Now that we are at the end of September, public schools are in full swing. Children all over the United States are attending classes to learn lessons that will hopefully prepare them to eventually enter universities and the workforce, and to become responsible and well-informed citizens. Unfortunately, one of these lessons seems to be that girls’ bodies are tempting by nature, and that, as a result, objectifying and harassing them is predictable, and possibly unavoidable. This perspective comes as a result of dress codes and the ways in which they are enforced.
Dress code policies not only reflect society’s views, but also shape them by holding those subjected to them to a certain standard. The numerous and diverse interactions kids experience shape their views and actions as adults. Most of the interactions we learn from are really observations, whether they are made consciously or not. As is the case with the imposition of these dress codes, policies can determine the observations (or lack thereof) that take place.
Dress codes are not inherently problematic. They can serve as a useful tool for ensuring the environment maintained is suitable for academics, and can help teach kids how to dress for different occasions. However, rather than discussing how both boys and girls can dress in a manner appropriate for school, they often focus on ensuring girls are not dressed too revealingly. As a result, they present a double standard to young students. While many dress codes have recently been altered to forbid leggings and yoga pants, few have done so with basketball shorts, which hardly constitute professional attire.
Enforcing dress codes meant to keep boys from getting distracted, rather than making certain everyone is dressed in a manner appropriate for an academic setting, sends the message that a boy’s education is more important than a girl’s. By placing the emphasis on ensuring an environment free of distraction for boys while making so many girls feel ashamed, administrators communicate that an optimal learning environment is of utmost importance for one gender only.
When it comes to enforcement, girls are punished for the slightest violation of school policy while boys routinely get away with wearing objectively crude clothing. At the Everyday Sexism Project, where people share their experiences regarding gender inequality, over one hundred girls have recounted feeling unfairly targeted. Another school’s staff allegedly lined girls up against a wall as they arrived at their school dance, turning away over two dozen whose dresses reportedly violated their rules.
Such behavior among adults toward girls as young as 12 shames them by communicating that their bodies are dangerous and inviting of unwanted attention. At the same time, it also tells young boys that the way girls dress and behave is responsible for how they react to them. As a senior at Palo Alto High School put it, “The worst part is by calling a girl’s clothing ‘distracting,’ you imply that she is responsible for any disruptions.” In doing so, this rhetoric also conveys the expectation that boys are naturally inclined and predisposed to objectify women, and potentially harass them as a result. In the words of Laura Bates, an advocate for sexual harassment and gender discrimination victims, these codes have started to feel “less about protecting children and more about protecting strict social norms and hierarchies.”
This is very problematic, as slut-shaming and victim-blaming are central elements to the narrative of the sexual violence crisis our country is facing, with the United States having the sixth-highest rate of rape in the world, and one in five women in college in the United States reporting having been sexually assaulted.
It is true people are going to be naturally attracted to each other, and that can distract both sexes from focusing on studies at school, but it is also time to stop shaming girls into covering up to avoid unwanted attention and start holding boys to a higher standard. By focusing on making sure girls’ attire doesn’t distract boys, and enforcing them in a sexist manner, dress codes perpetuate some of the beliefs that are central to the rape culture that exists today.
Alyssa Imam is a Viewpoint writer.
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