Summary Of Shame A Documentary Of Dress Code

Schools have put a new meaning on sexism and double standards. An example of this is having double standards and sexism towards the dress code. Students who have families well known or the student is well liked by the teachers, do not receive the same punishment for breaking the dress code as an ordinary student. This demonstrates that schools are not fair in setting rules for dress codes. Particular students are allowed to wear certain clothing, whereas other students are punished for wearing similar clothing. Schools have double standards as to what is appropriate and what appears to be revealing and how the following student should be punished. Maggie Sunseri produced a video that led to a change in her school's dress code exemplifying why

schools should be equal, unbiased, and unsexist when setting and enforcing the dress codes.
Schools have dress codes that are biased and gender specific towards women. For example, if a male student were to break dress code they would be told to fix the problem; however, a female student would have more serious consequences. Female students would have a call to parents for a change of clothing or would be sent home because administrators find this to be a distraction to the male students. School administrators do not see the effect the unjust, biased school dress codes have on the female students. The dress codes cause students to feel self-conscious, and Maggie Sunseri, a student from Woodford High, has been a victim of dress code violations, has taken action to help students who have been a victim of dress code violations.
One example of students taking action against dress code violations is Maggie Sunseri, a student in a Kentucky high school, who was a victim of dress code violations.

She was sent home for wearing a shirt deemed inappropriate for showing the collarbone. As a response of the unjust punishment of being sent home for violations, but also watching others go through the same experience, Maggie took action. Maggie produced a documentary titled “Shame: A Documentary of Dress Code” which documented many instances of female students being sent home for dress code violations. One example in her documentary is of a female student being sent home from school to change her shirt because it showed the collarbone; however, her mother brought her a scarf for the day, and the school deemed it a violation stating the shirt is distracting the male students. Another student in Maggie’s documentary also expressed the point that it is hard to find clothes that fall into school appropriate because some administrators have different views and you cannot always tell which side of the line you would fall on based on your clothing choice. Maggie’s documentary has caused a movement in other students to stand up and change the views on the sexist, biased dress codes in their schools. The documentary led to the change of the 11 year old dress code for Maggie’s high school ( Alvares). Female students in other states look to this as an example and are trying to make similar changes to their school dress

codes
Many female students have been punished for breaking dress codes, and another example of this is myself.

I was in trouble for breaking dress code because of a pair of jeans I wore. My jeans had a miniscule hole that was barely noticeable; however, a substitute teacher noticed and told me to cover the hole that was in my jeans and told me that if I did not then I would be sent to the office where they would deal with punishing me. I did as I was told, but I felt it was unfair that I was the only one punished for this incident when there were several other violations that other students did not receive punishment for. However, I was not the only one with holes in my jeans a male student had holes in his pants that were large and he did not receive punishment for his clothing choice. The reason being because he was a male student and was also well known by many and they overlooked his violation. There was also a male student who wore an inappropriate shirt to school who was not punished for his clothing choice when I was putting tape over the miniscule sized hole I had in my jeans that the substitute teacher punished me for. This was an unfair enforcement and punishment of dress code violations that should not have occurred. Schools should have the same rules when enforcing dress codes for students to

follow.
Schools should be equal, unbiased, and unsexist when enforcing dress codes as demonstrated by Maggie Sunseri. The dress codes that are in place in schools now are sexist and the punishment for breaking dress code are unfair. Students need to make the administration of their school aware by showing them the documentary that Maggie produced. This may lead them to change the codes such is the case with Maggie. More people need to be aware of the attitude that are being put into female students heads as they are constant victims of dress code violations.