In society today, there are many people today who judge the way that other people look, whether it is because of the way that they dress or the way they look. When I say that people are judged by the way that they look, I am addressing the people who are being judged because they are overweight. It’s really starting to get out of hand the amount of judging that we have in society today because of the way a person dresses or the way that a person looks to other people. The largest majority of body shaming that I have seen happening, both in person and stories that have been posted online that are made viral, have been against girls and what they wear to school. It is really sad the way that society body shames a lot of girls because of what they wear to school or because of how they look. It really shows what a terrible society we are living in today when we have as much body shaming as we do in society today.

I personally have always been on the heavier side since I was about four or five, so I’ve been body shamed by a lot of people around me, especially my peers. I have learned to ignore those around me that tend to make fun of me because of the way that I look. I dress as modestly as I can, and try to keep as much covered as I can. It is sometimes hard with some of the clothes that I wear, but I make due the best that I can to keep what needs to be covered as covered up as possible. I wear a lot of tee shirts and sports shorts because that is what I feel the most comfortable in, and it is what keeps me covered up the most. For a lot of different situations though, and for a lot of different people, sports shorts and tee shirts may not always be a good wardrobe choice. Due to the way some people dress, it may not look as modest on people who may be heavier set as it does on someone who may not be on the heavier side.

A lot of what I read online talks about how there are a lot of girls who end up getting kicked out of class and sent to the office because of what they are wearing to school. Due to the way that a lot of school dress codes are in society today, the student could be wearing an outfit that is modest and appropriate, but would still be considered inappropriate for school. Girls are losing out on their education because of the way that dress codes are enforced in their schools. It really upsets me that in society today, girls are being told that their education isn’t as important as the education of the guys in their classes because their clothes are “too revealing and distract the boys from their learning”. In one situation, a 9 year old girl was sent to In School Suspension because her clothes were too tight for her body type. She was on the heavier side for a girl her age, so her clothes fit a little tight, but it was a modest outfit and didn’t show anything that shouldn’t be showing. She ended up having a different outfit on either later that day or the next day that also was not an appropriate outfit to wear to her school according to teachers and school officials who determine whether a student is wearing an appropriate outfit of not.

Another situation in which I read about where a girl was told that her outfit wasn’t school appropriate, the mom took a second outfit to school for her daughter to change into when the girl was first sent to the office. Both the outfit that the girl wore to school, and the outfit that the girl’s mother had brought in were against the school dress code and got the girl sent home for the rest of the day. The School administration told her mom not to bring her back to school until she had a wardrobe that was up to par to the schools dress code because they don’t want her daughter to be distracting the boys from their class work. The mom had just bought these clothes for her daughter within a few weeks before school had started, and at the time of purchasing the clothes, the clothes were within the bounds of the school dress code. The school had decided at last minute that the clothes that this girl was wearing was against school policy because they would rather teach girls that they need to dress modestly to school so boys don’t get distracted with their studies instead of telling boys that they need to quit objectifying and sexualizing girls because of what they are wearing.

I agree that there are clothes that some girls wear that are distracting to boys in school and should not be worn. Overall though, it seems like the largest majority of the outfits that school administration complains about in most districts are outfits that are modest and appropriate for girls to wear, but because of the way that the outfits fit to the body type of the girl, they find it okay to tell the girls that their education isn’t as important as guys education. They are basically telling these girls that they must wear extremely large clothes that cover almost all of their skin because it is the only way that the guys in their classes will be able to concentrate on their work. They are ripping away these girl’s education by sending them to the office or home to either change or to completely alter their wardrobe because they don’t believe that guys are capable of controlling their minds and eyes to focus on anything other than a female’s body. Though I am heavier set, I personally have never been in a situation in which I was told to go and change because what I was wearing was inappropriate for school. I have had multiple friends who have been sent to go and change their clothes though because their outfits were against school policy according to the school administration. The outfits that these friends were wearing were the exact same types of outfits that other girls in school wore without being told that they had to go and change. I, along with a lot of other girls and parents, feel like it is necessary that school administrators all over the country should stop telling girls that their education is not as important as the education of the boys around them and start telling guys that they need to stop objectifying and sexualizing girls due to what they are wearing. We are living in a society in which a lot of people try to say everyone is equal whether they are male or female, but then we have girls getting a lesser education than guys for having to be pulled out of class to change their clothes. From what I have seen, guys are the ones at blame for a lot of the oversexualizing of women due to their lack of wanting to focus on the right areas of learning in life. They choose to focus more on how a girl looks and whether they think a girl would be good in bed than they are on their education. I believe that the priorities of everyone, school administrators, male students, and female students should all be adjusted in a way in which girls educations are just as important as guy’s education regardless of what they are wearing. If the dress code of the students is such an issue, then the administration should implement school uniforms instead of constantly singling out female students and having them go change instead of sitting in the classroom. There are many alternatives to making sure students all get the same education without having to pull anyone out of class because of what they are wearing. We as a society need to change our outlook on everything around us and truly see everyone as equals.