Should Dress Codes Be Allowed In Schools?
Across the world, school dress codes policies are enforced and relayed to students on a weekly basis. It is without doubt one of the most prevalent school rules in the mind of a student.
People may argue that school dress codes are an important element of a successful school and it allows students to be perceived as smart and professional. Although the principle of asking students to come to school dressed smartly sounds reasonable, the problem comes when blatant sexism and sexist attitudes towards women and their bodies are projected on to young women by schools in their pursuit to define what constitutes smartness. The most controversial issue, though, is the style and length of female student’s skirts.
Boys as well have been punished for …show more content…
Even if this was true, then are girl’s short skirts really the problem? Rather than teaching girls to cover up, schools should be teaching boys that a women’s body is not a sexual object and not for his viewing pleasure. Boys should be taught that women deserve respect. Boys should be taught that if he can’t control his desires around a girl, then he’s the one with the problem. If a boy is distracted by a girl’s short skirt, why should the girl be punished? It sends an incredibly powerful message. It teaches students that girl’s bodies are dangerous, powerful and sexualised, and that boys are biologically programmed to objectify and harass them.
Schools respond to criticism of sexist dress codes by citing the importance of maintaining a ‘distraction free’ and ‘professional’ learning environment, or of teaching young people the importance of dressing appropriately for different occasions. But there are numerous numbers of testimonies from female students who are negatively affected by dress codes and feel a sense of injustice. Claiming that a girl’s attire is distracting to their male peers just continues and encourages the endless amount of sexism and degrading women are subjected to throughout their
People may argue that school dress codes are an important element of a successful school and it allows students to be perceived as smart and professional. Although the principle of asking students to come to school dressed smartly sounds reasonable, the problem comes when blatant sexism and sexist attitudes towards women and their bodies are projected on to young women by schools in their pursuit to define what constitutes smartness. The most controversial issue, though, is the style and length of female student’s skirts.
Boys as well have been punished for …show more content…
Even if this was true, then are girl’s short skirts really the problem? Rather than teaching girls to cover up, schools should be teaching boys that a women’s body is not a sexual object and not for his viewing pleasure. Boys should be taught that women deserve respect. Boys should be taught that if he can’t control his desires around a girl, then he’s the one with the problem. If a boy is distracted by a girl’s short skirt, why should the girl be punished? It sends an incredibly powerful message. It teaches students that girl’s bodies are dangerous, powerful and sexualised, and that boys are biologically programmed to objectify and harass them.
Schools respond to criticism of sexist dress codes by citing the importance of maintaining a ‘distraction free’ and ‘professional’ learning environment, or of teaching young people the importance of dressing appropriately for different occasions. But there are numerous numbers of testimonies from female students who are negatively affected by dress codes and feel a sense of injustice. Claiming that a girl’s attire is distracting to their male peers just continues and encourages the endless amount of sexism and degrading women are subjected to throughout their