School dress codes: we’re finished with them, but the reality is that they might’ve been more than just another high school annoyance to be endured, and may continue to affect the way we view ourselves today.
The initial idea of dress codes is innocent enough. The goal of school administrations is to have not only a clean, healthy, and safe environment for learning, but also an “appropriate” one. But the word “appropriate” can be taken in a myriad of ways, and not everyone is going to see eye to eye.
What’s deemed appropriate is delineated in every high school’s student handbook, which is given to students and parents at the beginning of each school year. Although a small portion of the dress code warnings are directed at boys, for things like sagging pants, the truth is that almost all of the violations are aimed at keeping girls covered up. The rules vary from school to school, and so do the methods to enforce them. Some schools break out the measuring tape to determine how far skirts and shorts are above the knee. Other schools use the handy “fingertip rule” in which a pair of shorts or a dress must be longer than your fingertips when your arms hang down at your sides. And some administrations take these rules even farther, to decree that girls’ knees must be covered up as well. All schools seem to agree that spaghetti straps are off limits, and in regards to cleavage there seems to be no hard fast rule, only administrative opinion.
And the go-to defense for these over the top regulations is to avoid “distractions to learning” in the male population of the class. This is not only a jab at young men and their ability to focus when a bare shoulder is nearby, but it over-sexualizes the female body. Teaching girls at such an impressionable age that they must cover up certain parts of their body because they will be perceived sexually, leaves the impression that women, even at the youngest high school ages of fourteen and fifteen, are seen and acknowledged primarily on their sexuality, and not as whole human beings. This body shaming can lead to some serious adolescent girl mind-games that will follow them throughout their lives. Being told to hide under baggier or less “revealing” clothes can exacerbate body insecurity. Being ordered to change for having come to school with ones shoulders exposed teaches girls that sexism is an inherent part of our society that they must accept. And permitting sports uniforms, such as the ones used in volleyball and cheerleading, that are far more revealing than anything in any handbook, teaches girls that it’s okay to be exposed as long they are performing or supporting what is perceived as a “masculine” activity.
This is not to say that dress codes should be completely abolished, but simply amended. The truth is that although some students may push the limits with their clothing choices, most don’t. And some students are being punished to the extreme with suspension and even expulsion for pieces of clothing that we wouldn’t look twice at out in the real world.
Beaconsfield Junior High School students from St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador were issued a new dress code this past school year that has caused a tremendous response amongst students. Included in the code was the banning of bare knees from the classroom, and a warning to girls to keep their clothing choices “appropriate.” In response to these offensive regulations, students posted flyers around the school that read, “I am a 15 year old girl. If you are sexualizing me, YOU are the problem.” The group of students also created a Change.org petition to contest the notion that “appearance is more important than [their] education.”
In May, Lauren Wiggins of Moncton, New Brunswick was called a “sexual distraction” for wearing a floor-length halter-top dress to school. Her exposed shoulders were said to be too much of a distraction in the classroom, and she was issued a detention. Outraged at this punishment, Wiggins wrote a letter to her school’s administration and took her case to the media. She was then suspended for her efforts.
At South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, a student named Frankie Lindsay and a group of her friends created the movement #Iammorethanadistraction to combat the idea that their appearance is more important than their education, and to raise awareness about the feelings that arise in response to being called a “disturbance” and a “distraction.” One member, Ava Emilione, said, “We shouldn’t be responsible for other people’s actions. When the school board is telling a girl that she has to dress a way so she won’t be distracting, that’s telling a girl that she needs to change herself…We are more than distractions to boys and the school environment.”
These are only a few examples of the ways students are fighting back against codes targeted at female students. The attention brought to this issue on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and petitioning websites like Change.org will hopefully get the message through administrator’s heads; Instead of teaching girls to hide behind more conservative clothing choices, we should be creating an environment that fosters body pride. No student should feel that they are a hindrance to another’s learning simply because of their presence in a classroom. Girls should feel empowered inside and outside of their schools, no matter what they’re wearing. By creating a less repressive system of dress protocols, we can begin moving toward a more supportive and progressive societal environment for girls in their everyday lives. The blatant objectification of women’s bodies that is so common in our society can be put to an end, and it starts in our schools.
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