The dress code is misogynistic

Kendall Inge, News Reporter

The Dress Code in public schools puts restriction on every piece of girls’ clothing.

Shorts, skirts and dresses must be a certain length and cannot be too tight. Tops are required to have a certain strap or sleeve size and bra straps are not meant to be seen. No midriffs or back are allowed to be shown. Some schools ban hair dye, piercings, make up, certain styles of shoes and even forbid collarbones to show. But it goes way deeper than just spaghetti straps. The idea of dress code is simply misogynistic.

When you walk into a clothing store, it is often noticeable the difference between boys’ and girls’ clothing. Girls’ clothing is tighter and shorter. Therefore, at school, girls are being punished for wearing the only clothes marketed to them.

In addition, girls with curvier bodies are more likely to get dress coded than girls who are not. Those with shorter legs are more likely to get away with shorts and skirts than those with long legs. Girls come in all shapes and sizes.

Therefore, some items of clothing look acceptable, according to the dress code, on some bodies that do not on others.

A popular reasoning behind the dress code is the idea that some items of clothing will “distract the boys.” Because a female’s body poses as nothing more than a distraction to her male peers, their education is interrupted to be sent home to change.

This is a horrible message to send to boys and girls, whose ideologies are still developing.

We are taught that female bodies are sexual, that in order for a girl to be respected she must be covered head-to-toe.

Furthermore, it is ingrained into society that “boys will be boys” and cannot control themselves or their urges.

A common thought is that it is the girls’ fault the boy got distracted because she should not be wearing it in the first place. This is rape culture, where the female is always to blame for the injustice that she experiences.

The oversexualization of the female body has been an issue for a very long time. The media portrays women as overtly sexual, and it’s gone so far that a twelve-year-old girl wearing shorts to school is inappropriate.

Girls wearing a tank top is not the problem. The problem is the dress code is misogynistic: it over sexualizes girls who simply want to stay cool during the heat of summer, and it plays into the idea that it is always the girls’ fault for the injustice the faces.

Eradicate the idea that in order to be respected, a female must cover up. Eradicate the oversexualizatzion of the female body. Stop shaming us for our bodies.

Don’t tell the girls to not distract the boys. Tell the boys to not pay attention.