2. define it: dresscode
noun
1. a set of rules, usually written and posted,
specifying the required manner of dress at a
school, office, club, restaurant, etc.
3. where we go wrong
the general principle of a “dress code” is a perfectly
normal and sometime helpful ideal.
HOWEVER
there are many regulations in the average dresscode
that void their use and fairness.
4.
5. but does dresscoding really happen?
● Upon checking in at her Utah high school dance,,
Finlayson was asked by a dance chaperone if she
had a shawl she could use to cover herself. School
officials later explained the dress failed to meet a
dress code rule requiring dresses to have straps at
least two inches across each shoulder.
● “The message is sent to her and other girls in this
community that what they wear affects boys’
thinking, and that they’re somehow responsible if
boys have sexual thoughts about them, and that
boys will think you’re a slut if you wear certain
things,” Kimball said. “There’s a hyper emphasis on
dressing modestly as a girl because you don’t want
to be responsible for what a boy thinks. It’s a
subtler version of victim blaming.”
6. but does dresscoding really happen?
● 16-year-old Florida student Miranda had her own
run-in with school officials on the third day of the
school year for wearing a skirt considered too short.
Miranda was sent to the nurse’s office and ordered
to change into what her mom called a “shame suit”
because of its bright neon yellow color and the
words “dress code violation” stamped on it.
7. but does dresscoding really happen?
● A prom organized for local
homeschooled kids in Richmond, Va.,
took a turn for the weird and creepy
after one of the students was asked to
leave because the chaperoning dads
couldn't stop staring at her
8. to recap
This “distraction” standard for a dress code sets up a model in which the default student
we are concerned about - the student whose learning we want to ensure is protected - is
male.
Certain classes involve activities that necessitate extra clothing coverage —
classes that require experiments involving chemicals that shouldn't come in
direct contact with skin, for example, or a gym class requiring ability to move
easily in clothing. It is however, dubious that a class exists where student safety
is threatened by an exposed bra strap or 30.
