Kendall Powell Professor McKinnon WRA 140 8 October, 2015 Style has always been a huge part of life since day one. Every year it is constantly changing, and sometimes even brings back old trends. Fashion is a wonderful way for the world to see what style we are into. However, it seems today that as fashion changes so do the dress code rules in many public schools today. I can recall all four of my high school years being haunted by the ghost called the dress code. It was terribly frustrating for every single girl. I went to a high school in a very small town. My graduating class had one hundred and fifty students in it, and most of them being girls. Throughout all four years at my high school I remember boys coming to school with their pants …show more content…
So who uses the dress codes? Well many public schools today have dress codes enforced. Although many schools have codes, the severity of the code may differ. How does a dress code work then? As I mentioned before a dress code is simply a set of rules about what is “appropriate” attire for school. While I was in high school, every year we would get a new hand out booklet of the rules. The first page was always the dress code, and it broke down one by one of what wouldn’t be tolerated. The rules were usually the same every year. Tank tops had to have straps three fingers wide, shorts and skirts had to be mid-thigh, and no loose or tight fitting clothes. Whenever a girl walked down the hall it seemed that she would get pulled aside and talked to about her outfit. Only a few minutes later to have a boy walk past with a shirt with vulgar language on it. Although the rules were implicated to enforce a strict code it seemed it was only strict to young ladies. It felt like the dress code was written specifically every year to remind us girls that we would be …show more content…
Society cannot blame girls for distracting boys. If society continues to do this then when a girl gets sexually assaulted society will ask, “what was she wearing?”, rather than, “who was it?” I never recall my mother telling me as a young girl that I was responsible for the way a boy looked at me or treated me. Instead, I was taught that we are all responsible for ourselves and our actions. Claiming a girl distracts a boy isn’t go to change anything. Simply having a dress code isn’t going to stop thoughts or actions. A great example of this is in Stephanie Hepburn’s article. She discusses a time in her high school library when she was told by the librarian that she was being inappropriate. “Luckily, I had an understanding that it was perhaps the librarian's mind that was inappropriate, but from that point forward I was cognizant (whether I acted on it or not) that girls are often deemed to be in control of other people's behavior toward them” (Hepburn, How to
Dress codes are essentials for all schools across America. Dress codes will set the tone for students to be safe because they will help reduce violence, increase student safety, and provide a positive learning environment.
The Dress Code is also to help from distractions like weird, strange clothes, it often distracts the students from learning. Not only that, but in High School there is large groups of gangs, and they can’t wear clothing that represents them and wear anything offensive, because then less violence will occur.
First off, they are unequipped to solve problems such as violence in schools. Enforcing a school dress code may slow the occurrence of certain difficulties, such as violence and distraction, and can be vital to the well-being of students for a short time, but it does not tackle the origins of the attitudes that cause these problems. The head of psychological services for the Detroit school system, Mary Louise Starks says, "A dress code is a temporary measure that is limited in scope. Students are committing these crimes because they don 't have a sense of power or self-esteem. They steal from their peers to gain control over another person."(qtd. In Miller 87). The impulse to commit violent crimes is an issue within a student that schools cannot diffuse with rules and regulations. This is also applicable to the pretext that regulations are needed because of distractions caused by a student 's choice in clothing. This reasoning falls most heavily upon female students. For instance, if a female student came to school in shorts that were deemed "too short", she would be sanctioned, because according to some school administrators rational, girl 's bodies are too much of distraction in the classroom. Again, this does not answer the question as to why girl 's bodies are so sexualized, or why the idea that boys cannot control themselves exists, it only provides a quick and
"Why Dress Codes and Why Now?" Clearinghouse on Educational Policy and Management. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
"Why Dress Codes and Why Now?" Clearinghouse on Educational Policy and Management. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
According to greatschools.org, “Enforcing a strict dress code can place the focus of school on clothing and rules, rather than on education.” Most schools have specific uniforms that a child must wear in order to attend. Many children that go to school, have single parents and / or more than one ...
The belief that public schools should enforce strict dress codes has been the topic of many controversial and heated debates throughout history. Although it is uncommon for public schools to require uniforms, every school has some type of dress code. Elizabeth Forward High School in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, is no different than the rest of the nation. When caught violating the dress code, some teachers will choose to ignore it, whereas others will send the student to the high school office. If sent to the office, students are penalized with a day of in-school suspension instead of being allowed to call for a change of clothes. At first glance, the prohibition of tank tops, jeans with holes above the knee, and shorts and skirts shorter than fingertip length, among many other guidelines, seems reasonable, but after further reconsideration, it is clear that the dress code at Elizabeth Forward High School is ridiculous and hypocritical. I think that Elizabeth Forward High School should lift the harsh policies because of the temperature fluctuation in the building throughout the school year, recent trends among teens, and the hypocrisy associated with the dress code.
