Dress codes have been a topic of controversy for many years. While many people believe dress codes are put into place to help us, I believe it does the opposite. The student dress code has many effects on students of all ages from their self-esteem to their grades. Although dress code applies to all students it seems to me that it is extremely targeted towards us women.
Throughout all the years I have been in school I have yet to see a male get pulled out of class because of the way he was dressed. Many girls I know, including myself, have been pulled by teachers and administrators for ¨showing too much skin¨ or our shirts not covering our rear. The first time I was dress coded I was 11. I was wearing leggings and a pink T-shirt. I was heading back to class after lunch when suddenly my principal stopped me and pulled me aside. ¨Your shirt isn´t covering your rear” she said, I was 11. ¨Why should I, a child, cover my rear even if I was already wearing pants? ¨ I wondered. I felt sexualized. I was never big on dressing up for school but after this incident it made me insecure and uncomfortable to where I didn´t want too anymore. Another time, one of my friends was dress coded by a male teacher because her skirt was ¨too short¨, yet it was at her knees. She had always loved dressing up but after that incident I noticed she never did it again. I could tell she was uncomfortable; I was too. We have always been told to express ourselves but when we do we get sexualized for it. It is not our fault boys cannot control themselves.
I agree, there is a limit on what we should be able to wear but the dress code nowadays is outrageous. Nowadays, everything listed on these dress codes is all you will be able to find in stores. All you will see are crop tops, tank tops, jeans with holes everywhere, and more. We as students do not purposefully break dress code. but what other choice do we have?
We should not be disrupted from our learning if an inch of our skin is showing or made to feel insecure by older people. We should be comfortable in the place we go to learn. We did not choose to have our bodies it is simply how we were created and for that we should not be sorry.
