"Finger tip length"
"Put those away"
"You aren't supposed to wear that."
Sexism is super evident in public school dress codes. Guys and girls are on two completely opposite spectrums in terms of rules. All guys have to worry about is to pull up their pants and making sure their hoods are down. Girls, on the other hand, have a million things to worry about:
-is your skirt finger tip length?
-are you showing cleavage?
-are your straps 3 fingers in width?
-do you have strange coloring in your hair?
The list goes on and on. At my school, in my opinion, the administration does a very poor job of enforcing the dress code. Some girls can "get away" with certain things but other times they cannot and when they do get caught, it is humiliating and embarrassing. I speak from experience. I was dress coded by a teacher this year for having holes in my jeans. HOLES. There were a couple of holes, and I'm getting called out. I was so irritated with this woman, because I am a modestly dressed person and she has the nerve to tell me that I can't wear a pair of jeans to school because they have holes in them while other girls are wearing super short skirts, super tight pants, and super low-cut shirts?
I believe that schools should have a dress code for certain reasons: 1) it encourages girls/guys to dress with dignity and self-respect. 2) it's a school. You want to dress like a professional, ready-to-learn human being. I do believe, however, that the reasoning behind "dress-coding" students, especially girls, needs to be changed.
There are so many rules for girls, some I can agree with, others I find absolutely stupid. Many of the reasons and motivations that go behind making all of these rules are because they don't want to cause guys to have "sexual or impure thoughts" during the school day. Okay administration, let me tell you something: boys will be boys and they will have impure thoughts no matter if all of the girls in the entire school are dressed head-to-toe in a nun uniform. You can't do anything to dictate the way they think, it's just human nature. I bet you already know that, but you want to prevent situations of rape or whatever. So you tell girls to dress a certain way and discipline them for not doing so. How about y'all talk to the boys? They don't teach men how to respect women in school, they don't treat girls how to respect guys in school. If we had a class or an assembly like that, I'm sure views would shift.
I am probably coming off as a super-feminist, but this is how it is in my school, and other schools as well. I find it irritating that these are the motives behind the rules. It sucks.
However, I don't think the rules should be changed. Why? Cause girls shouldn't be flaunting their junk everywhere! It's not that I am not for girls embracing their femininity, I just believe that girls who do that lack self-respect. Girls can totally look cute and adorable in a more modest fashion. Just look at Sadie Robertson! She did Dancing with the Stars, a show that glorifies ditzy costumes and raunchy dancing, gracefully and with the class of an amazing young woman.
I believe that beauty comes from within. You don't have to show off you breasts, butt or other body parts just to feel "beautiful". We live in a society that glorifies the external appearance and girls are under constant pressure from the world to "show their stuff", in a sense. The world says, "If you don't dress promiscuously, then you aren't beautiful."
21st century beauty is WAAAAAAAAAY off from what actual beauty is. Again, our culture glorifies skinny women, girls with large breasts, sex before marriage, big butts, and "who cares what they act like, as long as they are good in bed." I see it in movies all the time. And I am sick and tired of it. Girls deserve better.
Back to my original point, administration needs to treat girls better. I feel that if there was an assembly at the beginning of the school year BY A MATURE, SELF-LOVING GIRL on how to love yourself, to treat yourself with self-respect, then maybe girls might get the picture.
All around the world, there are countries that treat women much, much worse. In India, women are gang raped FOR FUN. Women deal with illiteracy, HIV, AIDS, extreme sexism, low life expectancies, dangerously poor health care, and so many more issues. Read an article here on "The Ten Worst Countries for Women": http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/international/Ten-Worst-Countries-for-Women.html
Because of the HeIsForShe Movement and many other amazing speeches and acts that have been made for women, we are slowly breaking down the walls of gender stereotyping. I personally think the HeIsForShe Movement should come and visit high schools.
I am a proud, independent woman. Throughout my life, I have learned self-respect, kindness, compassion, humility, self-control and much more. I want more girls to learn those lessons. It starts, however, with girls loving themselves and the schools aren't helping with that. Girls should be treated with the respect they deserve. Violating the dress code should be dealt with differently then having girls objectify themselves to a staff member to make sure they aren't breaking any rules.
Now that I've stated my point, I'm going to end with this: girls are people. They are human beings with souls, figuring out who they are. A dress code should be encouraging positive self-growth, not negative. It should encourage girls to treat themselves with love, respect and goodness.
