How School Dress Codes are Detrimental to Girls.
In many American middle and high schools, there are rules on how you must dress. The most known of these are that boys must wear shirts and must not show their underwear, and girls must have shorts or skirts be fingertip length, not show shoulders or bra straps, and not show too much cleavage. The rules vary by school, but most of these rules are geared towards young women. College and real life do not have dress codes. Employers have dress codes so that their employees can convey to customers what the business wants them too, but dress codes in public high schools are sexist and teach young women that their education is less valuable than that of a man’s. Firstly, most school dress codes are aimed at girls. According to the dress code of my alma mater, Lakota West High School, there are twelve items of clothing that are not allowed that are directed towards girls, and only 3 that are specific to boys. There are more that are unisex, but I have singled out the ones that are gender specific. Why are girls the ones who are more restricted by the dress code? Imagine you are a young man getting ready for school in the morning. If your outfit doesn’t have oversized armholes, dog collars/spikes, or drug or alcohol related messages, congratulations! You’re ready for school. Now, if you’re a young woman getting ready for school, your outfit must not show your bra straps, have sleeves that cover your entire shoulder, and not have oversized armholes. Your shorts or skirt cannot be past your fingertips, which for some girls with long arms means wearing jeans even in 90-degree weather. Your jewelry and piercings must not be “potentially harmful” (it is up to the staff to dictate what is and what’s not), and your hair and makeup must not “disrupt” the educational process. (Again, it is the job of the staff to decide what is disruptive, there are no set guidelines.) It’s a lot harder to get ready for school as a girl, which just adds more stress to get ready in the morning, and gives them one other thing to worry about besides schoolwork. The reasoning I’ve often heard behind makeup and not showing shoulders for girls is to not “distract” other students. Since most
Dress codes are not helping schools like they are meant to do; they are actually harming students in the school. Dress codes shame students and make them insecure about their bodies. They also disrupt precious class time that is vital to students. Buying clothes to fit the school dress code is costlier than some families can afford. Not only are dress codes stifling, but they are also unfair toward specific body types and different genders. Dress codes also decrease a student’s ability to be different from all of their peers in the way they dress. Schools should not have dress codes because they are sexist, unfair and disrupt class time.
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.
Majority of the survey takers who answered that were female. Males students can careless on how they look. According to Sunseri “I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though they also break the rules,” She also states that girls aren’t trying to show up in their bathing suits.” That is not our
Dress codes have some kind of restriction on every single item of clothing, among other things, a girl can put on. Shorts and skirts have to be a certain length—normally mid-thigh or knee length. Tops are required to have a certain size strap or sleeve, and bra straps are not allowed to be seen (God forbid a teenage girl wear a bra to school and her strap is visible). No shirts that reveal midriffs are allowed either. Sometimes the amount of how much a girl’s back is showing is restricted, too. Leggings and yoga pants cannot be worn unless the shirt is long enough where the girl’s fingers touch the shirt fabric, and in some schools they are banned completely. One has to control the amount of cleavage visible, which can prove very difficult for any girl, especially those that
Girls face more judgement and criticism in society than guys do. This is where double standards comes to play in society. Double standards is when a gender is seems superior than the other. It is very commonly known that women face harsher criticism that men do but it is very taboo in society when men face it as well. In society, women are constantly told how to dress because if one reveals too much skin they are distracting boys. Based on the article, The Double Standards of Gender in Society, by Dasia Echevarria states, “We see this in schools when a dress code is put in place, yet it only applied to girls.” Dress codes are always enforced in school but they are mainly towards females. The problem with the dress codes is that schools are basically sexualizing all these females at a young age. That is the main problem when it comes to the dress
Dress codes are becoming more and more popular throughout the United States; however, this does not mean all administrators agree with them. In fact, there are educators
The dress code specifically bans tank tops with straps less than one inch thick, anything with visible cleavage or exposing the mid drift, cut-off shorts or shorts and pants with holes, and shorts and skirts shorter than fingertip length. The only rule applying directly to boys is prohibiting the “sagging of shorts or pants.” Not only do these rules single out girls, but “[a]t any time, a staff member or administrator may prohibit a student from wearing certain apparel to school.” Because of this addendum, I have seen girls singled out specifically for their clothing. More than once, I have witnessed administration follow a student through the halls, then wait until class starts
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
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.
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
I missed out on the sole purpose of school, the education. School dress codes are made to keep boys from being “distracted” in class. Boys have very little regulations, whereas girls have tons of regulations. No shoulders showing, no knees showing, no bra straps showing. These are just three of the thousands of dress code regulations made for girls across the country.
In the United States, almost every school has a dress code. That dress code should apply to both males and females, but that’s not always the case. Schools all over the map have been targeting women on the way they dress, and the usual accusation is that it’s “too distracting” for male classmates. Stephanie Dunn from Kentucky is a victim of this accusation. She wore a pair of jeans, a tank-top, and a white cardigan to her high school and got sent home for showing her collarbones. Her mother brought her a scarf to put over her outfit and the principal still deemed it as too inappropriate and too distracting for the male classmates in her classes.
School's rule some clothes as too distracting or inappropriate because they believe some clothing items are too short or goes too low for example. There are only dress codes because they want to "promote a safe, disciplined school environment, prevent interference with schoolwork and discipline, and to encourage uniformity of student dress "according to https:education.findlaw.com. What they don't realize is we don't need rules for that. Dress code at school is a violation of not only American rights but human rights. I believe that everyone has a right to dress how they wish unless if they are in a serious or business matter. There should not be dress codes at school because it violates rights. Dress codes are mainly sexist, and it put stress on teachers. "A dress code is a set of rules, usually written and posted, specifying the required manner of dress at a school, office, club,
The school dress code is one of the most enforced school policies of all time for students of any age and gender. Of course, everyone has an opinion about what clothing is up to par in society; however, according to the school system, middle school and high school girls are all, how the students put it, whorish. Because of this label, there are very specific rules, right down to the T, about what students can and cannot wear while on school grounds.
With that said, it amazed me by how many people that were caught, were usually female students opposed to the males. Many boys could be sagging their pants all day, but if one girl wears a sleeveless shirt then all hell breaks lose. Also, the reasoning that girls must cover up is due to boys being unable to control themselves is complete nonsense. Because of this stupid idea, female students went as far as wearing a scarlet letter A on their outfits to make the statement that they are not a distraction to the male students in their classes. No boy or girl is going to be unable to control their tendencies just by seeing something as simple as someone else's’ shoulder or collarbone.