In today’s society, how we choose to dress tends to say a lot about our character. First impressions are very important, and the way we choose to present ourselves to the world is a key role in that. Dress for success! However, society has become so focused on the way we look, that dress codes are becoming much more ingrained in our culture.
Because of this, it is not surprising that many schools and workplaces have implemented dress codes. You don’t see people walking into a professional business meeting wearing pj’s. But this also delves into a territory that is tricky, and becomes a debate of what is and isn’t appropriate for certain settings, in particular, schools. I would change the pajama argument, because people can and do walk around in pajamas
Middle school is a time in life when pre teens really start to figure out who they are, and what they want to be. I think that their personal fashion sense plays a huge role in that. They are trying to figure out what their unique style is. Yet, in my middle school, we were told that there was a very strict dress code policy. The rules for boys were simple; no showing your underwear, no hats, and no muscle tees. Otherwise there wasn’t much to be said. Girls were a different story. No tank tops with less than 3 fingers worth in width, no leggings as pants, no skirts or pants above the knee, no open toed shoes, no strapless anything, and of course, no hats.
Some might say that there are more rules because girls have more styles of clothing, but it goes deeper than that. The shorts rule did not apply to boys, or if it did, it was never enforced the way it was with girls. The same went for open toed shoes. I once walked into the school wearing a tank top that was 2 and ½ fingers width, and a teacher made me change into my gym shirt.
These dress codes were strict, and was difficult, especially in the summer. Though it wasn’t just a temporary nuisance. The school’s reasoning for such strict dress codes for girls was so as to “not distract the boys”. woah...back it up there. Did they really just say that? (yes that is word for word what they told us)...does this mean that if my shoulder is exposed, I will distract a boy so much that he can’t concentrate on his work? Somehow, I doubt it.
This mindset of men unable to control themselves when a girl exposes certain areas of her body is wildly offensive to everyone. It’s a heteronormative view (a whole other issue in itself), and it tells us that “boys will be boys” and it can lead to more serious things. It promotes dangerous mindsets about how women are viewed as objects to be stared at. It also leads young girls to believe that the way they dress and how they look is more important than their education. And that the views of a male are more important than their own. This ideology is extremely hurtful, and could lead to these men (and women) growing up to believe boys really can’t be held responsible for their actions. These ideas are also insulting to males. Men just can’t control themselves? I don’t think so.
Here in Oak Park, these rules and mindsets came across to me as a young teen as something that was pretty much just really annoying, but what about the schools that ban shorts altogether? And then there’s the fact that this isn’t just an issue for middle schools, but high schools as well. For example, girls at Menihek High School were sent home for visible bra straps. The school rationalized this by saying boys might “take it the wrong way”, bringing us to the big question: what is inappropriate for school, and what is promoting slut shaming and things of the like? I like to think that for boys and girls, no underwear should be showing, and perhaps for middle school at least, no stomach/chest. School dress codes may need to exist, but they shouldn’t be nearly as strict and sexist as they are right now.
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