12/12
Ms Purcell
Periods 5/7
School Dress Code and Uniforms
We’ve all seen it, don’t lie. Boys and girls alike, making sexist jokes in the hallway and laughing like it’s funny. See boys objectifying girls, and vice versa, as if it isn’t an action that is humiliating and ridiculous. Young and impressionable, we have been taught from a young age to fight each other and bully each other with a simple saying: “Girls rule, boys drool! Boys rule, girls drool!” Regrettably, the idea is displayed on T-shirts at Target and Justice, and it’s tearing schools apart. This mindset of the superior sex is a horrible misconception of the world, implanted by ignorant adults to make ignorant children. And the most prominent ignorant thing in schools yet: dress code and uniforms. Innocently, people believe it’s an unimpeachable commodity. You’re in the green light if one covers their body up. In a nutshell, school dress code would rather have girls sent home and miss their education rather than boys ogle at girls and miss their education. Despite some people thinking that the dress code and uniforms should still live on as upheld, they should both be rid of because it is sexist, unfair, and objectifying.
To start, sexism is the main factor. Many people have seen boys walk into school with shirts so baggy they could see their entire chests, but if a girl were to do that while wearing a bra, she would get sent home. So what’s up with that? Sexism: the favoring of boys over girls. School
It is of no possible argument that some of the most valuable and lasting ideas of life and the world around us are taught and learned at school. Hard work does you well. Cheaters never prosper. Education is the key to success. Girls bodies are a distraction and objects to be inevitably sexualized and harassed. This may sound over exaggerated, but this is the message beings sent to millions of students near and far by the sexist, self-esteem demolishing, unfocused dress codes in schools today. This said, dress codes in schools create a negative environment, putting the focus on the wrong things and ideas, both promoting rape culture and a strong sense of sexism.
In this article “ do school dress codes unfairly target girls” by Hardesty Greg. Hardesty, Greg. "Do School Dress Codes Unfairly Target Girls?" The Orange County Register. N.p., 01 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017. He says that in schools girls get targeted way more then boys. Yes this is true, schools have more girls get in trouble, it’s hard for girls to find clothes. Boys have long shorts and t-shirts with longer sleeves. Why don’t we have a class to teach boys to not see girls as a sexual object and to only see them for their bodies. Therefore, schools are sexist against girls clothes and the way they dress.
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
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?
Laura Bates, co-founder of The Everyday Sexism Project, says “There’s a real culture being built up through the some of these dress codes where 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” (12). Today in society girls are forced to be a certain shape, dress a certain way, and act a certain way to look presentable to boys and not provoke them. There is so many issues wrong with this idea. Girls are not asking for it like some people think. A girl’s clothes should not define distraction.
Nothing about the dress code in most schools is sexist. Schools simply wants both male and female students to dress modestly and appropriately.” Most of the replies to this quote are not positive and disagree on many
For example, Arkansas public school dress code law, “requires districts to prohibit the wearing of clothing that exposes underwear, buttocks, or the breast of a female student. (The provision prohibiting exposure of the "underwear and buttocks" applies to all students.)” (Zhou). Boys are held to a different standard than most young girls in public school. Girls’ clothing choices are seen as a distraction by schools, and are thus giving the idea that girls’ education is secondary to what they wear. A town in New Jersey launched a movement called #IAmMoreThanADistraction, which is inspired by girls who have been told that they are the sole reason behind dress code. Telling girls at a young age that they are a distraction is only preparing them for a male dominated world. Phrases like this must end for dress codes to be put to rest.
The topic about school dress codes and uniforms has become widespread throughout the United States. Located on the Idaho-Oregon border, this area of focus has become propionate in the small town of Payette, Idaho. There is currently a dress code in place, however, there are some outspoken people stating their concerns regarding the schools success based on what the students are wearing. The concerned community members want to give Payette school district a new appearance and an enhanced reputation. Jokes from surrounding schools come back to the Payette student body saying, “Well, you are from Payette so you better get used to losing” or other comments regarding the school reputation.
Early signs of this treatment begin in schools when they are willing to pull girls out of classes if they are wearing anything that could be perceived as suggestive, inappropriate, or distracting to other classmates, particularly boys (Zhou, 2017). One of the many issues with this is that girls are being taught that they are the issue and less important when instead the boys should be taught how to control themselves in not sexualizing girls (Kasdan, 2017). The average public-school dress code “unfairly targets girls by body-shaming and blaming them for promoting sexual harassment” (Zhou, 2017). Ultimately, young women are continuously being robbed of the respect deserved by every person.
Dress code is teaching girls that’s it’s not okay to wear shorts or tank tops because “boys will be boys” and we need to cover up to create a distraction free learning environment for them. The blame is being forced upon the girls, saying that it is our fault for how boys perceive us. We need to teach male faculty and students to stop over-sexualizing a woman's body. These rules are degrading girls and making them feel bad about their bodies all because a boy can’t control himself in front of us. Why are we teaching boys that it’s okay to blame girls for their lack of self control? Dress code promotes rape culture and sexism, how could anyone think that that is
Gender inequality is always happening in school, work, and society. In school, Teachers are always telling girls how to dress. Instead of teaching boys how to respect all females. Many girls in school are upset according to the 17 year old senior at James River High School in Midlothian, Virginia, the enforcement of dress code at her school is unbalanced and targets the young women more than the young men.
As proof, the dress code at my school, Warren Jr. High School, has a couple of rules for boys, yet many for girls. This entails that girls defy dress codes more often than boys. Dress codes see sexist with more rules for girls than boys, even though they are not meant to be. Moreover, Maggie Sunseri, a student at Woodford County High in Versailles, Kentucky, says “I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though they also break the rules” (TheAtlantic.com). This shows that most dress code violations are from girls with none from boys. These dress codes seem to be sexist in the way that students are “violating” them, depending on their gender. In conclusion, dress codes are very sexist because the rules are mainly pointed toward girls and not
Complaint I: I think we shouldn’t have a dress code at school. I honestly feel that if I’m paying for my clothes, my own self I should be able to wear them. I feel like the majority of the clothes I wear aren’t inappropiate or if they are I don’t try to be , I simply wear them to express myself. I also feel that if they keep the dress code they need to be fair with it and not let some people wear it and some people not.
In my experience at The Pembroke Hill School I have noticed that girls are targeted for violating school dress code policies far more than boys are. Most of the dress code is addressed towards girls, and honestly it is not okay. Obviously there should be a school dress code, but it should be to teach students what they can and cannot wear in public as adults, rather than to body shame them. When the message is saying that exposed shoulders and short
At schools “dress code” is one of the main gender stereotypes, why? Because in private school’s girls have to wear shirts and boys have to wear jeans. In other schools’ girls have to make sure that their shoulders and stomach and legs aren’t showing because they feel that it causes distraction in a classroom. The only thing that boys have to worry about as to pose to dress code is to make sure that their shirts don’t have any drugs, or sexual things on them and that the colors they wear aren’t gang relate. Dress code in school was placed to make sure kids don’t feel left out and make school a lot safer, but is