During my sophomore year of high school, in first hour biology, an announcement came through the speakers. The vice principal asked that all students stand up so that the teacher could make sure no one was breaking dress code. So, we all stood up and our teacher inspected each of us and, inevitably, called a few girls out for wearing leggings or a “revealing” shirt.
Not only was this disruptive to the class for the teacher and students, it was also embarrassing for the students who had to leave the class because they were breaking the dress code.
Dress codes are enforced in public and private schools alike. Some reasons they are enforced include making their students seem equal in appearance and to limit “distractions.” The first reason is somewhat understandable, if all students look relatively the same, they are less likely to be picked on for looking different. However, the second reason makes little to no sense and reinforces negative stereotypes and misogynistic ideals.
Because uniforms are generally enforced only in private schools, the cost of tuition can already be difficult to pay for many families. Uniforms can be very expensive, so the added cost can cause a lot of stress. This means that some students wear worn out or hand me down uniforms which still causes them to stand out: even in uniform.
Dress codes in public schools can be harsh, disruptive to students, and get a lot of backlash. I believe this backlash is warranted for many different reasons.
First, these codes are typically targeted at the female population. At my high school, there were rules against wearing leggings, crop tops, spandex, or strapless tops and dresses. Typically, men do not wear these things, although sometimes guys would walk around in their wrestling uniforms on spirit days and never get in trouble.
On multiple occasions during spirit week, guys would walk around wearing just vests with no shirts underneath or a button-up unbuttoned. They never got in trouble even though you could see their wanna-be abs out in broad daylight. But, Heaven forbid, if a girl wore tight pants, she was sent home to change.
There are lots of problems with this, but most of them stem from a sexist viewpoint. The education of the guys is held in higher regard in an effort to “protect” them from being distracted. When a girl is told to leave school to change, the administration is saying that the lack of distraction for her male peers is more important than her education. She is required to take time out of her day and miss class to help the males stay focused.
Another discrepancy in dress codes is that many uniforms for sports couldn’t be worn during the school day. For example, volleyball spandex, tennis or cheer skirts, and wrestling or gymnastics leotards, would all break many dress codes currently in place.
It would be one thing if the rules were enforced equally across the board – they would still be rather ridiculous, but would make a little more sense. But instead, there is a significant double standard with strict disciplinary measures enforced.
Administrations set ridiculous and humiliating rules in place that specifically call out female students. They are intrusive to students educations, and are not enforced to all students. If there are no dress codes, then a significant amount of time can be spent focusing on education, and not what someone is wearing to be comfortable.
Emma Farina
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