I’ve been out of school for two decades now, but the controversy surrounding a New York City public high school's new dress code* has me thinking about how completely unfair ours was. Girls had a uniform: plaid skirt, white blouse with a collar, a sweater in the school colors only (burgundy or gray), socks the same, no tennis shoes. Boys had a dress code which was simply no jeans, tee shirts or sneakers. Anything else goes.
The female student body complained every year: not necessarily to relax ours, but to tighten theirs up. The response was always, always, girls need the uniform, boys don’t. Why? Because we might go all crazy enjoying clothes and stuff, or worse, "tempt"the boys with *gasp* bare shoulders? Oh and by the way, this was the early 90s, before wearing your dad’s flannels was a fashion statement and remnants of 80s style still lingered. The boys were dressed and coiffed. We had a hair rule, too, that applied to both genders. And I quote: any hairstyle that draws attention to itself shall be prohibited. Only one student I know was suspended for hair — a girl. Surprise.
Normally, I wouldn't have a dog in this fight: I never attended public school, I don't live in New York City, and I don't have any children, but as someone who had no sartorial autonomy until college, limiting what girls put on their bodies (and yes, I realize this applies to the entire student body but girls are unnecessarily targeted) doesn't reduce sexual harassment or, ugh, reduce "temptation"-- I got called slut, whore, dyke, whatever while I was uniformed. It had nothing to do with my clothing and everything to do with a society that teaches boys to devalue girls.
(*Yes, this is probably the third Feministe article I've linked to this week, but I strongly encourage reading the discussion as well as the original post.)
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