It was pretty astonishing when I wore a tank top and shorts to my college English class and the boys were still able to focus and do their work perfectly fine. I was under the impression that my shoulders and -- dare I say it -- thighs were detrimental to a young man’s education. Had I worn that tank top a year prior, when I was still in high school, I would have been sent out of class to cover up. Arguably, causing more of a disruption to the class than my shoulders would have been. The problem with dress codes is not that without them, kids will be too distracted by skin to learn because, let’s face it, when you force kids to sit in a cold building for eight hours a day doing worksheets and listening to lectures, they are bound the get distracted by anything.
The issue with dress codes is that they teach girls that their bodies are shameful and teach boys that they “just can’t help themselves” when it comes to girls’ bodies. You wouldn’t think that a school would actually have rules sexualizing young girl’s bodies but as a girl who went through the school system, I have been told by teachers to “cover up” since I was 10 years old. Even my eight-year-old sister was not allowed to wear a floor length, spaghetti strap dress to her elementary school because her shoulders were showing. What grown adult teacher is looking at my eight-year old-sister’s shoulders and deeming them “inappropriate?” Who is really sexualizing young girls in school? As a girl that has been through public school, I know all too well the humiliation of being told you need to leave class to cover yourself. You go from feeling super confident in your outfit, to feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Sending a girl out of class because she is “distracting to a boy,” is basically sending the message that his education is valued over hers.
There is the argument that “rules are rules and the school has the right to enforce them.” The problem I have with this is when rules are only enforced on a specific group of students, in this case, girls. Sure, we had a dress code in the student handbook that included girls and boys but then we had boys walking around shirtless in gym class, in between classes, and at school sporting events.
On a spirit day, I remember one boy wore very short shorts and a teacher told him “if you were a girl, I would make you change.” I had a choir teacher that called out girls in front of the entire class and made them cry for wearing a tank top, but then boys would get shirtless in his class and he wouldn’t bat an eye. This is what makes the dress codes sexist. This is what needs to change. I remember at football games, boys would show up wearing only speedos to cheer on their team. Yet, there was an article from the World Herald addressed to the Millard girls and their “unacceptable skimpy attire” at football games, aka sports bras and shorts. My school even found a place to put pictures of some of the shirtless boys in the yearbook. These rules are blatantly sexist because they are only enforced when it comes to female students and are aimed to humiliate them.
Probably one of the worst issues with these sexist dress codes is that by calling a girl’s body “distracting,” it is implying that she is responsible for any disruptions. You’d think that if a boy is so distracted by the sight of a girl’s skin, he would need to leave class and probably seek help with the counselor. Instead, girls are blamed and punished because of the effect their bodies and clothing choices could have on other students. Is it the girl’s fault that a boy supposedly can’t control himself? In a school environment, students should be taught about mutual respect for each other, regardless of clothing choices and gender.
Though I’m not in high school anymore, this issue is a very important one to me. I have three younger sisters who are still in school. It breaks my heart that they would be asked to leave class or be humiliated in front of their peers for supposedly being a “distraction” to boys. It disgusts me that an adult teacher can look at my little sister’s skin and decide her legs or shoulders are too sexual to be shown. When we really think about it, what is a bigger distraction: a girl’s outfit or rules that single girls out and make them feel uncomfortable?
