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Arguments for a dress code at schools
Importance of dress code in school
Arguments for a dress code at schools
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Do Strict Dress Codes Lead to Sexual Assault? In Time magazine online, Laura Bates’s article “How School Dress Codes Shame Girls and Perpetuate Rape Culture” talks extensively of first hand experiences with children and dress code violations. She believes that because schools are so strict on dress code for girls especially, there is a message being taught to little boys that when girls are wearing more revealing clothing they are asking to be sexually assaulted. Then this message gets carried with them as they enter college, where a significant proportion of girls report being sexually assaulted. So her main belief is that if dress codes weren’t as regulated based on gender, there would be a decrease in the number of women who are sexually assaulted in college. She thinks that dress codes are inherently sexist, and that girls get in trouble for violating code much more often than boys. Her argument is effective in that it uses many primary source examples of how young girls have been unfairly targeted, but this argument is ineffective because it does not have a way to directly connect the rapes in college to the dress codes that are seen in younger children's education.
Bates establishes her credibility by starting off the article with an introduction which talks about her position at The Everyday Sexism Project.
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The argument starts out as a definition, and doesn’t really move past that. If there were to be more of a proposal suggesting how to change the way dress code works, or to suggest ways to make dress codes more gender- equal, this article would have more purpose. Right now it is just tugging at the heartstrings of parents and some educators without putting ideas for real change into their
The story of Alice Sebold’s memoir begins with her as a freshman at Syracuse University and the scene in which she is brutally raped. Sebold writes in vivid detail on how the rape went throughout the beginning of the chapter. She was walking back to her dormitory through a park during nighttime when she was suddenly assaulted and raped by a black man. After the traumatizing experience, she makes her back to her dorm where she told her friends about the rape. One of her roommate’s black friends gives her a hug in order to apologize on behalf of the black men and to make her not judge them as rapists due to the incident. After meeting with her friends, they take her emergency room. A police officer later tells her that she was “lucky” because a female was also raped at the same place but had been murdered and dismembered instead. Sebold soon officially starts her story after arriving back to her home in Pennsylvania with her mother by writing, “My life was over; my life had just begun” (33), implying that her life has been dramatically altered and wouldn’t be the same again.
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.
Applying to the dress code, sexism can be seen commonly in schools due to the excessive amount of females who violate compared to the males. Basic arguments for dress code include eliminating distractions, which include the fantasies of a male student, which also leads into rape culture, defined as a society whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing sexual assault or abuse. Females are punished for a male capability to be distracted, allowing a male to fantasize about a female. Ultimately, this causes increase in rape culture, which has been very prominent in today's
“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn’t move” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
Bates, Laura. "How School Dress Codes Shame Girls and Perpetuate Rape Culture." Time. Time, 22 May 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. In this article, Bates argues that today’s school dress codes are sexist and leave a lasting impression on young girls. Bates explains that there are several cases where girls are being punished for their adolescent bodies being distractions to boys. Also, it can teach a young girl that her body is dangerous and that a young boy automatically has the right to sexually diminish and harass adolescent girls in schools. This thought process is what causes a stigma later in college, declaring that when someone is sexually assaulted on campus, the person was asking for it. This can be detrimental to a young girl, and can even
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
For example, in many institutions including The College of The Bahamas, there are absurd rules restricting self-expression through clothing, mainly for female students. The College of The Bahamas’ rule book states that female students must not wear short pants and are only allowed to wear pants, skirts, or dresses that come beneath their longest finger when placed at their sides. Male students are admonished to wear shirts with appropriate text, text that does not promote a violent lifestyle. Despite these rules being set for both sexes, in reality only female students are penalized. An observation has proven that most female students who want to gain access to the library on campus must be properly attired according to the rules, while male students are allowed to wear shirts that contain profanity and even promote a sexually promiscuous lifestyle. In this way, schools and business places also perpetuate rape culture, when they tell female students or employees that they are not allowed to wear a certain length of clothing because they will sexually tempt and provoke their male counterparts. Another way that schools sometimes perpetuate rape culture is by blaming female students for the way that males act.
Both Male and Females have complained that the dress code is “sexist and “biased” toward young women. One teenager said that the school should be an all-boys school. Since the code only applies to women. Another student said that “it was humiliating to be pulled aside like an object” to be told that her outfit is inappropriate.
