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The importance of dress code in school
The importance of dress code in school
The importance of dress code in school
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In a small town in rural Illinois, a girl mid-way through her junior year of high school arrived to her Advanced Placement Latin class wearing leggings with a petite dress overtop (Dockterman). Leggings were against school dress code at her school, but because of the dress she wore over it, she assumed it would pass dress code requirements, given that she was appropriately covered (Dockterman). This, however, was not the case upon her arrival to her latin class. Her teacher noticed her dress code infraction, and sent her home, in tears, to change (Dockterman). By the time she returned to class, she had missed part of an important review for her AP Latin exam, and was the subject of snide comments from other students in the class (Dockterman). All United States schools have been enforcing dress codes with regulations similar to the one exemplified by the girl from Haven, Illinois. Dress codes such as these have been put in place particularly for female students all around the nation in hopes that girls will gain more self respect and become more modest. However, instead this often this leads to the ridicule of girls and “slut shaming” (Dockterman). The negative aspects and effects of school dress codes are greater and more significant than the positive effects dress codes have on students or a school learning environment.These strict dress codes that are implemented in the majority of today’s public schools and the restrictions they place on female students is unfair. The enforcement of dress codes on female students in United States schools are sexist, degrading, and unnecessary. According to the United States Census Bureau, there are 72.8 million students currently enrolled in United States public high schools (United States Ce... ... middle of paper ... ... really the only requirement of male dress in United States schools. In addition to that, female students are not physically averting their peers eyes towards their bodies. A young girl cannot be held responsible for her peers choosing to be distracted by her clothing choices (Levin). It is each individual student’s responsibility to focus on their school work while in a learning environment (Levin). Girls should not be shamed by schools into covering their bodies, rather, their fellow students should be shamed for not controlling themselves. Sexism in dress codes transfers blame onto female students for sexual discrimination and distraction in the classroom instead of holding individuals of both genders responsible for their education (Dockterman). The choice of a student to deflect their focus from learning to another students dress is solely up to them (Levin).
Young women around the U.S are being made to feel insecure in who they are as almost anything they wear is attacked. My own high school, Granby Memorial High School, just recently rescinded a new rule requiring that girl’s shorts and skirts are six inches from the knee or longer. The rule was rescinded after student protest when “The students were told the clothing was inappropriate for school and distracting to the male students and staff.” This misogynistic idea that a young woman’s education is not as important as a young man’s is disrespectful to young men by claiming they are unable to control themselves, and containing a concealed message that women are under men. As a young woman, seeing all the civil rights movements both in the U.S and in other countries, and being told that I am not as worthy or wanted as a man fills me with a passionate rage. We, as a country, fight for basic rights in other countries even though there are stigmas in the U.S that show women in the workplace as either secretary-like positions or women who have had to take on a “man-like” mindset in order to succeed in business. While some of these rules may be acceptable, short-shorts being banned, for example, the educational system needs to realize that with so many restrictions to dress code it would almost be better to have a uniform of nice pants and a shirt. An extremist might even say that these strict dress codes are leading towards victimization as men are not taught to control themselves so it is up to women to make sure that they are not in the position to be sexually assaulted or raped. Even if you are not an extremist, you can understand that these dress codes must change to be all inclusive. Some of the rules in states like California only allow skirts and dresses for girls when the U.S has stated that schools should be inclusive of all
In Zhou, Li’s article “The Sexism of School Dress Codes,” she explains how the dress codes are diminishing children's self-esteem and, is mostly sexist towards girls as well as the LGBT community. To reach a wide audience including students, parents, and high school administrators, she relies on a wide variety of sources from high school students to highly credited professors. Zhou creates a strong argument against strict dress codes and encourages audience to take a stand against out of date dress codes that schools implement, using the rhetorical tools ethos, pathos, and logos to advance her argument.
