Have you ever had to bring your child extra clothes to school because they violated the dress code? I’m Alexandra Kenealy and I’m a freshman at Shelton High School in Shelton, Connecticut. I understand the struggles of the school dress codes, as they are demeaning to many girls. I am against dress codes being enforced. Dress codes have been around for a long time. The first dress code law was established in 1969 by the U.S. supreme court. Even though people may think dress codes increase focus, they only protect social norms and don’t allow girls to wear what makes them feel comfortable.
People tend to agree that dress codes have become more about judgement than about putting a limit on the distractions caused by revealing attire. “At this point it starts to feel like such ‘codes’ are less about protecting children and more about protecting social norms and hierarchies that refuse to tolerate difference or diversity” (Bates 3). The idea that dress code is meant to halt the distracted nature of males is sexist, when instead we should be teaching males to control their impulses and actions. There is almost no evidence to support that dress codes improve focus among the population of either male or female students. The school dress codes are only mainly enforced on girls, which leads many to believe that there is a large bias
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“I’ve often wondered why girls’ and women’s attire has to be policed instead of boys’ and men’s behavior” (Cole 1). While we are policing what girls are wearing, boys are running free without any negative repercussions for their actions. Instead of restricting the limited options of clothing that girls have, we should instead focus on teaching boys how to behave as more gentlemanly and less like uncontrollable apes. This would in turn allow for women to dress how they see fit instead of the conforming to what society sees as