General Discussion

I'm going to state straight away that my own personal feeling is that for kids in school the only "dress code" that they should need is "Is everything covered that the law says should be?" and "is it clean?" If that offends you, then quit reading right now because I am only gonna piss you off.

School is not a workplace, and school is supposed to be a place for kids to learn--and part of that learning is about who they are and what works for them. If they want to wear nothing but purple spandex or a kilt every freaking day, then so be it. I've heard the same lame arguments that "The workplace doesn't allow..." and I have NEVER bought into that. School is not a place where kids go to earn a living, and those kids should not be subject to some arbitrary dress code applied by a bunch of adults that managed to get elected to the school board because they are good at playing the political game. As an added observation, I know an awful lot of adults who choose NOT to work in some restrictive workplace, in part, because they resent and dislike the narrow minded crap that comes along with those dress codes.

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Our local high school is planning to outlaw leggings, yoga pants, and "tight fitting pants" next year. The main argument is that they are "distracting" to some of the students. My 17 year old daughter's favorite school outfits in winter are some kind of leggings, an over-sized hoodie with a t-shirt underneath, and combat boots. There's nothing about that outfit that is sexually provocative, unless you want to MAKE it that way. EVERYTHING is covered, none of it is "see-thru" and she's pretty much covered wrist to wrist, head to toe. The local school now says that is "distracting" somehow.

When I asked what, EXACTLY, was distracting about that outfit, I was told that it was too explicit in outlining the shape of the girls. When I asked about the possibility of maybe taking that as an opportunity to educate about the sexualization of girls, I was met with an uncomfortable stare and not much else. When I countered with a statement that I though we had already established a few decades ago that women have butts just like men do, you'd have thought I was sowing the seeds of anarchy.

They have designated sports uniforms that are scanty, skimpy, and clingy--and that is somehow ok. It is perfectly acceptable to put the girls' volleyball team in shorts to skimpy the girls have to wear a thong with them or else their panties show. It is just hunky dorey to put the girls' track team in tight fitting uniforms or even the cheerleaders in outfits that have cutouts or crop tops--but they want to say that leggings and combat boots are somehow less acceptable??? Meanwhile, the boys' sports uniforms manage to cover up everything and still maintain some comfort. (Go figure!)

The schizophrenia represented here leaves me shaking my head.

You can argue till you go blue and I'll still be convinced that the problems in schools when it comes to clothing, rest entirely on adults who choose to sexualize the girls. That stuff is rooted in policy that adults make, and the kids simply live up to it.


Laura