Lots of people do not like dress codes because some of the things they like to wear have been deemed inappropriate by the dress codes. Now dress codes are being demonized as ‘sexist’ because they treat women’s bodies as sexual objects to be controlled. While I agree that women’s bodies should not be treated as sexual objects that are distracting to men, the dress codes themselves are not sexist. The justifications that have been used for dress codes are sexist. No one should justify a dress code violation with arguments about how women need to keep men’s urges in check. However, you do not get to wear what you want when you want, and dress codes are put in place to maintain a certain image and environment.

Raging against ‘sexist’ dress codes is a part of feminism that is not focused on furthering women’s rights. It focuses on personal entitlement and comfort. Your rights as a woman are not being violated because you cannot wear a certain outfit at school or work. Dress code feminism believes that not doing what you want when you want is a rights violation. What is sexist is declaring that women cannot wear crop tops on their own time because it makes men excited. It is sexist to justify a dress code with men’s urges, but it is not sexist to want people to look a certain way in a certain environment.

Workplaces have an image that they want to project to the world and a dress code is part of that image because it can indicate the type of work being done and the type of worker. Schools have dress codes for both men and women because they want to project an academic image. Jumping to the sexual objectification argument over not being able to wear certain clothes in certain places not only cheapens the argument, but also coopts hard-fought struggles over the sexual objectification of women.

These claims of sexism are really claims of entitlement. Wear that crop top when you are not at school or work because no one is stopping you. I cannot stand dress code feminism because these women have an even more sexist vision of a dress code—women can wear what they want, when they want and men have to follow a dress code. They are creating a ridiculous double standard over an issue that is not a threat to women’s fundamental rights. It’s movements like these that give people more reason to make fun of the feminist movement and make them less likely to support gender equality. More people need to be on board with gender equality, but movements about our right to be comfortable diminish support.