9 minute read
Undressing the Dress Code: The Generation of Women Fighting Back
Written by Analise Bruno | Designed by Lauren Mann | Photographed by Andrew Burke-Stevenson
Despite their uniform intentions in schools, dress codes today have evolved into a weapon being used by society’s young women in a fight against gender inequality.
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Dress codes were born to scrutinize females. From the classroom to the office, to even the home, women find themselves subjected to the modestimmodest norm. If we show too much or stray too far from convention, we’re trashy. If we cover up and keep it simple we’re prudes with no style. At their core, these guidelines for dressing represent all of how girls feel sexualized, objectified, and silenced. It goes beyond just saying that tube tops and short shorts are inappropriate for school, dress codes have become a form of control. In a time where women are repeatedly treated as secondclass citizens by those in authority, what better means for a movement that calls for intergenerational engagement?
As a teen girl myself, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day my middle school principal had to call all the boys out of the third period to tell them that they had to stop pestering the girls about the dress code. He informed them, face-to-face, that objectifying us—saying our shorts were too short, or that we were dressed “slutty” was a form of harassment. It was a game to them. High school was a bit better in terms of freedom, but I know my experience is merely my own, and with a campus of over 16,000 undergraduates, more cases need to be “undressed.”
In the absence of adult engagement, the young girls of today’s society are starting the discussion themselves. To best grasp the complexities of today’s social issues, we should take the time to listen to real stories from real people; so I sat and listened.
“I went to a private Jesuit high school and a dress code was required,” said freshmen Ella Conley. “It consisted of a polo shirt and straight-leg khakis. Shoes had to be close-toed and no slippers or boots were allowed.” While anyone could imagine the practicality of this kind of dress, simple but adaptable for all seasons, it certainly seemed restricting. Ella mentioned she didn’t so much mind the uniform, but it was apparent that the issue was enforcement. What was okay for the boys was a detention pass for the girls.
“Different genders had different rules. The enforcement of the dress code 100% targeted a specific gender. With the khakis, a lot of women got them from Free People, but they were very light-washed and were deemed “not a khaki color,” resulting in a detention. Meanwhile, men would be wearing khakis that were white, slightly green, and many other colors and it was no big deal. A lot of men were also wearing shirts under their polos, and they would take them off at lunch, the gym, etc. If a woman did that, there probably would have been more resistance.”
It seems that despite the intention of the school dress codes to promote a sense of formality and prestige, the guidelines often become soiled by aspects of misogyny. When it is girls who suddenly become the primary targets and the sole reason behind these rules, the issue is systemic.
Another student, Amy Crevino, came forward to share her story about how her high school’s code of conduct implemented a relatively loose guideline for in-class apparel but created more strict limitations when it came to athletics,“One issue that I had with my high school’s dress code was that we weren’t allowed to wear just sports bras outside/on the track during athletic periods, whereas boys’ teams were allowed to be shirtless,” Crevino shared. “This upset me because when it was very hot outside, I found it extremely unfair that we were not allowed the ability to cool down that the boys were.”
The double standard for the male athletes here is not only a display of astounding hypocrisy but also blatant sexualization. There is nothing inherently sexual or too revealing about a sports bra when worn in the context of running on a track, but schools impose such bans on their female students.
As freshmen Erica Schwartz puts it, while dress codes appear understandable on paper, it’s their stringent and biased reinforcement that perpetuates a larger issue about the regulation of women in society.
“Teachers were much more likely to challenge a girl’s skirt length or neckline than a boy not wearing his tie or anyone wearing a large brand logo. Moreover, the dress code’s implementation definitely targeted specific female body types. Taller girls were more likely to be apprehended for any skirt or top they wore for being ‘too short,’ even if that wasn’t their intent.”
She shared a friend’s experience with her school’s dress code, which hits quite close to home for some, “One of my best friends was not only tall but had a ‘curvy’ body type. She often felt the need to cover up with large flannels and big sweaters to avoid awkward conversations with teachers about her clothing choices.”
The constant critique of young women and girls’ bodies continues to reinforce that their body is public property. Young girls are still taught that the only way to be respected is to be modest. Thus, to not be liable for “distracting” other male students or making them “uncomfortable,” many teens opt to wear oversized hoodies and jackets with their outfits, thus masking their bodies with different colors, textures, and styles.
Many schools in the US think that by establishing a sense of uniformity through clothing, they are merely upholding their institution’s reputation, but a more abstract view of this norm reveals that it is this practice that contradicts the creativity they found their curriculum upon. When a cookie-cutter approach to dressing is introduced, many lose their sense of individuality, “I got so accustomed to wearing sweatshirts, sweatpants, yoga pants, oversized shirts, and long sleeves. I would also wear the same shoes every day. My entire wardrobe was pretty much anything I could actually wear at school, so for college, I had to get a ton of clothes.”
There’s no doubt that women’s fashion has been heavily polluted by societal norms that dictate what’s appropriate for them to wear. It is an innate human response to want to be accepted and approved of, and thus, many young women have been impacted by a system that repeatedly reinforces that they are what they wear. Determining the appropriateness of a woman’s outfit based on how her clothes may affect those around her perpetuates the idea that dressing a certain way means she is “asking for it.”
“I felt as though it [dress code] was unnecessary to even have in the first place because our clothing, as 15 to 18-year-old girls, should not be a cause for meticulous monitoring alongside it perpetuating the stereotype of our clothes negatively affecting the behavior of our peers,” shared junior Vruti Patel.
While high school standards remain more rigid, many have shared that since coming to college, where, as one student puts it, “you could literally show up to class in a bra and no one would say anything,” the standard seems to be more open to letting students govern their own way of dress. When I asked the students I interviewed how they felt about fashion at BU, there was one common thread that linked all of them: freedom.
“The dress code at BU has made life so much easier than in high school,” says Schwartz. “If I’m not feeling my best, I can roll out of bed and go to class in sweats and a t-shirt. If I’m feeling like being creative with my outfit choices, I have little to no limits on what I can choose to wear. If I want to go to FitRec after class, I can wear my spandex shorts and no one will bat an eye. I feel like I can finally dress how I want to dress and can dress to accommodate both my interests and my lifestyle.”
Each disclosed that Boston University is a place that has allowed them to express themselves in a way that is free of judgment. Rather than having their appearance put over their education, a floodgate of personhood and originality has been unleashed.
Still, the problem with dress codes is not just institutional, it is an issue that is ingrained into society. Women still feel restricted by the judgment of others. By implementing such strict guidelines for women’s dress in school, we have produced a society that labels women based on how modestly they dress.
There still seems no exact “right” way to express ourselves through fashion. If you expose more skin, you’re “looking for attention.” If you cover up, well then you’re a prude. If you wear athleisure you’re just lazy, and if you put on a skirt or a dress, then you’re trying too hard. While there is no need for the total removal of school dress codes, we must institute more fair policies that value impressionable girls’ personal identities and gender expression.
Collectively, the most important things I’ve learned about teenage girls have come from teenage girls themselves. While this statement may seem cliche, my point is that when you look at all the ways in which today’s girls are dismissed and mocked by adults in authority, you come to understand that their perspective on this social injustice is more experienced than presumed. No single article of clothing will have as much of a profound impact on society in the way that the woman wearing it will, therefore, let us all protect their freedom of expression.
