Fourth period Spanish class usually began the same way every day. I would get to class early because third period was right down the hall, and I would watch the other students file in and take their seats. Our seats were assigned, so I always sat surrounded by some of my brother’s football teammates. Sitting in front of us was a girl with a generally standard daily dress code. When she sat, we could see the delicate lace thong straps peeking above the waist of jeans that, when she stood, left nothing about her body to be imagined. I don’t know if I would have eventually noticed, but I do know that the boys surrounding me noticed, and every day they made me very aware of her undergarments. Of course, when the class began we turned most of our attention to conjugations and vocabulary. No one’s education was harmed because of a peeping thong and skin- tight pants.
Recently, much has been said about dress codes for female students in US public schools. Dress codes for girls vary among schools, but most include regulations on length (shorts and dresses must not be too short) and coverage (shoulder straps should be thick, cleavage hidden, and midriffs covered). Since leggings have become an accepted substitute for actual pants, some schools also have banned leggings as well. Students who violate the dress code are often removed from class until they receive clothes that comply with the rules.
Although boys have to follow a dress code as well and are removed if they fail to comply, female students have greater restrictions on their clothing, and thus the issue has largely become gender-based. People have taken to social media to show how discriminatory and unfair dress codes are to female students. But it seems as if many of the people who are angry at the overly sexualized images of 14- year- old models are the same people who are angry when schools ask their 14- year- old students to be mindful of how they dress.
I have less of a problem with the actual dress codes than I do with the reason many schools give for enforcing them. Immodest clothing is called “distracting” to (male) students. This implies that modesty exists because boys cannot learn if they can see thong straps or cleavage. But people argue that removing female students takes time away from their education in favor or male education. This has been framed as simply one installment in the saga of women’s struggle for greater equality, but it is one that is inherently more complicated than others. It is easy to say equal pay for equal work; but in our society, it is harder to reconcile the dominance of the “male gaze” with the right of a woman to be treated objectively regardless of whether she dresses modestly.
Many private schools have a religious foundation to which modesty is an integral part. Morality, in which modesty is included, is part of the education. Breaking dress code is more about disobedience than distraction. Private schools have a right to dictate these rules, and students have an obligation to follow them or leave. Period.
Public schools are much more concerned with a student’s freedom, identity, and self- expression; and it is in public schools that the framing of the modesty issue becomes problematic. Why should a female student be required to dress modestly? Shouldn’t she be able to express herself as a liberated female of the 21st century? Shouldn’t we work on teaching our sons to stop objectifying women instead of punishing our daughters? Absolutely, but we can’t tell our boys not to objectify women if we tell our girls that their beauty and worth is in their sex appeal. I applaud recent efforts to send positive messages about body image to girls, but these efforts are contradicted much more frequently and consistently. We shouldn’t tell our girls to be modest simply because of how it affects boys. Modesty dress codes should be in place to reinforce to female students that their beauty and worth is not related to how much skin they show or their cup size. At least in schools if nowhere else, girls should be encouraged to express themselves through clothing that reflects who they are becoming as a whole person, not through clothing that accentuates certain parts.
By design, dress is a form of expression that elicits a response. Clothing is no longer simply utilitarian. It is text that makes a statement whether we mean it to or not. A woman who wears a push-up bra paired with a plunging V-neck tee is inviting people to notice her chest first and everything else second. Her emerging breasts become the loudest statement she is making. This is the reason women wear provocative clothing at clubs and bars that are not conducive to spoken conversation. Short, tight, and low speaks for them. It invites attention of a sexual nature although it in no way encourages or excuses assault or harassment. This type of communication is simply not appropriate for school where young men and women are learning how to interact with each other.
But when it comes to the practice of removing students and calling them distractions, schools can find a better way to address the problem. Calling a student a distraction and removing them from the classroom is the distraction. Many students who violate the dress code don’t do so intentionally. They did not wake up in the morning and decide to challenge the patriarchy by violating the dress code. In fact, many of these dress code violations wouldn’t have become nationally recognized issues if the school administrations had reacted differently. In some schools, the students contact their caregivers and then return to class to wait for another set of clothes. Other schools have sweaters and belts that students can wear. Responding appropriately to sensitive issues is imperative if we hope to combat negative societal norms and replace them with self-respect and respect for others.
A woman is not what she wears, but she needs to be cognizant of the message her clothes send.
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