Why Women Should Be Banned Persuasive Essay

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.

In our culture, girls become ‘women’ at the average age of 12. Their rite of passage is bloody underwear and feminine products that never seem to fit right. This means, as children, women are given a heavy responsibility: the ability to create human life. While straddling childhood and adulthood, they hopefully learn how powerful that responsibility is and how to protect their bodies from experiencing it too early. Yet, throughout life, girls are sent mixed messages on how to accomplish this. The message sent loud and clear today is that dissenting religious opinion, once again, trumps a female need: no-pay birth control access.

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

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

Are School Dress Codes a Biased Policy? In schools all across the country, dress codes are used to dictate what students can and cannot wear. Some schools, especially private schools, even go as far as to use a school uniform. While school dress codes are meant to promote a focused learning environment, they have a tendency to enforce stricter guidelines on girls than boys.

Shorts, skirts and dresses must be knee length, headbands are not allowed, midriff and back are not to be exposed at any time. Those are just a few examples pulled from Arcadia High School’s dress code section in the student handbook that we are given every year. Many schools have a dress code, some wear uniforms and some allow students to wear virtually anything they want. Arcadia’s dress code has made girls resort to wearing jeans in 95 degree weather, stop attempting to wear tank tops and other articles of clothing that have been written off as forbidden in the hallways and classrooms. Arcadia’s dress code should change to become more lenient because it is too hot in the summer for girls to be wearing jeans, the current dress code infringes

Before arguing, I would like to provide some information about dress codes. Students have been complying to dress codes all of their lives. You can only wear certain clothing to school. Some families require that their children wear specific clothing to church on Sundays. School music programs require students to dress nice for concerts or events. In the past few years some girls have begun to notice unfair rules in dress codes. Li Zhou, an editorial fellow at the Atlantic Newspaper, stated that, “according to the Education Commission of the states, in the U.S., over half of public schools have a dress code, which frequently outline gender specific policies “. Female students feel they are being targeted by dress codes. Many of the school's dress codes do not limit what males wear. They just assume they won't be the problem. There are a few schools that regulate what males wear, but they just focus on the design on the shirt that they are wearing. The dress codes in school are used to limit what students wear in school. Some of them may need to be revised.

An ordinary day in any work place contains people constantly complaining about their jobs and how they remain unappreciated enough by their employers. Some of these workers go about their days, knowing that they continue to be considered worth less than their coworkers, the weight of overtime upon their backs. That alarm clock, ringing obnoxiously every morning, bringing the poor sleeper out of pleasant dreams back into a world that continuously telling them that they will never be enough. Yearning for this misery to end disappear for women forevermore. Hoping for a change to a workplace standard that remains fruitless unless the wage gap is filled.

Dress codes in schools have been implemented for some time now. While dress codes are primarily put in place to secure an effective learning environment, they subject students to many detrimental effects. Noelle Swan stated, “There’s a reason that this conversation is so difficult; it involves issues of self image, freedom of expression, and gender politics all wrapped up in an argument,” (Swan).

“Tallie Doyle was sent to the principals office at her elementary school recently for violating a dress code prohibiting spaghetti-strap tank tops, she and her mother publicly challenged the policy as sexist and silly”(Maclean’s) More than half of public schools enforce a dress code and they all contain an underlying basis of sexism because of the stereotypes lain out by past generations. But the world is becoming more and more open-minded, so why not schools and their dress codes? Dress codes are sexist and should be changed seeing as they target girls with a specific body type, teach boys to objectify women, and the schools in which they are implemented in are reinforcing gender inequality through them.

“Sexism is the foundation on which all tyranny is built. Every social form of hierarchy and abuse is modeled on male-over- female domination”(Dworkin).

Dress codes in schools were originally put into place to prevent students from dressing inappropriate clothes that would distract from their learning, while still allowing students to express themselves freely. However, these days, schools are enforcing dress codes that differ greatly from their original purpose. Schools shouldn’t be able to enforce dress codes because they’re unreasonable, they waste people’s time, and they enforce sexist ideals.

Every school has a dress code in their extensive school handbook. There are mountains upon mountains of dress code lists that go on and on forever, and many people are wondering why. Many schools believe that school dress codes help the environment of the school. That is why there are so many more dress codes pertaining to girls than to boys, just what OCR thinks as well by stating a dress code, “Shorts too short. Shoulder straps on her top too thin. Skirt exposing too much skin above her knees,” (Hardesty). School dress codes are not beneficial for students because they are not able to express their opinions, they are unfair mostly to girls than boys, and they have grown too much over the years.

“Women are not capable of doing everything, they're too weak and powerless”, say many of the present and past men of this world. They say we’re not confident enough, we’re not tough enough, we’re very fragile and they need to “protect” us. I am tired of hearing this same thing over and over again.

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