codes for both students and

What it boils down to, is the fact that males cannot control themselves. In this article it states that some people believe that girls’ bodies are dangerous, and sexual or physical harassment is inevitable. Girls are the ones that get the most recognition for their attire because of the jewelry, makeup, and hair styles some have, but that does not mean that men are exempt from the school dress code. In some schools, girls are not allowed to wear flip flops, tank tops, yoga pants, or leggings, because they are “too revealing,” but men can wear brightly colored shoes, cutoffs, and any pants of their choosing. Girls have been sent home from their proms because their dress was too sexual or provocative, but men are applauded for how nice they clean up, even though their suit does not match the dress code set in place. Many schools are trying to create a

People many think that guys have just as many rules as us. However, girls have dress codes that are enforced, and guys don't always have that. People are expected to dress the way society thinks we should dress. Those expectations just aren't realistic for 2017. People of any race, gender, or sexuality should be able to express themselves through the way they dress.

In a specific article posted by The Atlantic, a middle school student named Maggie Sunseri realized that her school’s dress code had a major difference for males and females. She mentions, “I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though they also break the rules.” I also agree with her on this. Although I went to a catholic school where we had to wear our school uniforms, I constantly see all over social media how girls are treated differently for breaking the policy. I have seen that girls are sent home for showing their shoulders, collar bones, for wearing their skirts too short, or for even wearing leggings because it is too tight against their skin.

For instance, men can wear V-necks and women can’t. Men can wear cutoff t-shirts and women can’t. Men can wear jeans in their pants and women can’t. My friend was once sent home in high school for wearing a pink spaghetti strap shirt. I’ve also seen many guys wearing ‘wife beaters’ to school and they don’t get sent home even though they are basically the same thing. My cousin was sent to the office in 6th grade for wearing athletic shorts that weren’t past her fingertips. When her mom got to the school she ended up talking to the school board about dress code rules and how they are directed towards females. Boys are allowed to wear shorts that some might call inappropriate, but they don’t get dress coded. Some will say the dress code is somewhat fanatic the way they aim the rules at

Do you ever wonder if your school dress code is fair? What i'm trying to say, is the dress code fair for girls. And do boys really get distracted by girls wearing shorts, leggings and yoga pants. Also, should girls/women be allowed to wear shorts and leggings to school, In the dress code girls can’t express themselves through clothing.

At school guys can get away with wearing too short shorts for guy, yet girls must deal with being dress coded every day. Dress code forbids us from showing are shoulders, bra straps, stomachs, etc. It isn't a girl's fault that we must wear bras, because of this there shouldn't be dress codes against bra straps. I don't believe that there should be anything against girls and how they dress, how we dress. Every single girl knows the struggle of dress code and must try and be in dress code even though it limits how they express themselves in their clothes and sometimes limits comfortability. Dress code is obviously made for girls, you can tell because "Boys shorts are made longer, their tank tops have thicker straps, and they have no bra straps or cleavage to hide." according to https://www.hercampus.com/school/akron/dress-code-sexism, they also state "No one is monitoring the length of any guy’s cargo shorts, but someone is always watching for a dress that comes up a little too short." Which shows favoritism is boys or

One of the ways that dress code is unfair is that teachers and the principles pick on certain girls to dress code. They only dress code girls with a certain body type, which is unfair

Dress code is a big controversy within almost all school districts around the world. There are many different opinions on the topic and how it should be handled, but it is mainly the students who suffer because of these strict, unruly, form of schooling. Girls are mainly the ones who are targeted against being blamed for causing a distraction or being inappropriate. Girls should be able to dress how they wish and not be shamed for it at school. They should not be discriminated against due to their personal clothing choices.

For example, in many schools, girls are not allowed to wear shorts or skirts that do not reach a certain length, tank tops, low-cut blouses, or leggings. In the rulebook, restrictions like these are given the explanation “for modesty purposes”, however, there are no similar restrictions on boys’ attire. Girls’ attire is often chastised for being “inappropriate” or “distracting to the boys”, but the opposite never seems to occur. This is why I believe school dress codes are a biased policy. Enforcement of the school dress code seems to be aimed almost exclusively at girls.

Fashion has gone through many changes over the last 2 centuries. Back then women weren’t able to show most of their bodies and men wore what we now consider formal wear that we only where on special occasions or to a work environment, but nowadays men and women both wear clothing items that in the early 20th century, would have thought to be obscene or just not suited for going out in public. One of these especially is them movement wearing feminist clothing; feminist t-shirts, pussy-cat hats, or men wearing “female” clothing are all examples. Even though we have moved past a time of extreme imbalance of power between men and women and LGBT+ being more expected, people still judge just simply of the clothing people wear.