15 Clayre Rader – Dress Codes: Biased Towards Women?

Clayre Rader (She/Her) is a Sophomore from Richmond, IN and is majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education. This work was prepared for Kelly Blewett’s W290 Writing in Arts and Sciences, who states, “Clayre’s detailed examination of dress codes and the inequitable way they are enforced will stay with me! I appreciated how she unpacked several sources as she developed her argument.”

Dress Codes: Biased Towards Women?

In schools, women are required to follow a stricter dress code that regulates things like the fit of their clothes and length of certain clothing items whereas boys on the other hand have rules about maybe the length of their shorts. As past elementary, middle, and high school students, the dress code was something that we had to take part in to make sure that what we were wearing was appropriate. The dress code is something that can easily affect a student’s schooling as well as affect their overall psychological well-being. All students are expected to dress a certain appropriate way, not wearing something inappropriate like spaghetti straps, shorts that are too short, or something that violates the dress code set up by the administration. Oftentimes dress codes seem to be enforced more strictly on those who are female and people of color. This can be seen as sexist, racist, and overall biased towards women. The dress code should NOT be more strictly enforced for women but should be equally enforced for both men and women.

Dress codes can be biased against women by enforcing stricter and often more sexualized standards. The dress code being biased can be seen in an article written by New York Times writers Maria Cramer and Michael Levenson. In their article, they talked about how female yearbook photos were altered to cover up certain parts of their chest that were deemed inappropriate. It was stated within the article that “[O]ver 80 women’s photos were altered to cover up their chests without their knowledge of this happening. But a boy’s swim picture of the men wearing speedos was not altered” (Cramer & Levenson, 2021). This shows the bias and sexist acts of the school in altering the women versus the men. As I was reading this I was thinking to myself, what is so bad about a woman showing parts of her chest versus a man being in just a speedo? It just isn’t something that I can wrap my head around. A teacher, Mr. Forson, had stated, “[T]here has never been an intent to embarrass or shame any student for the clothes that they wear”(Cramer & Levenson, 2021).  Yet this alteration of the yearbook photos does shame the students. It shames them by basically saying, what you’re wearing is inappropriate and a distraction to others, when I am sure nobody would’ve made a fuss or noticed a girl’s chest showing. The purpose of the dress code is not to make people feel ashamed for what they wear, yet that seems like what it does the most.

The purpose of dress codes within a school is the fact that “[a]ll students shall be required to maintain the level of personal hygiene necessary to ensure a healthful school environment” (Paz, 2021, p. 3), “and to refrain from any mode of dress which proves to contribute to any disruption of school functions” (p. 3). In an article written by Jennifer Martin, an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and Jennifer Brooks, Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership,  “dress codes may have the intention of promoting consistent treatment for all, but they are by no means equitable” (Martin & Brooks, 2021). This means the dress code is not equal for all and can show bias. Not only does the dress code affect mostly women, it often affects women of color more (Onyeka-Crawford, 2018, p. 2).  A 17-year-old student named Malaika Maoh Eyoh was told that her “afro distracted other students from learning” (Nicholson, 2015). Now that we know the dress code is biased, racist, and sexist, we need to look at what problems come into play because of these dress codes.

Dress codes come with all sorts of issues regarding race and gender. The first problem noticed is the gender bias within the rules of the dress code. A statement from Todd A. DeMitchell, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, said, “The focus on covering girls’ bodies contributes to the very problem that dress codes seek to address: the inappropriate sexualization of female students” (Paz, 2021). Another problem with dress codes is race bias. As a result of the dress code being racist/biased, “girls all over the country are missing out on class time and opportunities to learn” (Onyeka-Crawford, 2018, p. 2).  One example from 2015 was reported in The Guardian, a global news organization that delivers fearless, investigative journalism–giving a voice to the powerless and holding power to account: A 17-year-old student named Malaika Maoh Eyoh was told that her “afro distracted other students from learning” (Nicholson, 2015). This “dress code violation” resulted in Malaika being taken out of class for being a distraction.  In reality a person’s hair should not be a violation of the dress code. Colored women and men can’t help how their hair is. That is something that came with genetics. Dress-coding somebody over their hair is just beyond crazy and shows that students are getting dress-coded because of race and things they can’t help. Another example was reported by Cheyanne Mumphrey (2024): “Two black twins were dress-coded for wearing box braids with extensions” (para. 10). Reading this threw me off because hair shouldn’t be something you have to worry about when going to school.