“What is rape culture” is the question that has been repeatedly asked since its emergence in the 1970s. From our lecture, we have learned that the thing about Rape Culture is that it doesn’t have just one definition, but the simplest way to define it may be to say that rape culture is the society that accepts and even promotes sexual violence in one form or another. This includes, TV shows that make rape look sexy; you know the kind: guy pushes girl down, throws open her blouse, exposing her breasts, and even though she is saying no, everyone watching is saying yes. Rape culture is when a college student goes to their Dean and tells them they have been raped, and the first question the Dean ask is “what were you wearing?” Rape culture is saying “that exam just raped me” instead of “that exam was hard”. Rape culture is the most popular, catchy songs these days have lyrics like “I know you want it”. Rape culture is the party girl image, the “she was asking for it”, the “boys will be boys”, the slut shaming, the victim blaming, and the most concerning, rape culture is denying the fact that sexual assault is a problem in today’s society. One in six women and one in thirty-three men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. In the United States alone, that
“Women and men do not receive an equal education because outside of the classroom women are perceived not as sovereign beings but as prey” (Rich 446). Women already have this preconceived notion that they not only have to compete with men in school but the pressure that society puts on them to compete with other women every day. The body shaming epidemic going on now tells women that if they don’t have the right measurement then you are not considered attractive, it is another example of how women are viewed as a whole instead of as individuals. Adrienne Rich also discusses the obstacle that women face every day, but no one wants to talk about, rape. “How much of my working energy is drained by the subliminal knowledge that as a woman, I test my physical right to exist each time I go out alone?” What Rich is expressing is that women always have the unnecessary burden, of not only being considered the weaker sex in society but also physically being reminded that as women doing something as mundane as walking to your car you have to be conscious of the possibility of being raped. This is affecting women outside of the classroom setting, if women were represented more in mainstream curriculum there would not be such a conception about gender
Parents and their children are constantly arguing about the way students dress in school. This debate has become a national conversation which has been going on for more than a decade. However, there still hasn’t been a final resolution. The questions “Why do I have to wear the uniform today?” or “Can I wear this t-shirt because the color matches with my school t-shirt?” have become part of our everyday lives. Before we go any further, we have to understand the difference between uniforms and dress codes. A uniform is simply a garment worn that is the same in all cases and at all times. Whereas, a dress code is a set of rules regarding the required manner of clothing in a certain context. For instance, a school might not allow students to wear
In the article, “Rape: The All-American Crime,” Susan Griffin writes about rape and how it is a part of our society. One point that I thought was interesting was when the author quoted Professor Menachem Amir, who stated, “Studies indicate that sex offenders do not constitute a unique or psychopathological type; nor are they as a group invariably more disturbed than the control groups to which they are compared” (pg.513). This quote is stating that most rapists do not have psychological problems, they are just normal people. This quote is interesting to me because it shows that most rapists are normal people with normal lives, they were just taught at a young age that rape was okay and men have a right to a woman's body. I
Have you ever thought about the extremities of public school dress codes? The facts and opinions are and can be very preposterous about this topic. The main controversies come from the following points: the sexism of school dress codes, the fact that its hard for teens to express themselves with restrictions on their dress code, or even just the extreme consequences for violation of a school dress code. Personally, I believe that schools should eliminate or lessen rules pertaining to dress code.
We see stories Social media has more stories of girls being sent home because of dress code violations. Maybe the problem isn’t the students, but dress codes in general. Dress codes ultimately disrupt the pursuit of knowledge for the students, encourage gender bias, and can be dangerous. If we want the younger generations to succeed in the education system, we should utilize school uniforms. Uniforms in schools from elementary to high schools, will promote gender equality and facilitate student safety.
To place the blame on young women for how they are treated by men due to their dress is completely unfair. A girl could wear an oversized t-shirt and baggy sweatpants and a boy will still be curious about her. The same is true for girls. The idea that it is a girl’s fault if she is commented about or raped for how she is dressed is sickening and completely sexist. Reilly Card and Neil Haran, authors of an article titled “High School Dress Codes: Sexist or Appropriate?”