Sometimes school forgets to think about the feelings of girls when they tell them that they are violating the dress code. The school administers has been rude about the dress code, and how they address the problem. Teachers has called out girls for their clothing, and they were rude instead of being polite by taking the girl aside and quietly talking to her (“Rosalind Classroom Conversation”). I don’t believe that the teachers are realizing they are being rude about telling the girls that they are violating a dress code, but before they say anything they should stop to think about the appropriate way to address the problem.
When the school administrators call out girls for their dress code, the student who is being called out starts to feel uncomfortable in her own skin (Bassett). I previously thought that schools were here to give us a good education, and help us gain confidence in ourselves. I learnt threw out the research, and observing what happens in my school, that they are slowly taking away from people’s individuality, and is making girls feel like their education is less valuable compared to boys when they are sent home for their clothing (Bassett).
In any school there should not have a dress code because It plays a role in sexualzing girls that are too young to be seen in that way (Bassett). Teachers or Other male students should not make a girl feel uncomfortable in her own body just because they think it is sexualizing. Every school should let girls be who they are and express their individuality instead of shaming them (Key). Schools are slowly taking away people’s individuality, but only seems like they are focusing on girls not boys. The way boys and girls get in trouble for violating dress codes is different and girls are disproportionately targeted for disobeying it” (“Rosalind Classroom Conversation”). Rosalind agrees that girls are targeted for dress codes more than boys are. In a girls point of view it seems unfair that boys can wear anything they would like, for example muscle shirts, shirts with alcohol, shirts with naked women on them, but not even get dress coded or a warning (Bassett).
Meanwhile, a student that was a girl gotten dress coded because her collarbone was showing and it was deemed that it was inappropriate, even after her mother brought her a scarf in that covered her collarbone (Alvarez). Another student which was also a girl got dress coded because her skirt was a few centimeters under her finger tip. They had to send her home, she had missed all her classes and what they were teaching that day because of what they thought it was inappropriate (Bassett). Analuiza states that “The only reason 1 go to school is to get my education.
When I get dressed in the morning, my intention is not to provoke or be sexualized. My intention is to feel comfortable in my own skin” (Bassett). As a girl I believe that Analuiza is correct with what she had stated, that girls should be able to feel comfortable, and not be sexualized or feel like they are going to provoke men. Currently the way girls dress is a symbol on who they are and how that individual belongs in the community that they live in (“Rosalind Classroom Conversation”), clothes has always been able to send a message, but slowly that is being taken away from us slowly.
The way a person is able to express who they are is by the way they dress and they like to show their individuality as well, but with teachers focusing on girls is taking their individuality away from them. All the school violations around the U. S. is because of the school dress code and how much they focus on girls. I don’t believe that the excuse that everyone likes to use is right, they try to use it’s distracting to the boys in the class. The school administrators don’t think of teaching men not to think of girls in that matter, they immediately take action towards the girls. they shouldn’t hold themselves to such a low standard” (Rosalind), but they still do to this day. Some schools take the school dress code a little too seriously, like a high school in Texas did. One day they had suspended more than 150 students because of how much people had violated the dress code. The only thing that boys are dress coded for if it is a rule in the school is for hats, hoodies inside the building, lastly for thier pants to be sagging (Summers). I believe that the younger generation of girls would agree with me about how the dress code was always focused towards girls and it is unfair and way to strict.
Compared to the list of what boys would get dress coded there are a lot more or girls, girls would get dress coded for the dress length, neckline, torso, slits, skirt length, and short length and so on (Summers). Overall, everyone notices throughout the years that there are way fewer options for males to get dress coded then there is for a girl to because of the fewer opportunities (Summers). The assembly that the school presents to the students in the beginning of the school year, shows that they focus on girls because on the slide shows they only show female celebrities, no male.
At the end of the year in on high school, the students realized that the school has digitally altered their photos because the girls were showing too much skin, or because there were too much skin shown on the girl’s body (Summers). Throughout looking into this problem with the school rules, I’ve personally noticed that the dress code is becoming more restrictive towards girls throughout the years. There has been court cases relating to the way girls wear today that has been looked over by the courts because it had no place in the case.
In the Meritor Savings Bank Vs. Vinson case, a girls named Vince that was the age of 36 had pressed charges against one of her supervisors because he was continuously sexually harassing her. The way he was sexual harrassing her was that he was using his position against her to make her have sexual intercourse with him forty times, exposing himself, and he also fondled her. Throughout the case was in the court, the supervisor had used the excuse that her dress was the cause of his actions, but the court had said that her dress has no place in his argument (Lennon).