Web. 18 Feb. 2016. In this article, Bates argues that today’s school dress codes are sexist and leave a lasting impression on young girls. Bates explains that there are several cases where girls are being punished for their adolescent bodies being distractions to boys. Also, it can teach a young girl that her body is dangerous and that a young boy automatically has the right to sexually diminish and harass adolescent girls in schools.
In the 2015 article on The Atlantic on The Sexism of School Dress Codes, stating that "Many of these protests have criticized the dress codes as sexist in that they unfairly target girls by body-shaming and blaming them for promoting sexual harassment. Documented cases show female students being chastised by school officials, sent home, or barred from attending events like prom." (Zhou, l.) There are more dress code policies for the females compared to the males. For example, girls should not use backless shirts, no spaghetti tops, no crop-tops that exposes the stomach, no short shorts, no miniskirts, etc. Boys on the other hand have no specific dress code policies. Dress codes may come off as sexist for women and they get insulted by it. An article on the problem with dress code from The Daily Princetonian stating "- women are policed so that they are no longer distracting to men, while men, if policed at all, are never told to change for the benefit of the opposite sex. The most prominent example that comes to mind when thinking of male-specific supplements to dress codes relates to sagging pants, an urban trend where pants are worn low to expose many inches worth of boxers. Efforts to ban these practices have never once mentioned how visible boxers would tortuously distract nearby females. Rather, they focus on visible underwear being inappropriate for a learning or work environment.", based on that article, dress codes seem to be a little too specific on what girls should or should not be allowed to wear, while boys only have a few dress code policies to worry
Parents and their children are constantly arguing about the way students dress in school. This debate has become a national conversation which has been going on for more than a decade. However, there still hasn’t been a final resolution. The questions “Why do I have to wear the uniform today?” or “Can I wear this t-shirt because the color matches with my school t-shirt?” have become part of our everyday lives. Before we go any further, we have to understand the difference between uniforms and dress codes. A uniform is simply a garment worn that is the same in all cases and at all times. Whereas, a dress code is a set of rules regarding the required manner of clothing in a certain context. For instance, a school might not allow students to wear
Applying to the dress code, sexism can be seen commonly in schools due to the excessive amount of females who violate compared to the males. Basic arguments for dress code include eliminating distractions, which include the fantasies of a male student, which also leads into rape culture, defined as a society whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing sexual assault or abuse. Females are punished for a male capability to be distracted, allowing a male to fantasize about a female. Ultimately, this causes increase in rape culture, which has been very prominent in today's
You have to wear certain types of clothes that you may not like, or feel comfortable in. Guys have no problems with dress codes because, they are neer the ones to get in trouble, so the dress code is very unfair. School dress codes do not allow students (mostly girls) to express themselves. Mr. Kurt Gathar’s states “Uniforms eliminate individuality, even though each student is different there are standards.
In the nineteen sixties, the time my Grandma went to school, women had to wear an outfit with a “skirt accompanied by a blouse, and men had to wear khakis and a polo or button-down t-shirt”. Contrary to that, school dress codes today enforce gender-neutral regulations on what to wear. At Sherrard, the handbook requires that students must wear sleeves and that pants/skirts go down to the ends of a person’s fingertips (or mid-thigh). There must also not be any inappropriate or graphic images and words displayed on any article of clothing. Dress codes have become equal for all genders and are less restrictive, which is a change for the better for the education of the youth.
“When you interrupt a girl’s school day to force her to change clothes, or send her home because her shoulders are showing, you are telling her that making sure boys have a ‘distraction free’ learning environment is more important than her education. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys to not view girls as objects” (anonymous internet user). School dress codes have been a hot topic in the news lately. Girls have been sent home for wearing things they thought followed the dress code, but, apparently, their teachers did not. Students at Wisconsin Lutheran High School (WLHS) should be able to wear what they want because all the students should have the right to express themselves, be comfortable in their learning environment,
To place the blame on young women for how they are treated by men due to their dress is completely unfair. A girl could wear an oversized t-shirt and baggy sweatpants and a boy will still be curious about her. The same is true for girls. The idea that it is a girl’s fault if she is commented about or raped for how she is dressed is sickening and completely sexist. Reilly Card and Neil Haran, authors of an article titled “High School Dress Codes: Sexist or Appropriate?”