Dress (code) like a lady
This will be my last of the argument series for a while. I have enjoyed writing it and I’m sure that I will continue to reference this series and engage many of the same topics in future blogs. For my last argument, I’m going to take on a very specific issue. Recently, student dress codes have been all over the news. So, let’s argue about them!
Argument: Dress codes are necessary in schools because a student dress code promotes an academic environment and limits the number of distractions during the day.
So I confess that dress codes are a tough one for me. I have worked in schools for many years as an adult and have worn conservative, professional garments. I have also been in school as someone who was once a teenage girl who yearned to express her individuality through a crop top and wide leg pants, so I can see both sides of this argument. As an adult, I know both that you are (unfairly) judged by the way you dress as a woman and that clothing is a vital means of expression for teenagers. Furthermore, evidence shows time and time again that dress codes unfairly penalize girls and people of color. So if we know that dress codes are so problematic, why do we continue to have them?
As teachers, we want our students to learn how to exist in the world outside of school. One way that we do this is that we teach them to code switch. They learn to apply appropriate behaviors in specific situations. I sometimes explain code switching to my students using the following illustration: I talk to students in a different way than I talk to my friends. It doesn’t mean that I am a “fake” version of myself in the first setting, as the kids sometimes insist, but rather that I have instead read the situation and know what social code to use. We want our students to learn to do this because it helps them to be successful in school, to make friends, and to find and keep a job. As a friend once pointed out to her class, “Telling your boss to f-off is a quick way to have to find a new boss.” Clothing is one of the codes that we want students to learn. And obviously, we don’t want kids to come to school in clothes that expose parts of their bodies that must be covered by law. But then why are dress codes a problem?
In order to understand why most dress codes are problematic, we have to look at what they say. Many state that spaghetti straps, midriff-bearing shirts, mini-skirts and sometimes even sleeveless shirts are not acceptable. Stop for a minute to ask yourself, to whom do most of these rules apply? Who is wearing short skirts or tank tops? If you answered teenage girls, you are correct! Often, schools justify this imbalance by stating that girls’ bodies are distracting to boys’ learning. WHAT?!?! This is one of those moments in which we all need a reminder that men and boys are responsible for themselves and that women and girls are NOT responsible for the behavior of men and boys. The kind of thinking that blames girls for boys’ inability to focus is the same thinking that blames girls for their own sexual assault based on what they wore or what they drank. Is this the kind of thinking that we want to promote in schools?
We know that we shouldn’t convey that message to kids. But how, then, do we communicate to students the right message about code switching without penalizing girls? Some schools institute dress codes, with student input, that allow students to choose school-appropriate attire without unfairly penalizing girls or people of color for their outfit choices. One example, in California, seems to be getting it right. It specifies that genitals, buttocks, and nipples must be covered with opaque material. Seems pretty simple and gender neutral to me. So what do you think of these policies? How have you seen dress codes work or not work in schools? Let us know! We would love to hear from you.
- Amy