This has proven that girls clothing should not be blamed for guys getting distracted or thinking of stuff that is sexual. The dress code has no place in an educational place because we should not have to be punished for the way guys think or act. The dress code also takes away our right, which is the freedom of expression (Summers). “The U. S. first Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that compelled conformity to conventional standards of appearance” does not” seem like a justifiable part of the educational process” (“Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms? ). If the U. S. first Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was unnecessary to have a restricted dress code, why do almost all schools in the U. S. have one? Many people have not realized that was that the school dress code is slowly taking away our first amendment. Our first amendment states that everyone has a right to express themselves the way they want to freely (“Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms? “). Girls need to be able to make a statement with their clothing to be who they are and be able to keep their right to express themselves.
The school dress codes and uniforms have no place in an educational places. What teachers are trying to accomplish is to prepare the students for outside of school and work places, but they do not consider that some workplaces does not require a work uniform (Key). Some places that does not require a uniform to work in is Bard (makes medical supplies), saw mills, construction of any kind. The teachers need to stop trying to suppress girls, they need to help them develop their own individuality, and not suppress them to be what they believe they should be (Key).
By enforcing the strict dress codes or uniforms on students does not help their motivation to come to school and do work, it brings the motivation down and less people will continue to stay in school, the dress code has not improved any students academic achievement in school, it is likely that it will bring them down because of the lost interest in school learning (Viaderio). The issues that uniforms and strict uniforms were enforcing is people bullying others because of the kind of clothing they wear, who their family is and if they are poor or rich, But no matter hat any school administrator or community member “does by enforcing uniforms on students has not been effective it hasn’t helped the issues that they were made to stop (Viaderio). Walking through school and just listening to what other students are talking about, and seeing how the school is trying to handle these kinds of situations does not help and most likely never will work. The school is trying to suppress the students that has anger issues or violent behavior by pushing uniforms on them, not knowing it won’t work on the kids it will probably provoke them to become more violent towards the people they want to (Viaderio).
I also agree that the dress code will not “balance the social status that separate students” (Viaderio). The enforced uniforms, and the strict dress code has not worked since the day they had started to enforce it. It has taken a negative turn and making some problems worse in school. I believe that the reason that so many people have dropped out of school these days was because the school made it worse towards the bullier and making the one getting bullied feel to suppressed so they would drop out of class. There is a lot of strict rules in schools, and some unnecessary ones as well.
Majority of the schools around the U. S. has short/skirt length, bare shoulders/midriffs, and illegal content. The rule for shorts and skirt length had referred to how short girls clothing has gotten in the past few years. Some schools has went for the “fingertip” rule or went for an appropriate length (Summers). When school rules say no bare shoulders or midriffs they mean “ Navel-baring, no go any high school survey bans sleeveless shirts all together and no spaghetti straps all together. “(Summers). The rule for illegal, profane, or suggestive content means that any shirt that shows anything under these topics are banned from schools (Summers).
I believe some of those rules are necessary, for example the spaghetti straps for girls. They should not need a rule to that because boys show more skin than girls on their chest and it is hard to find tanktops out there that has the fingertip size for the tanktops. I also believe that the bare shoulders is an unnecessary rule because it gets really hot throughout the summer and girls should not have to try to cover up all their skin just so boys can focus, it’s not a girls fault that the boys can’t mind their business and pay attention to the teacher.
In an independent school district, the rules for men is “no hats, no canes, no athletic shoes, no work boots for prom”(Summers) which is understanding since it is for a formal event. A high school that is in Florida, has focused on prom when they said that there can’t be any kind of dress that represents like a ballerina wears, and side cutouts, or a low cut back (Summers). One very unnecessary rule that a high school that is located at camp point is that they forbid any body drawings with ink or marker.
They should not be allowed to tell anyone what to not put on their body because it is their own body to do what they want with. In a high school in Kennesaw GA, they banned headbands, jumpsuits, and overalls. I don’t really understand the point of banning headbands, because what really could someone do with a headband (Summers)? The one thing no school is able to do or should be able to do is to tell a student they can’t wear a certain clothing that would belong to the other gender. All students have a right to dress towards their gender identity (Summers).
