Sexist Dress Codes (Miss Representation) 1/10/18
This is a problem that cannot go unaddressed. It surrounds us: in and out of the workplace; schools; social events; and so on. Women are constantly subjected to torment over what they wear and how they choose to wear it. As much as some would like to think otherwise, this is even a problem at C.K. McClatchy High School.
I have witnessed/heard about a countless number of dress code violations since I have been here. Out of these, the vast majority of those accused are women. I can't help noticing and being concerned at this-why is this happening?
I took a look in the student handbook, flipping to page 11 where dress code policy was addressed. If you would like to look for yourself but don't want to bother finding your handbook, you can find it here. (On the website version, the first three bullet points discuss "revealing apparel", "length of pants, shorts, and skirts", and "wearing pants, shorts, and skirts below the wasteline"). In the handbook, rule #2 states: "Students can wear tank tops as long as undergarments and/or private areas are not exposed.", rule #3: "Shorts, dresses, and shirts must be a length that ensures undergarments and/or private areas and or midriff are not exposed."
Although the policy, on its face, does not appear to single out women, upon closer examination the practical application and subjective enforcement of the policy penalizes women. Women's clothing, much more so than men's clothing, is designed to be tight, short, and revealing. And women, not men, have to contend with undergarments beneath their shirts. So a top that reveals bra straps on a woman would violate the dress code, while that same top worn by a man would not. It seems silly, if not puritanical, to overreact to a visible bra strap. It seems that the real problem is men oversexualizing women's appearances, not women appearing what may be deemed "inappropriate" by some. The fact that women are blamed for how someone else is reacting is ridiculous. We should expect better behavior from everyone and not punish women for people's overreaction or oversensitivity to appearances.
To make things even more unfair, at football games, guys can take off their shirt and go the whole game shirtless to show support for their teams, but I guarantee you if a woman showed up with just a sports bra on showing her stomach with painted letters on it to support, she would be ridiculed and forced to put on a shirt.
The dress code policy also empowers people to impose their own subjective biases. The dress code policy begins with a bolded message, claiming: "The list of dress code violations is not limited to those in this handbook. The administration reserves the right to address dress code issues on an individual basis. If apparel is deemed inappropriate, the student will be asked to change or be sent home." This is touchy in the sense that there is no clear rule stated. The rule bends to the subjective interpretation of the enforcer. This allows for unfair and uneven enforcement of the policy. That is because women have less clear guidance on how to comply. Women's clothing is more diverse and varied than men's clothing. And women often face social pressure to dress a certain way, not to mention the overall cultural pressure in our society. This puts women at great risk of being dress coded.
Perhaps the worse part about these dress code rules is that what someone is wearing is of higher importance than their education. It seems impossible to wear something so distracting that you're taken out of class and not let back in until you fix it. But if it truly is that distracting, I think it would be obvious and everyone would agree that it is a violation. But the school dress code rules are an overreaction, based on hypersensitivity and a sexist, puritanical desire to control the appearance of women.
I think the real problem is not in the dress code, but in the fashion industry. A lot of women's clothing is designed either to sexualize or to hobble (I'm particularly thinking of high heels here) for the benefit of men, while men's clothing tends to be optimized for the benefit of the men wearing it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you discuss the bold message delivered at the beginning of the dress code section of the handbook, you mentioned how personal biases can be brought into the dress code question. This brings up a huge debate over the administration's authority over school rules and policies especially at McClatchy which I have borne witness to. But that discuss does not belong in the comments of this blog. What I think is important is how this 'reserved right" the administration has given itself could play into specifically members of the administrations preconceived biases. Because I have borne witness to certain unjust use of authority by McClatchy administrators via their prejudices and biases, I can only assume they have done the same with the dress code and this "reserved right" allows them to do that. I can just imagine a graphic shirt that might mention a gun in a joke that could be worn by a person that an administrator doesn't like the look of or who "has a track record" and that administrator dress codes said person while that same shirt can be worn by someone the administrator "knows is a good kid" and the administrator disregards the dress code.
ReplyDeleteIt seems unfair to me that girls are expected to wear an undergarment, however if their bra straps are showing it is against dress code. That seems quite contradictory and it can make it more difficult for girls. However, I must agree with Jacob, the way women's fashion is designed it makes the dress codes seem very strict.
ReplyDeleteDress code can be a difficult issue to navigate. On one hand, the fashion industry does design girls' clothes to be more revealing and tight, more sexualized, and in this way you could understand how dress codes would might feel the need to be more strict in order to enforce the idea of professionalism in professional places, not just school.
ReplyDeleteBut sometimes, dress codes penalize what isn't "inappropriate" on the statement that its distracting to male students and male teachers. I'm supporting Zev's idea of dress codes placing appearance at more importance than education; in telling a girl she needs to change her clothes, you might as well be telling her that her education is less important than her male classmate, that she needs to stop getting in his way, that he is more entitled to this education than she, and this is unacceptable. While people often blame dress codes, sometimes rightfully, I think it ultimately boils down to media and our culture of treating women as sexual objects.
The dress code rules can be very controversial. When I was younger I was dress coded many times because my shorts were not passed my finger tips. This was very frustrating because it meant that I had to wear shorts down to my knees, which were very uncomfortable. When I asked my 6th grade teacher why the dress code was this way she actually told me it was so the boys do not get distracted. This was extremely discouraging. It is so sad that girls must sacrafice their time and education because boys may get distracted from what we wear.
ReplyDelete