I've seen some articles on dress codes and how girls get sent home for being too distracting and that they're too strict. What are your thoughts? Are they sexist? Shouldn't exist? Biased towards women? Necessary? Should all schools have uniforms? Should students be allowed to wear whatever? Etc?https://www.pressherald.com/2018/09/19/school-dress-codes-still-hot-button-issue/
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Just clarifying I'm not trying to hate on men with this post. I asked if they were sexist, sexism can go either way. I added in the 'biased towards women only' and pictures as one of the many views someone might have, and why certain people might think that way.
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Thank you to everyone who has shared their views. I don’t really hold a strong opinion so it’s been really interesting to read all the various answers.
Sadly, I believe we are doing you all a disservice.
The fact that many students are dressed like slobs is related manifestation of the same underlying problem.
As a society, we have lost our sense of class. Schools, aside from giving young women and men (at very least) a base level of knowledge necessary to exist in the outside world and have a common frame of reference. We often forget, however, schools were also supposed to provide a basic standard of professionalism necessary to live and, more importantly, work as an adult in polite society. By dressing as an adult, it sends a message that you are taking the interaction seriously. You set the expectation that others are to take you seriously and respect you as a young adult, ready to do business and conduct your own affairs. Conducting yourself as an adult takes practice.
People used to understand a simple truth; respect must be earned, it cannot be arbitrarily given, otherwise, it loses it's value.
Now, consider this.
If you found out you had cancer, would you want your doctor to break the news to you in an oversized Scarface t-shirt and sagging pants?
Why?
Would you want your tax attorney to show up to negotiate an offer in comprise in a flannel and skinny jeans?
Why?
Would you want a person who is directly responsible for the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of employees, laying out your company's vision for the and financial track record to a group of potential investors wearing a see-through shirt and Daisy Dukes.
Why? Simple.
You are dressed to go do something else. Maybe your go to Coachella, or pic up older guys at the Fraternity kegger, but this is obviously not your priority, so I'm not going to trust my life and the lives of those that count on me to someone who obviously isn't taking this seriously.
Fuck, even "I only wear hoodies and running shoes" Mark Zuckerberg wore a suit to testify before Congress.
Why?
Because if you don't take others seriously, they will probably not take you seriously. This gives them reason to believe you are not respectable nor respectful. If you are not respectable, you are not trustworthy. If you are not trustworthy, it is best not to leave you in charge of anything of importance or value.
It has some said to never judge a book by it's cover, but most of us error on the side of caution when we have something to lose.
@lumos Girls are not sent home because one guy misbehaves. They are sent home because they ignored the dress code. Learning to obey rules with which you personally disagree is a part of becoming an adult.
Then could you explain why guys in Finland are perfectly capable of concentrating? We don’t have any dresscodes and girls here show up in skirts, shorts, off shoulder sweaters and crop tops all the time yet nobody bats an eye.
@lumos You want me to explain why every country is not identical? You want me to explain why cultures are different around the world? Go get a degree in cultural geography!
@lumos Never denied that there was a problem in the culture. But. . . it's not changing overnight so what should we do to control ramped up sexual behavior among adolescents in schools? The most expedient measure is to control the stimulus that elicits the response.
I see nothing wrong with dress codes. You have dresscode in offices. Because it encourages a particular, serious environment.
If you can't go to office wearing tank tops, you shouldn't go to school wearing those either because you go to office to work and in school o to learn- both things that are to be taken seriously.
You can wear whatever you want out of confines of these places but always, always, dress place-appropriate.
Besides, if you cover yourself like 10% you're gonna get attention, positive and negative alike. Sure, it doesn't justify for them to touch you or anything, but they can look
Besides, "teach all boys..." is so demeaning. It assumes that all guys inherently treat women as sex objects. Not all guys are like that.
