Why Do Girls Have Dress Codes

In a world of white male supremacy, girls can’t even feel free to wear the clothes they truly want to wear. Dress codes at Sherwood School District and school districts all over America have unfair restrictions against girls, and are teaching them negative lessons about themselves and their bodies from a very young age. Although there is a point where a piece of clothing just isn’t appropriate to wear out, the fact that thin strapped tank tops and shorter shorts are banned is just as ridiculous as the fact that women in other countries aren’t allowed to drive cars. Katie Sullivan, long time teacher at Laurel Ridge Middle School says that, “I think the dress code’s intentions are noble, however it is a far from perfect policy.” Her words, though rather polite, are true. When a closer inspection of the dress code is made, you can really begin to see how this policy is, “far from perfect.” Only about two restrictions on the official Sherwood School District, “No Bare Zone,” are gender neutral, while there is no specific restrictions toward boys at all. The rest are explicitly targeted toward girls, which is not only unreasonable, but unfair. Though this entire dress code ordeal is rather bothersome in itself, possibly one of the worst parts of it yet is the
excuses made for its blatant sexism. When Anna Brunner, a student who attends Laurel Ridge Middle School, questioned a teacher about the restrictions, she was told that the banned articles of clothing were, “distracting.” With the word, “distracting,” many things are implied, none of them positive.
It implies that the Sherwood School District thinks that boys (the ones most likely to have wandering eyes) have more important educational needs than girls. Even if a teacher doesn’t believe this, they are enforcing it every time they send a girl out to change her, “distracting,” clothing, for they are allowing her to miss precious class time for the sake of some guy who doesn’t possess enough control over his bodily functions to stay focused. It also implies that girls are merely sexual objects to be stared at, and need to be covered up to prevent wandering eyes, rather than teach boys to respect girl’s bodies and
privacy. Overall, although women have achieved major steps in equality over many years, it is still being drilled into young girl’s minds (as young as kindergarten!) that they don’t deserve respect until they cover up, and this must change. So, whenever someone gets dress coded for revealing a bare shoulder or a bra strap, or wearing shorts that show more than the leg beneath your knee, they should not be afraid to ask why, because with that one simple question the world can be one step closer to finding the key to gender equality.