While all these points above show the biased, racist, and sexist acts, some people think that dress codes are needed. In an article written by Lexi Bias, a former student at Marion Center Area High School, “proponents of school dress codes argue that stricter enforcement is necessary for maintaining a productive and professional learning environment” (Bias, 2023, para. 1). An example of enforcement of the dress code would be uniforms. What would be the point of the uniforms other than making sure what a student is wearing is appropriate?  According to Dulin (2016), a writer from North Carolina State University, “some research has shown that having uniform dress codes can reduce school violence,  discipline issues and improve school safety and climate” (p. 124).  It was also stated in this article that “school uniforms were introduced to hide the differences between students” (Dulin, 2016, p. 124). I feel that yes dress codes and uniforms can be useful but they don’t allow students to express themselves. People do need to understand that dress codes can keep students from expressing themselves with the clothing choices they wear, as well as making everybody look the same, which I am sure can’t be good for a person because they don’t feel like themselves. I know from my school that people dress to express themselves but with dress codes and uniforms that can be difficult or nearly impossible. With a person’s hair, that should be something that isn’t a dress code violation. Hair, regardless of gender, is not something a lot of people can help with regarding styles, like afro, dreads, etc. Oddly, people are getting dress-coded for something like this when you would think, hair is not something you should be worried about.

As a student, I myself have had my fair share of dress code rules that I had to follow. I was never dress-coded but I know many of my peers in school were. Some examples of different dress code rules were shirts had to have sleeves and shouldn’t be low cut, no spaghetti straps or any sort, feet must be covered with safe footwear, no leggings or yoga pants, no sagging pants, and no vulgar apparel, no holes above the knee, etc. (Centerville, 2023-24, p. 8). For me these dress code rules were not hard to follow because I don’t wear leggings to school nor do I wear low cut shirts or things like that. But one rule I read that confused me was the no sagging pants. Many boys throughout the school would have their pants sagging and it was noticeable. But yet, nothing was said or done about it. However, I know of many girls who had a bra strap showing or leggings on and they were dressed-coded multiple times. This evidence shows that men violating dress codes are overlooked and just not cared about. I don’t like the dress code and think it is silly. We could have certain things like no super short shorts or something like that but I feel like no leggings is odd. Also, I feel like nowadays with jeans they all have holes above the knee. With shirts, they all seem to have some sort of vulgar sayings on them too. So, it is hard to find “appropriate” clothing. There is a lot that can be done with the dress code to make it where it doesn’t have the bias, racist, and sexist “accommodations” to it.

What I think could be done is first, if you are going to have these rules for all students if they are violating the rule . . . dress code them. It seems like the staff just picks and chooses who to dress code. If a man has their pants sagging, say something. If a woman has leggings, say something. Don’t just overlook gender, dress-code everybody in violation of the dress code. Next, don’t make so many dress code rules that are unnecessary. For example, some dress code rules should be put in place, like no drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sexual remarks, or images on clothing, those make sense. But something like no spaghetti straps or bra straps showing is a bit ridiculous. Finally, one last intervention that can be done is updating the dress code. As time goes on, what people are wearing changes. What people wore at the beginning of the 2000s isn’t what we are wearing now. Twenty years ago, people were wearing leather shirts, handkerchief tops, shiny pants, etc. But now, in 2024, we are wearing ripped jeans, spaghetti straps, crop tops, shorts, etc. So, rather than have a rule now where you can’t wear shorts, fix it so that it can fit the trends of what is happening. Some rules are understandable of no bra showing, because that is something I wouldn’t want to see. But having a rule for no shorts, or crop tops is a bit much. I feel like just these three things could help the dress code be better because I feel like nobody wants to have to wake up each morning and think, oh will I get dress-coded in this or not?  So, what do you think,  is it right for the dress code to be more enforced on women rather than both women and men?

