The Prejudice of Dress Codes

By: Amanda Powers

October 8, 2019

The General Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Section 83 addresses dress codes, saying school officials shall not abridge the rights of students as to personal dress and appearance except if such officials determine that such personal dress and appearance violate reasonable standards of health, safety, and cleanliness. On a much bigger scale, though the First Amendment protects our right to free speech and many people consider their personal style and clothes a message about themselves.

The very purpose of dress codes is to ensure students a safe environment that is conducive to learning. The huge debate over dress codes does not derive from the idea of dress codes themselves, it stems from the prejudice that dress codes often have towards the female students. Simply put; many dress codes are outdated for the current times. According to principal Gina Flanagan, the dress code at East Longmeadow High School in Massachusetts, until recently, had not been updated since the 1990’s. For the students of this school to uphold these outdated regulations is nearly impossible. The fashion industry is constantly changing and evolving meaning that clothes considered proper when the regulations were written are not in stores for students to be able to purchase. One of the most common offenders of outdated rules is the fingertip policy that many schools have implemented. This states that girls must wear skirts or shorts that go past their fingertips. However finding skirts or shorts that work with this policy is an extremely difficult task.

Though the purpose of dress codes is to create a safe learning environment, most commonly they actually do the opposite. The consequence that many women face when dress coded is being sent home or being made to change. This is almost as if the schools are saying that a male students education is more important than a female students. Meaning when she is sent home or made to change, that is time that she is not able to be in class learning because someone assumed that she would distract a male student and affect how well he learns. Shauna Pomerantz of Brock University explains that dress coding students for being distracting is actually a form of victim blaming. It is essentially saying that the male’s response is the woman's fault and that their body is causing negativity. This is both offencive to boys by assuming that they can not control themselves and it can even create many problems for women in the future. Many have said that they are afraid to wear certain clothes for fear of receiving an unfair punishment. This can even stem further problems down the road such as body insecurities that some women battle for years.

In the wise words of Estella Fox a senior at Westside High School, “It’s not our responsibility to make sure boys aren't distracted, they should be taught that women aren't just objects and they have the right to dress how they want.”