Honestly, this isn’t about the differences between men and women. Women are as sexually attracted to men as men are to women. But men don’t have many clothing choices, so it’s impossible for them to be “distracting” towards women. If men could go shirtless to school, believe me girls would stare and they would DESIRE. But they’re obviously not allowed to be shirtless, so if that’s the case then why should women be allowed to be semi naked if men can’t? Lel
Yes. I live in Finland and there aren't really any dresscodes here. I haven't seen one girl get sent home for what she's wearing. Nor have I ever heard guys complain that they can't concentrate in class because of what girls are wearing. Seems like a complete myth if you ask me.
So if you think the latter one would get you sent out from class, or sent to the principal - I have news for you. The first one isn't fine either.
And I was a teenager too. Get your hypocrisy out of here! I remember having a classmate who was THE athlete - kayak international champion, cyclist, weightlifter, wrestler, etc, handsome, 6'4", 8pack, veins running down his arms... And guess what? I have witnessed it several times that 4 or 5 female classmates ASKED HIM TO PULL UP HIS T-SHIRT, SO THEY CAN RUB THEIR HANDS ON HIS ABS. The kid was 16 or 17.
So again, curb your hypocrisy ladies, you sexualize men just as much as men sexualise you, REGARDLESS of age. If you are 14 years old, but you have red lipstick on, have D cups, hourglass, shape, and 80% of your skin surface is uncovered - guess what? Men will have sexual thoughts about it! I know. CRAZY! And I'll tell you another thing. 14 year old girls TOTALLY know this. You knew it too, when you've first bought pushup bras, or decided to wear tight jeans, despite not being all that comfortable, because you knew you'd have a bangin' booty. BECAUSE you know that even a 14, 15 or 16 year old teenage girl can look sexually appealing.
Seriously.
So yeah.
And for the record. I don't support ANY school dressing codes. I think whatever adults wear, highschool kids should be able to wear too. I also happen to think that teachers and other kids should be able to call them out for it. "Jessica, I hope it wasn't you I saw entering that strip club from the backdoor last night." "Craig, I understand that the ladies really like that you wear a tank top, but maybe next time buy one thats a size larger. I think this one is kind of restricting." "Amber, listen. I reckon your parents must be struggling financialy, so I'll give you a hundred bucks if you buy a pair of jeans that doesn't have holes in them."
Societal standards should be dictated by society, not by law. Any change that must be propagated through force (school dress code for example) is but a temporary one. But teach teenagers to dress properly, and they'll do so for the rest of their lives.
Do I think a dress code that is applied to both girls and boys is sexist? No. Both are forced to dress a certain way ergo its not discriminatory. They expect you to dress in a professional and appropriate manner, that's just common sense. Any girl who claims its discriminatory towards women is clearly some one who does not dress in an appropriate and professional manner. The reason why we don't hear this about guys is because guys don't wear shorts that have half their ass hanging out of it (yes girls do this, frequently), they don't wear shirts that don't cover their torso (girls do this frequently either showing midriff or lots of cleavage). This impacts girls more of course, but that's because they are more likely to wear clothing that exposes themselves more. Its not about boys not being able to control themselves its about wearing appropriate attire. We wouldn't claim that rules against fighting are discriminatory against boys because they are more likely to do it so why would we claim its discriminatory to have dress codes that prevent female studnets from wearing revealing clothing? In both cases its about what is appropriate and what is professional.
