Essay On School Sexism

Learning in a Sexist and Antireligion Setting

School dress codes not only limit students freedom of expression but condemns girl’s bodies as well as ‘’feminine’’ tendencies on boys. A school dress code is a series of rules that school boards create intending to restraint the way students dress. This policy was originally created to make schools a safe learning environment; however, this policy has caused many complications in schools around the world because student’s rights are being taken away. From sexism to religion intolerance, these codes have been doing more damage than good. School dress codes make boys think that they should not have their hair long because it would be too girly for them and young girls feel they are doing

It can affect any gender; however, sexism towards women has been a bigger issue for many years than it has been for men. This kind of intolerance can be found in many aspects of our daily life and for students, it can be found every day when they go to school. Protests organized by students have been taking place in schools where their school dress policy is too strict and sexist towards women. Students in an Art School in North Charleston, SC. protested against their new school dress policy that established that women should not wear any kind of clothing that might cause distraction to male students. They, as many others, have come to realize that these kinds of rules are not helpful but harmful for them. Sadly, not all students are conscious enough of what is happening or have enough support from their family and friends to protest against this rule. In a personal interview October 16, 2015, Stefanie Martinez tells the story of how she was treated in school due to her clothing:

I believe, I was about 12 and I was living in New York City. I was at a conference in the school’s auditorium when a teacher approached to me and said that I had to leave the room because I was wearing a tank top and that was not allowed. So, I left the room to look for a sweater and I got really angry because I was not going to be able to listen to what the speaker was about to say. I did not

Religious students also use their clothing as a symbol of identification. Unfortunately, they have also been targets of school dress codes. Many schools do not allow their students to wear hijabs, khimars, burkas,niqabs, or any other kind of religious clothing a student might want to wear. According to Religious and Cultural Dress at School: A Comparative Perspective, variety of cases regarding discrimination from dressing codes toward students have been reported in recent years and not only in the Unites States but in many other countries. In this electronic article, E. De Waal, R. Mestry, and C. J. Russo make reference to an incident occurred in South Africa where a 13-year-old Muslim female attending a public school was asked to take off her headscarf since it was considered to contravene the school’s code of conduct. Another case occurred when a public school gave a male learner the choice either to shave the beard that he had grown in testimony to the fact that he knew the Koran by heart or to enroll at another school. These incidents are nothing compared to the numerous cases that have not been reported to the press or authorities yet. Dress can be a window into the social world. That is why teenagers should be able to interact with other students at school as who they really are and not be punished for