This is an essay I wrote for my Composition class that I think I will start posting more because I always write about things that I believe in.
Dress codes are made to keep students in check by controlling what students, particularly girls, are wearing. Set in place during the Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent School District case in 1969 where students were wearing black armbands to protect the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court ruled that there were to be rules or the option for administrators to make codes for how their students dressed “if there is a legitimate concern that such expression will be disruptive to the learning environment or violate the rights of others” (Findlaw.com).
The main idea of this ruling was to put “limits on ‘gang-related’ clothing, sometimes described as over-sized clothing and other clothing meant to show affiliation with a certain gang or group, such as certain colors, logos, brand names, or arrangement” (Findlaw.com). By applying these rules to students, they are not being able to maintain their rights as individuals and their freedom to wear what they want. People may say that clothing is artificial and unimportant to other events in America, but clothing is an identity for students. By taking away that right, they are taking away their freedom of thought and speech.
Lizzy Martinez, a student at Braden River High School, wore a long sleeve shirt with no bra and was called out of class by the Dean because he felt she was being a distraction to the boys in her school. Martinez was also asked to jump and move around, “so the dean could see the motion in my breasts” (Nittle). She took to Twitter after this event which eventually led to interviews about her experience of what had happened to her. Martinez’s original tweet stated,
“I decided not to wear a bra today and got pulled out of class bc one of my teachers complained that it was a “distraction to boys in my class.” My school basically told me that boys’ education is far more important than mine and I should be ashamed of my body. @Manateeschools :)” (Nittle).
Martinez is not the first and will not be the last girl to have to be told what she should wear and do with her body. Some may argue that dress codes are beneficial for the school environment because they are needed to keep students from having a situation that could lead to “undesirable consequences” (Somers) in schools. An article of 5 benefits of dress codes writes that dress codes are essential to all schools with reasons such as “a dress code promotes a more serious school atmosphere which emphasizes academics and promotes good behavior” and “dress codes in school settings reduce social conflict and peer pressure that may be associated with appearance” (Somers). These reasons are focused around how clothing is the center of how students act around each other but boys are rarely if never dress coded. Rather it focuses on the girl’s clothing for the boy’s education and that they cannot learn as well if they are being distracted by the clothing their female classmate is wearing. Therefore leading tho boys not being held accountable for their actions.
The most common phrase to defend how a boy acts around a girl breaking the dress code is “boys will be boys” which is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “used to indicate that it is not surprising or unusual when men or boys behave in energetic, rough, or improper ways” (Merriam-Webster). Defending the phrase meaning that if a girl dressed in the way she was not allowed to and a boy gave her trouble, it would be the girl’s fault for dressing that way.
Moreover, it is not only clothes that girls are dress coded for, but it can also be related to their religion or their hair that girls are being mistreated with the dress code rules. Muslim girls and African American girls are being told that they cannot wear their headdresses or their natural hair because it is not considered “right.” Linde McAvoy, a Muslim college student, was faced a hard decision between her religion or her education. She was told to take off her hijab unless she provided proof of her religious beliefs which she felt that she should not have to prove her beliefs. McAvoy was expelled and humiliated in front of her peers, she sought out lawyers and they can currently in the process of making her case to have “a full-tuition refund on her behalf and implementation of anti-discrimination training for all the staff and its owner” (Abdelaziz).
Dress codes are not beneficial or helpful to students because if they are sent home to change their outfit for being a distraction, then that student is losing their education. McAvoy and Martinez are merely two examples of girls losing their education either by being expelled or feeling as though you cannot go to school from the humiliation (Nittle). Dress codes should be removed from all school’s rules as they are discriminatory towards girls for distracting boys, giving girls the idea that their male peer’s education is more important than theirs. Education is equal that does not depend on the clothing of students, however, education is being treated as the need for girls to be wearing certain clothing for their education to matter.
Works Cited
Abdelaziz, Rowaida. “Muslim Student Said College Expelled Her For Wearing A Hijab.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 13 Dec. 2018, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/college-hijab-expelled-muslim_n_5c1283d8e4b002a46c152aee. Accessed 5 December 2019.
“Boys will be boys.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc.,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boys%20will%20be%20boys. Accessed 5
December 2019.
Findlaw.com, Writers. “School Dress Codes.” Findlaw, https://education.findlaw.com/student-rights/school-dress-codes.html. Accessed 5 December 2019.
Nittle, Nadra. “Students Are Waging War on Sexist and Racist School Dress Codes – and They’re Winning.” Vox, Vox, 13 Sept. 2018, https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/9/13/17847542/students-waging-war-sexist-racist-school-dress-codes. Accessed 5 December 2019. Somers, Lauren. “5 Benefits of a School Dress Code.” 5 Benefits of a School Dress Code, KosherCasual, https://www.koshercasual.com/5-Benefits-of-a-School-Dress-Code_b.html. Accessed 5 December 2019.