As for your picture: well, can you figure out why? Men are visual creatures! We love to look at beautiful and sexy women!! Women, on the other hand, don't get into looking at guys! Have you ever seen any Playboy type magazines for women? NO! You know why? Because they wouldn't sell!!! And, if you are 13 to 18 year old girls and dress like hookers, EXPECT to be looked at!! If you're 13 to 18, ACT like 13 to 18 year old girls instead of 20 to 35 year old women!! Also, rape is NOT about sex, it's about CONTROL, POWER! Even nun's get raped every so often!! Do you see THEM dressing up in skimpy outfits? As far as I'm concerned, where whatever the hell you want! Wear nothing at all, if you want to! I'm perfectly fine with either. However, I'm not most guys. SOME of us can't control our urges, but a LOT of us can! I whistle at sexy girls walking, jogging or even driving past my house all the time, but I don't go chasing after them or try to rape them! All I'm doing is COMPLIMENTING them!! I've had a few women whistle at me or tell me how sexy my legs or arms are, but it never bothered ME at all! I took it as the compliment it was intended to be! As for school dress codes, in the first place, I thought they meant to CURTAIL sexual interest! However, I've seen THOUSANDS of school girls wearing uniforms that include very short scooter skirts! If it's about curtailing sexuality, why are they MADE to wear sexy short skirts? Makes no sense to me at all! And, I agree with DesertCreature, they are dehumanizing and turning you all into robot clones. I made it through 12 years of grade school, most of them in the `60's and early `70's, and except for my first 4 years in a religious school, we were allowed to wear just about anything we wanted and we're ALL still here to talk about!!
No, I'm not a sexist, I'm just an ordinary guy. We love to look at girls! Nothing at ALL wrong with that! Lemmie ask you something... I'm pretty sure you've seen those daytime talk shows where the audience is 95% women. Have you ever noticed how when a good looking guy steps out onto the stage, nearly EVERY woman in the place whoops & hollers!!! Why is THAT okay, but it's NOT okay for guys to do anything even CLOSE to that if a gorgeous or sexy woman walks out on stage? I guess you've never been in strip clubs. I've been in 4 (in fact, I auditioned as the DJ in one!) & have seen videos of the goings on in quite a few others! I'm here to tell you, guys in the audience are VERY sedate when a girl is on stage doing her thing! House rules are: you are NOT allowed to even TOUCH any of the girls!! But, in a girl's strip joint, they whoop & holler all night long & the guys not only come off the stage right up to the girls, but the girls are allowed touch them & even blow them & screw them!!
In all fairness, this isn’t about the difference between men and women. Women are as attracted to men as men are attracted to women. But men don’t have many clothing choices, so it’s impossible for them to be “distracting” towards women. If men could go shirtless to school believe me girls would stare and they would DESIRE. But they’re obviously not allowed to be shirtless, so if that’s the case then why should women be allowed to be semi naked if men can’t? Lel
Also, I didn’t know that about strip clubs. That’s kinda messed up.
See here nobody is wrong at all, Now you'll be thinking that I am an idiot because people are used to judge and this is same with your question, They judge girls. If we talk about freedom then we should be free to wear whatever we want and wherever, but there are times when you need specificity of that, like you can't go in a ball dance wearing pyjamas 😂. We should be free to wear anything but this brings another thing, we should be free not to wear anything on body? Isn't it? But you know that's wrong? How I don't need to explain all of that, you got it in your brain. School uniform, what it brings? It reduces discrimination, when students wear brands it is somehow eqaul to show off, which gives rise to discrimination, peer pressure, low morale. When you wear uniforms, you get unity as you'll wear same design and same brand, no discrimination and no peer pressure, sometimes students pressurized parents to get them brands even when they can't afford. SEXIST... See human brain is somehow made this way that you can never ignore anything intimate, don't believe me? You got Google... So yes it can be distracting more than it would in uniform that's designed well. Moreover distraction depends on how controlled your brain is. It's all about perspective, and I go with uniform as it is having advantages, would be happy to hear more from you. Hope it helps 😊
You're right, men should just never flirt with girls or find them attractive, then women will be free to wear whatever they want whenever they want.
I think dress codes can be over the top, but I think they are somewhat necessary. Otherwise we could have students technically be able to show up to school in their underwear if they wanted. Men have dress codes too, they can't show up in fishnet shirts, for example. Dress codes in general are not sexist, but a specific dress code can be sexist if it has policies that give freedom to one gender that it restricts from another.
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Asker
+1 y
I never said guys can't flirt or find girls attractive. I didn't share my opinion here; the pictures are there due to common reasonings I've heard as to why dress codes are sexist.
