Ah, the dress code. I’m sure we’ve all been a victim of the dress code, but are girls more prone to being attacked by the dress code monsters? And it is fair? I mean I’m no fan of seeing a girls butt from under her shorts, but when does the dress code go too far?
Firstly, what is ‘too far?’ I personally think too far is when girls aren’t allowed to show their shoulders or bra strap because it’s ‘too distracting.’ What’s too far is when girls are ‘slut shamed’ because of what the school says is appropriate due to their own personal opinions. Girls are told that they can’t wear clothing that is too tight or too short but guys are allowed to wear tight shirts that cling to their muscles- to class. Even though guys are allowed to wear tight shirts, girls are stopped from wearing tights/leggings because they define our legs too much and are a distraction.
Speaking of distractions, this is one of the main reasons for dress coding girls, being a distraction towards teenage heterosexual boys within the school. I mean, it’s not the girls fault if the guys can’t control their hormones when they see a girl’s skin, or their bra strap. Not only should girls be offended, but boys too. It implies strongly that girls have responsibility for boys' responses and that boys cannot control themselves. Being a high school student, I can confirm that boys don’t need girls help with being distracted in classes.
But, how is this sexualizing girls’? Well for one, the dress code implies that a girls bra straps, legs, or any skin, is sexual, and should not be shown. We all know that girls wear bras, so why is it such a big secret and such a bad thing that our straps might be shown. Telling them at school that that stuff shouldn’t be shown is just going to make it a bigger deal when it is shown. I bet nobody would care about a bra strap or any of that crap if schools didn’t put a spot light on it. Yes boys make sexual or inappropriate jokes about girls, about what they wear, but that’s not the girls fault, she shouldn’t be punished. People need to get a super-firm grip on the fact that girls are not sexual thermostats for their male peers.
What about what is a distraction to girls? What if girls got sexually aroused when we saw a guy in a muscle tank? Would the rules be different, or would they actually be equal? Is what we wear more important than our education? Is taking us out of class –where we are learning- just so we can change our outfit really necessary? And no, by all means, I do not mean that girls should be allowed to just prance around wearing what they want and just call feminism whenever told otherwise, but I think that the dress code should be equal to both sexes and have reasonable rules that are respected and very rational.
