#105: What NOT to Wear

I keep seeing all of these Facebook posts about empowered young girls who go against the dress code of their schools, get into trouble for it, and then protest it. A lot of these girls contend that they are being “body-shamed,” and that they are “more than a distraction.” They claim they are being forced to miss class to change, so that boys won’t be distracted by them, but instead of teaching girls that they need to hide their sexuality and their bodies, young boys need to be taught that women are not sexual objects. Therefore, these girls believe they should be allowed to dismiss the dress code and wear clothing such as tank tops, spaghetti straps, crop tops, short shorts/skirts, tops in which their bras are showing, etc.

Everyone who knows me even the slightest knows that I’m a feminist. As I believe most people should be, I believe women should be treated in the same way as men. I deplore double standards between male & female genders. I believe women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. I hate that people use terms and phrases, such as “be a man,” “you do x like a girl,” etc, because it implies that women are lesser than men. I absolutely hate when men are not allowed to dress like women without major scrutiny, but women can dress like men all they want without being bothered (for the most part,) because it society STILL thinks it’s a sign of weakness for a man to be even the least bit feminine. But I have to say that, for the most part, I disagree with this recent dress code movement.

In a completely unrelated topic, I believe everyone should be able to run around as they please – whether it’s fully-clothed or naked as a jaybird. We are animals. It’s natural. We shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies, and women are expected to cover much more of their bodies than men are, which are apart of the double standards that I have already mentioned that I hate. But here’s the thing. If a school or a workplace sets a dress code, you are to follow it. That is their school or workplace. They make the rules, not you. They set certain standards for the way they want their school to appear to the public and the higher-ups, and if you don’t meet those requirements, you can either go to another school or simply not go to school.

School dress codes have been in place since schools were started. They set rules & standards for both girls & boys. It’s not about shaming girls’ bodies or oppressing them into missing classes to change clothes. If you come to school with proper clothing in the first place, you won’t miss class. The school sets the dress code, you agree to the dress code when you start school there, and you follow the dress code. It’s not about girls vs. boys. In my high school, whether you were a boy or a girl, you weren’t allowed to wear pants below your hips, show your boxers/bra, wear sleeveless shirts, go without belts, go without your shirts being tucked into your pants, wear shorts/skirts that were shorter than 3 inches above the knee, etc, whether you were a boy or a girl. We even had to wear ID badges around our necks at my high school! (Anyone who doesn’t have to do that should count his/her blessings.) Everyone had to follow these rules. There were rules that were more geared toward girls, and there were rules that were more geared toward boys, but everyone had to abide by all of these rules. They are set to make the school appear professional to onlookers, as well as to ready its students for a professional career someday. Try going into a job interview with a crop top & short shorts, and see if you get the job. On the first day of said job, (which you wouldn’t get anyway, because you showed up to the interview with a crop top & short shorts,) show up in a mini-skirt & spaghetti straps with your bra hanging out, and see how long you last there. I doubt your protests about that workplace’s dress code being in place to shame and oppress women will fly there. Dress codes are in place for a reason. Someone else’s school = that person’s rules.

Now, I totally understand you being annoyed over a Draconian dress code, such as girls not being allowed to pants, or boys having to wear a bow tie. I even understand if you don’t like your school enforcing a school uniform. I still think you should obey the school rules, but if these instances are a problem, I understand if you want to protest this peacefully & respectfully without actually breaking the school rules while they are in place.

I also totally understand if a school has tons of dress code rules set for girls but none or few for boys. I get your point if there are rules set for both boys and girls, but the boys get away with not abiding by the dress code, while the girls are made to miss class over breaking dress code. Again, I hate double standards. Not only should you be upset about this, but you should protest it – not by disobeying the rules yourself, but by bringing this to the higher ups’ attention and demanding that the boys be forced to adhere to the same rules that the girls are forced to follow. So if this is something that is going on at your school, I definitely understand fighting for equality. But if everyone is held accountable for the dress code rules, then I don’t understand the uproar. It seems to me like a lot of children are trying to take a good cause (feminism) and warp it to fit their agenda of defying school rules. And I find it ridiculous. It’s twisting the good cause of feminism into something it’s not, and thus, discrediting it.

Young girls: I can not speak for all schools or for all situations, but more than likely, you are NOT being victimized. Yes, boys need to be taught not to view or treat girls as sexual objects. Yes, you are more than a distraction. Your education matters. You are worth just as much as any boy at your school is worth. But your school dress code is more than likely NOT victimizing you, trying to tell you that your education doesn’t matter as much as that of the boys at your school, nor teaching boys that you are a sexual object. This is not about you; it’s about all students. It’s about all students obeying the rules set for them by the people who own the place where you get your education, as well as teaching you how to dress professionally, as you are expected to do in the real world after high school is over.

PLEASE GET OVER YOURSELF, and leave my great feminism cause alone, since you clearly do not understand it.…………………………And tuck in your shirt.