School Dress Codes In The 60's

“When it came to dressing for high school in the early to mid-1960s, the clean, neatly shorn and well-pressed conformity of the student body, with its tucked-in shirts and shined shoes, was expected”(Spivack). Today the school dress code positively impacts teenagers. Our dress code today allows us to wear what we want, so we can express ourselves through our style. In addition, it allows us to feel more comfortable in schools. Therefore, the school dress code implemented at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School (MASH) is better for teenagers today than it was for them in the 1960s because of stricter dress codes, comfort, and less gender specific clothing. The school dress code today is less strict than it was in the 1960s. Back in the 60s
In the 60s teenagers clothing couldn't reflect their personality, and it was sexist at times. However, today we have metrosexual fashion, which means a heterosexual male has a sense of urban fashion. In 2000s fashion article it said, “The metrosexual male was actually much closer to the stereotypical homosexual male in his preference for shopping for designer clothes, expensive haircuts, and visits to salons for manicures and pedicures”(Cobb et al 1477-1494). In the 60s that was not the norm. Guys at school wore men's clothes because that was the dress code. In the 60s at Timberlane Regional High school they said in their dress code, faces are to be clean-shaven. For girls make-up is to be kept in moderation, (Spivack). Girls and guys today like to show off their personality with makeup or facial hair, but in the 60s the school wanted the teens to be neat and responsible looking. Besides personality, some teens feel uncomfortable in uniforms. At MASH and other public schools we don’t have uniforms. In the 60s they did have uniforms. In the 60s girls wore the same clothes and so did the boys. Today, private schools are usually the ones that enforce uniforms. A lot of the teens don’t like it because when they come to school they don’t want to look the same as others. They want to be comfortable and different. In the article “Pros and Cons of School Uniforms” it states,
In the 60s girls wore mostly dresses and boys wore jeans, but today girls are wearing more jeans and it's allowed in public schools. Midriffs in the 60s were not allowed, today we can wear them they just have to be covered. Broward Senior High's student handbook states that girls bare midriffs are not allowed (Spivack). However, this is different for MASH students, our handbook states that midriffs and underwear must be covered. Today, we don’t mention it for girls or for boys it is more of a general rule for all genders. In the 60s they are just having it as a rule for girls. Furthermore, jeans for boys; in the 60s they had to wear trousers not jeans. Broward Senior High student handbook mentions that boys must wear shirts properly buttoned and long trousers (Spivack). This rule is targeted to the boys and not to the girls. Although, at MASH we don’t specifically target one gender or the other. Besides jeans, in the 60s girls wore dresses; not because they wanted to, but because they had to. The student handbook from Broward Senior High School state that girls are to wear skirts, blouses, or dresses (Spivack). The school doesn’t give them a choice to wear pants or jeans. The school wants them to wear skirts and dresses. This is different today, girls are not told that they have to wear dresses. In MASH’s student handbook it mentioned girls may wear skirts and dresses. In other words, today schools