Reflection

To start I enjoyed writing this essay. It was easier to do because of all the preparation that we had done with finding sources and the annotated bibliographies, so please make sure you do that for future students of this class. It helped me understand what I was going to write about and I had the explanation of sources so it was not difficult to go back and find them. I feel like for the first draft I had a decent draft. I took out a paragraph as suggested by you and a peer. I added another intervention within the essay on how to improve the dress code systems and limit bias and other things like that. If I had more time, I would probably look more into what else could be done differently and find an extra source, but I feel like with my paper, I have a good amount. As far as feedback goes, I would like more feedback on the setup of my paper and if my paragraphs flow. One thing I struggled with was the changing of the transitions. Those are difficult for me to do, so if you could give me feedback on how to better improve my transitions that would be very helpful. Overall, this essay was easier for me to do and I feel like I was able to get the information that I wanted.

References

Bias, L. (2023, October 11). The controversial debate surrounding school dress codes. The Stinger. https://mcstinger.net/2212/opinion/the-controversial-debate-surrounding-school-dress-codes/#:~:text=Proponents%20argue%20that%20dress%20codes,body%20shaming%2C%20and%20restrict%20individuality.

Centerville Senior High School 2023-2024 Educated for Success Student Handbook, CHS-Student Handbook. March 23, 2024, https://chs.centerville.k12.in.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/12/CHS-Student-Handbook-PDF-UPDATE-12-18-23.pdf

Cramer, M., & Levenson, M. (2021, May 23). Yearbook photos of girls were altered to hide their chests. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/us/yearbook-photos-st-johns-girls-altering.html

Dolder, S. (2018, September 18). Sexualization through dress code. Panther Prints.

Dulin, C. D. (2016): Impact of School Uniforms on Student Discipline and the Learning Climate: A Comparative Case Study of Two Middle Schools With Uniform Dress Codes and Two Middle Schools Without Uniform Dress Codes. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education. North Carolina State University

Martin, J. L., & Brooks, J. N. (2021). Loc’d and faded, yoga pants and Spaghetti Straps:  discrimination in dress codes and school pushout. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 16(19). https://doi.org/10.22230/ijepl.2020v16n19a1047

Mumphrey, C. (2024, February 21). Schools say dress codes promote discipline, but many black students see traces of racism. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/schools-say-dress-codes-promote-discipline-but-many-black-students-see-traces-of-racism

Nicholson, G. (2015, August 31). South African students speak out against the “aggressive” ban on Afro hair. Daily Maverick. Retrieved December 15, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/31/south-african-students-speak-out-ban-afro-hair-pretoria-school

Onyeka-Crawford, A., Patrick, K., and Chaudhry, N. “Let her learn: Stopping school pushout for girls of color.” National Women’s Law Center.  https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/final_nwlc_ Gates_GirlsofColor. pdf (2017); National Women’s  Law Center. “Dress coded: Black girls, bodies, and bias in DC schools.” (2018); Epstein, Rebecca, Jamilia Blake, and Thalia González. “Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of Black girls’ childhood.” Available at SSRN 3000695 (2017)

Paz, I. G. (2021, September 4). “sexist,” “racist,” “classist”: Georgia 8th Grader ChallengesSchool Dress Code. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/04/us/politics/mask-dress-code-protest.html#:~:text=code%2Dprotest.html-,’Sexist%2C’%20’Racist%2C’%20’Classist’%3A,she%20says%20unfairly%20targets%20girls