Multiple reports are taken from females who experience the shorter end of the stick due to increased fashion interests and sexist mindsets of their school staff. An individual’s choice of dress is a reflection of themselves, a form of identity. Officials conclude that clothing choices increase the risk of bullying. Punishment for those who violate the strictly enforced rules consist of in-school suspension until someone from home can bring replacment clothes, humiliating “shame suits” , or any other creative punishment the school decides such as detention, etc. Shame suits are humiliating outfits that those who broke the rules must wear as a form of punishment, most of the time these consist of extremely unflattering clothes that have written phrases on them indicating that their appearance is due to their violation of the school rules. Punishments indicated place risk on the violators education caused by missed classes. Few in society do approve of the dress code as it controls female students’ modesty, banishes a distraction, and preserves the professional atmosphere inside a school. Issues involving the apparel enforcements include sexism, repressed self- identity, and punishment issues will be discussed within this
Dress codes have become a typical affair for public schools. The weight of this matter only gets heavier with time, as fashion trends evolve with haste. Accordingly, the debate for and against dress codes still stands. This essay will summarize, make an argument, and analyze Krystal Miller 's article "School Dress Codes."
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
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.
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
Us girls feel personally attacked by the dress code policies simply because even if so much as a centimeter of skin from under our jeans, or a portion of my bra strap is showing we get sent to the office and we are given the lecture of needing to keep a better image of ourselves, and being more conservative about our bodies. Well from coming from a girl's perspective, we feel like we have to bow down to the boys just because they think inappropriate thoughts if any part of a girls skin is showing. Well, we have society and adults to thank for this simply because when boys are caught doing something they aren't supposed to do or watch something they are not supposed to be watching, adults simply say, “Oh boys will be boys.”. Now adults have conditioned boys to think that thinking these thoughts is a way of life and that it is okay to think them just because they are boys. God made us girls the way we are for a reason, why are we letting guys discriminate us women in such a way that we basically have to dress like a boy in order to keep them from thinking these sinful
The common arguments for the dress code includes telling girls that they are “distractions”. This only pushes the idea that their comfortability is nothing compared to the possibility of a guy drooling over an exposed shoulder. This also gives the idea that girls have to be the ones to stop boys from making bad choices and within itself promotes victim blaming and rape culture. (Rape culture and victim blaming is what makes it the girl’s fault if she is harassed in any way.) We should not be treating teenaged girls as sexual objects or teaching them that their bodies are supposed to be ashamed of.
The beginnings of any type of dress code come from social structures around the world. Dress codes were very important in distinguishing the different classes of citizens in society. In the past, dress codes have changed and eventually became commonplace in our educational system. Private schools have set rules in place on what students need to wear and some girls’ schools expect their student body to wear uniforms and even went as far as inspecting socks and fingernails each morning before they started their day (Elizabeth Crook, 2004). The Long Beach Unified School District is recognized as the first public school system to implement a dress code in the United States. Many schools followed in their footsteps and the controversy over dress codes and people being ready to conform to these rules had begun.
America’s school systems seem to have many issues concerning students receiving a quality education without distraction. A current debate argues weather a dress code policy is efficient or takes away from student’s expression. Administrators at schools should regulate a dress code policy because the system improves discipline and student’s attention, reduces social conflict and peer pressure related to appearance, and dress code provides a more serious learning environment.
Choosing what to wear for the day. This is what most students are thinking about when they wake up. Students need the latest fashion in order to fit in, but some clothing may not be acceptable to wear in school. School dress codes are denying students their right to dress how they want, but the dress code is important for the students and their learning. Students are beginning to stand up and want to be heard. Some students are taking action and want the dress code to become less strict but some schools are doing the opposite for safety issues and for the students healthy learning environment. Dress codes are important for a strong and healthy learning environment and is also reducing violence in many schools around the country.
Male students, on the other hand, disagree-- only 18% (compared to 67% of women) strongly believe that the dress code should be changed. This data suggests that the female and male perspectives at BHS are very different when it comes to the dress code. This information can be of use because it suggests that, if the administration ever wished to change the dress code, they could ask most female students for suggestions. Female students, after all, are the ones who are most affected by the dress code-- 47% of the girls in our survey group had previously been written up for dress code offenses, while this figure was only 11% for
In a public setting like a high school, how a student or students dress, can have a negative effect on the entire student body, even with a dress code. On
Kathy Modenbach, a teacher in a school where dress codes are strictly enforced, believes that dress codes are a minor issue. She questions, “Kids will always find new ways to express themselves, to stretch the rules. Let’s just focus our energy on teaching them. Isn’t that what it’s all about?” (28).