What are schools telling girls?
I have to ask after two troubling back-to-school stories, including one today about a Texas high school that produced a dress code video addressing only what girls wore and that used M.I.A.'s "Bad Girls” as its soundtrack.
The video made at Marcus High School in the northwest Dallas suburb of Flower Mound focused on the terrible sin of girls wearing athletic shorts to school, zooming in on their legs to underscore the offense.
As a student said on Twitter:
Today my school was shown this video. So sad how ONLY girls are shown as the violators. I understand why my school has a dress code, but what about the boys who wear shorts, or show their shoulders? It's 2018...Why are we still over-sexualizing teen girls?
An immediate outcry over the video led the principal to send a letter to parents today:
Yesterday we showed a dress code video that featured only female dress code violations, and was accompanied by a poor song choice. Construction in and around the campus prevented us from holding student orientation, which is typically accompanied by a fashion show that demonstrates what to wear, and what not to wear. We believed a video would be a good way to replace the fashion show, but this video absolutely missed the mark.
Please accept my sincere apology for not ensuring our video achieved its intended purpose — to remind ALL students of our dress code expectations.
Yet another Texas school, this one in Houston, featured a quote in the hallway attributed to Sydney Biddle Barrows, who gained notoriety as the Mayflower Madam for running a high-priced Manhattan escort service.
Above a bank of lockers in an elementary school, the quote proclaimed: “The more you act like a lady, the more he’ll act like a gentleman.”
After someone photographed the hallway at the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center and shared it on social media last week, the Houston Independent School District said: "The quote does not align with HISD values, and it will be taken down."
I shared the photo on the AJC Get Schooled Facebook, where most commenters condemned the implicit message that girls were accountable for how boys act -- a message reinforced by dress codes that treat girls as distractions to be contained and punished.
As one commenter noted: “Terrible message even if it wasn't from a questionable source... boys and men are the only ones responsible for their own behavior. That quote as a message to teenagers is basically perpetuating rape culture.”
A male commenter defended the quote as wisdom that parents ought to impart to their daughters as too many dress inappropriately.
“A lot of those young ladies ain't wearing Poodle Skirts like when you were in school,” said the commenter.
That prompted a flood of rebuttals, including this one:
Regardless of what you think of how teenage girls dress/behave, a girl should be able to walk down her school hallway wearing anything she wants without being catcalled/assaulted/touched.
If she can't, it's not her fault. It's the fault of the boys who can't keep their hands to themselves and the school/parenting system that teaches them it's not their fault.
Every dress code that says girls can't wear XX article of clothing because it's distracting to boys shows that boys' learning is more important AND that boys can't be expected to control their own impulses. It's insulting to girls AND boys when we do this.
The Houson ISD shared this update on Twitter:
A positive note this week: The Alameda city schools rolled out a new dress code for returning students that trusts girls.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Tube tops, tight pants, ripped jeans, short skirts and even pajamas are now acceptable attire at Alameda city schools under a new dress code adopted by the school board over the summer break..Students will now have nearly unfettered freedom to wear almost whatever they want as long as they have a top, bottom, shoes and "clothing that covers specific body parts (genitals, buttocks, and areolae/nipples) with opaque material," according to the new policy.
The California district modeled its new approach on a recommended dress code from the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for Women. The model code reflects values that every district should embrace:
All students should be able to dress comfortably for school without fear of or actual unnecessary discipline or body shaming.
All students and staff should understand that they are responsible for managing their own personal "distractions" without regulating individual students' clothing/self expression.
Teachers can focus on teaching without the additional and often uncomfortable burden of dress code enforcement.
Students should not face unnecessary barriers to school attendance.
Reasons for conflict and inconsistent discipline should be minimized whenever possible.
About the Author