"If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life." -Marcus Garvey
"Put those away"
"You aren't supposed to wear that."
Sexism is super evident in public school dress codes. Guys and girls are on two completely opposite spectrums in terms of rules. All guys have to worry about is to pull up their pants and making sure their hoods are down. Girls, on the other hand, have a million things to worry about:
-is your skirt finger tip length?
-are you showing cleavage?
-are your straps 3 fingers in width?
-do you have strange coloring in your hair?
The list goes on and on. At my school, in my opinion, the administration does a very poor job of enforcing the dress code. Some girls can "get away" with certain things but other times they cannot and when they do get caught, it is humiliating and embarrassing. I speak from experience. I was dress coded by a teacher this year for having holes in my jeans. HOLES. There were a couple of holes, and I'm getting called out. I was so irritated with this woman, because I am a modestly dressed person and she has the nerve to tell me that I can't wear a pair of jeans to school because they have holes in them while other girls are wearing super short skirts, super tight pants, and super low-cut shirts?
I believe that schools should have a dress code for certain reasons: 1) it encourages girls/guys to dress with dignity and self-respect. 2) it's a school. You want to dress like a professional, ready-to-learn human being. I do believe, however, that the reasoning behind "dress-coding" students, especially girls, needs to be changed.
There are so many rules for girls, some I can agree with, others I find absolutely stupid. Many of the reasons and motivations that go behind making all of these rules are because they don't want to cause guys to have "sexual or impure thoughts" during the school day. Okay administration, let me tell you something: boys will be boys and they will have impure thoughts no matter if all of the girls in the entire school are dressed head-to-toe in a nun uniform. You can't do anything to dictate the way they think, it's just human nature. I bet you already know that, but you want to prevent situations of rape or whatever. So you tell girls to dress a certain way and discipline them for not doing so. How about y'all talk to the boys? They don't teach men how to respect women in school, they don't treat girls how to respect guys in school. If we had a class or an assembly like that, I'm sure views would shift.
I am probably coming off as a super-feminist, but this is how it is in my school, and other schools as well. I find it irritating that these are the motives behind the rules. It sucks.
However, I don't think the rules should be changed. Why? Cause girls shouldn't be flaunting their junk everywhere! It's not that I am not for girls embracing their femininity, I just believe that girls who do that lack self-respect. Girls can totally look cute and adorable in a more modest fashion. Just look at Sadie Robertson! She did Dancing with the Stars, a show that glorifies ditzy costumes and raunchy dancing, gracefully and with the class of an amazing young woman.
I believe that beauty comes from within. You don't have to show off you breasts, butt or other body parts just to feel "beautiful". We live in a society that glorifies the external appearance and girls are under constant pressure from the world to "show their stuff", in a sense. The world says, "If you don't dress promiscuously, then you aren't beautiful."
21st century beauty is WAAAAAAAAAY off from what actual beauty is. Again, our culture glorifies skinny women, girls with large breasts, sex before marriage, big butts, and "who cares what they act like, as long as they are good in bed." I see it in movies all the time. And I am sick and tired of it. Girls deserve better.
Back to my original point, administration needs to treat girls better. I feel that if there was an assembly at the beginning of the school year BY A MATURE, SELF-LOVING GIRL on how to love yourself, to treat yourself with self-respect, then maybe girls might get the picture.
All around the world, there are countries that treat women much, much worse. In India, women are gang raped FOR FUN. Women deal with illiteracy, HIV, AIDS, extreme sexism, low life expectancies, dangerously poor health care, and so many more issues. Read an article here on "The Ten Worst Countries for Women": http://www.feministezine.com/feminist/international/Ten-Worst-Countries-for-Women.html
Because of the HeIsForShe Movement and many other amazing speeches and acts that have been made for women, we are slowly breaking down the walls of gender stereotyping. I personally think the HeIsForShe Movement should come and visit high schools.
I am a proud, independent woman. Throughout my life, I have learned self-respect, kindness, compassion, humility, self-control and much more. I want more girls to learn those lessons. It starts, however, with girls loving themselves and the schools aren't helping with that. Girls should be treated with the respect they deserve. Violating the dress code should be dealt with differently then having girls objectify themselves to a staff member to make sure they aren't breaking any rules.
Now that I've stated my point, I'm going to end with this: girls are people. They are human beings with souls, figuring out who they are. A dress code should be encouraging positive self-growth, not negative. It should encourage girls to treat themselves with love, respect and goodness.
"If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life." -Marcus Garvey