On the second-to-last day of my eighth grade year, I decided to do something drastic. Instead of wearing the capris and "fingertip-length" shorts I was always wearing, I decided to try to get away with short-shorts. I felt rebellious and nervous as can be. I figured I would be able to get away with it because the school year was almost over, and the next day we would be going to a waterpark where I would be wearing a bikini, which was a lot more revealing than my shorts.
I made it through most of the day without being yelled at. I was so proud of myself that I had gotten away with cheating the dress code. My first attempt at breaking the rules was going smoothly, and we only had the school dance left. When I got to the dance, which was taking place over the last three hours of our school day, I knew I was in the clear. I figured if someone was going to tell me to change, they would've by that point. But when I walked into the dance, my English teacher spotted my from across the room, approached me and forced my to show her that my shorts were, in fact, not fingertip-length, and I was walked back to the school from the gym to change.
That was five years ago, and as far as I know, high school and middle school dress codes still haven't changed. Girls are stilled forced to stand with their hands at their sides to test whether or not their shorts are appropriate for school. Even on the hottest of days girls are forced to abide by these rules all while the boys are never forced to show that their clothing is appropriate.
Not only is this practice humiliating, it doesn't make sense to me. I, myself have longer arms. The shorts that I would have to wear to school were always down to my knees because everything else would have been considered inappropriate. But when I would look for these appropriate-length shorts, I struggled to find anything that was cute and in my size.
Most women's and girl's shorts that are being sold today do not pass the fingertip test, yet every single pair of men's and boy's shorts would not be questioned at all. What are women and girls supposed to do when they are only being sold these short-shorts, and yet our schools don't allow anyone to show a little bit of leg.
The schools always say that the short-shorts and the tank-tops are "distracting" and that the dress codes are also placed on the boys at school, but that's just so they don't sound sexist. My school brought a speaker in when I was in middle school who told the entire school that girls needed to cover their shoulders so they wouldn't distract guys because they looked too much like breasts.
But doesn't anyone in the school systems see the problem with this logic? Why are these people creating excuses for the boys and forcing the girls to take on this problem?
In all honesty, I didn't see the issue until I had left high school and started college. It was when the dress code was lifted and I was able to wear whatever I wanted to class that I realized that it was degrading that in high school, I, and all the other girls, were forced to change our clothing habits just to avoid getting into trouble and being sent home. We were the place of blame for any "distractions" that our natural bodies caused the boys at school. Our bodies were thrown into the same category as hats and cell phones, which were also dubbed "distracting" and not allowed in my high school.
But what are girls and women supposed to do when we are sold nothing but small shorts, and then told by our schools that the clothing we wear is distracting and not allowed? There seems to be a very small happy-medium when it comes to this issue. I used to go to school in jeans on the hottest day of the year, and I'd switch into shorts as soon as school was done just to avoid getting in trouble. I would also comb around stores just to find some shorts that would pass in school, often times settling for shorts I really didn't like just so I had something to wear.
What can we do to stop this? Is there a way?
Yes!
What we need to do is to stop telling girls that our bodies are distracting and that we are the cause of boys acting the way they do. If they are able to wear what they want, why shouldn't girls? The issue isn't that girls' bodies are distracting, but the fact that they are sexualized by the media and by society, and boys are brought up to see women as sexual beings and not their equals. We need to teach boys that women are their equals, and their bodies are to be respected and not idolized over.
Our bodies should not be treated as distractions or sexualized objects. It's time that we change how the female body is looked at, and finally, treat them with respect. It's time to stop shaming girls for what they wear. It's time to do away with school dress codes.
