When you hear the term "dress code" you automatically think "high school." Yes, this is where the heated dress-code debates begin, but the issue, unfortunately, doesn't end when high school does. Rather, it stems far into the adult workforce.
Personally, I feel that the dress-codes as they currently stand should be abolished. You know why? Because we are human beings and the skin is skin. Why must we wear extremely "conservative" apparel to earn respect and a proper reputation in both the classroom and office? What is everyone so afraid of? What does what I wear have to do with my work ethic, personality, and behavior?
Absolutely nothing.
Yes, I agree that there is a time and place for certain clothes. Obviously, a crop top and bootie shorts are not suitable for an office setting, but I feel that schools and offices have taken it to the extreme. For example, in high schools, girls are being sent home for showing their upper chests, legs, and (gasp) shoulders. In the office, so much as a dress that shows thigh or a feminine figure will make Human Resources go insane.
If the issue is worrying about distracting the males in the building, we have a much bigger issue than clothing.
I understand that dress codes in school are to prepare youth for professionalism in the workforce, but it's getting way out of hand. If a girl wants to wear a tank top and shorts that are mid-thigh, let her! Sometimes she can't control how she looks in certain things due to body type. What is even worse is how these dress-code rules only worsen body image issues in girls as young as 13, as they basically sexualize their bodies which they are already insecure about enough.
Personally, I have been put through the wringer when it comes to dress code, and I'm pretty sure many girls reading this will say "same. "
In high school, I was very self-conscious about my body and what made it worse was how the administrative staff would line up across the lobby of the school like the U.S. Navy and stare down each student as they entered, to the point you could feel their eyes upon you as you tried to make it to the stairwell behind them, praying they would let you walk to class unscathed.
It was almost as if our clothing were dangerous weapons, in their eyes.
So I had been sent home so routinely for my clothing in high school that I would keep a "safety" outfit in my locker. And it wasn't like I was doing this on purpose. I had shot up in height during high school and got a more mature figure, and it was too-soon a time frame for me to buy the complete wardrobe that would've fit my suddenly different figure better. So some clothes were shorter and tighter for a while as I was trying to figure out how to live in this new body. And I honestly didn't think it would cause as much of a hassle as it did.
The administration didn't help by pretty much labeling me as "too sexual" to go to class. They made it seem like my education, as well as that of my fellow female classmates, wasn't as important as my outfit. To many, the material worn is more important than the material learned.
It was almost as if I was being made to feel guilty for just being a grown woman.
By the way, what I find absolutely amusing is that in college there's no dress code, and everyone is actually okay and able to learn. Woooooooowwwwwwww!!
Being told my clothing was too inappropriate basically made me feel like I was being oversexualized. Women are always oversexualized because, unfortunately, this is still a male-dominated world and many men still think they are in control and entitled to women's bodies and physical appearance.
You think high school is bad? Oh just wait until you get your first 9-5 desk job.
Most offices are extremely harsh when it comes to dressing code. Some will even send home their ADULT EMPLOYEES if they "violate" it. And get this, this only happens when a coworker snitches like an immature child to the manager, instead of just minding their own business and concentrating on their job. And then the manager has to call the employee aside, tell them-I to mean her, "many people have deemed your outfit inappropriate because of xyz" and send them home! I'm not kidding! This actually happens! School is one thing but work is another. No adult who pays their bills and has true responsibilities should be treated like a teenager when it comes to clothing. It takes the focus away from what actually matters-the job.
But that's the way it is and I don't see it changing for a long, long, long time.
My body is not sexual.
It is not distracting.
Society has made it such. Clothing only exists to cover what we are not comfortable showing, and it should by no means influence how others perceive us and it certainly shouldn't determine our place in the classroom or the cubicle.
When you oppress how I dress you are oppressing my success.