I didn't like how I phrased the thing about dress codes jot being sexist, so here, this sounds much better: dress codes aren't sexist, but you can use a dress code to enact sexist policies.
Um no, not at all. I've yet to see a dress code that says "girls only cannot wear booty shorts, but boys can." Of course they're more targeted to females since women wanna go to school with as little clothing as possible apparently.
The only argument they possibly have is unfair enforcement. If they are allowing boys to wear short shorts but not girls, then yes that is an issue. But the issue isn't with the dress code, merely the lack of fair enforcement. There are very, very few cases like this however.
Being a distraction is an issue. Have they ever babysat? Kids get distracted very easily, it's pretty annoying actually. They should just have uniforms and end this shit.
No, I think feminists make it unnecessarily into a sexism thing because they have a victim mentality. For example when I was in highschool, girls couldn't wear dresses that didn't cover their shoulders so they blamed the boys DESPITE the fact that guys also couldn't wear clothing that didn't cover their shoulders. Dress codes typically press the same rules to both sexes. If a guy came in wearing a shirt that showed his stomach it'd be deemed inappropriate. If a guy came in wearing extremely short shorts, it'd be deemed inappropriate. Women have the privilege of wearing clothes like that and it being deemed normal, they're now seeing what it's like to have the same societal dress limitations as men and don't like it so they go victim mode to try and guilt people into getting what they want.
A few months ago, girls were allowed to wear dresses, skirts and short. Boys were only allowed to wear trousers, so when boys went to school in shorts they were suspended for breaking the dress code. They decided to protest by wearing skirts.
Yes. I think that they exist for a reason, and that girls shouldn't expose themselves so easily. But I think that at the end of the day, if a girl wants to do that then it is her body and she should be able to wear what she wants. I think that girls have to be able to make the mature and responsible decision about how they present themselves to the world. Of course, there will always be girls who choose to not cover up, and that might lead to guys objectifying her. But most girls shouldn't have to suffer just because boys cannot "focus".
Look... mature girls wearing revealing dress will always distract men, it's a genetic thing, it's very ancient, it's like hunger, you can only make it go away after you have ate something. Sorry if you find me very crude here. Men most definitely should not treat women as objects of sex. Women should also take care of their of themselves. It work both ways. Also women wearing anything they want is not empowering at all, what empowering is to restrict yourself wearing whatever you want in public, just as it is empowering for men to control his primal instincts. We live in a society, if people starts doing and wearing whatever we want, where ever want, we would be all animals.
Girls are sexual objects. The desire to mate is what draws men to women first and foremost. There may be other reasons, but that is the primary motivation. Sorry girls are sex objects. Even secular science demonstrates the desire to mate is primary in order to pass on DNA and keep the species alive. The DNA is passed on via sexual intercourse. Therefore women are in fact sex objects first and foremost to men. Get over it.
Teach feminists their filthy pigs instead and all non feminists should despise them. It’s a more relevant lesson.
At my school men and women adhere to the same rules and the same dress code, so no it has nothing to do with sexism. It also has nothing to do with sexualization of girls, it’s about teaching kids to dress professionally. If your ass cheeks are hanging out of your shorts, you aren’t dressed professionally, it’s that simple.
It's not just in schools, at my work we don't have aircon and men aren't allowed to wear shorts. The women all wear dresses and small tops because it's baking hot while men are stuck wearing trousers, how is thst fair? But for the school example if the boys wore the male equivalent of what the girls are being asked not to wear they would get the same treatment. Why are men always blamed for everything?
People need to take responsibility for their actions BOTH men AND women!!! Which clearly this country seems to ignore. Men to take responsibility when it comes to approaching and talking with women AND women taking responsibility with how they dress and act and not branch swing (jump from one penis to another). Instead of having society blame all the problems on men women need to grow a vagina and admit when they screw up but with how screwed up society is that’ll never happen or the odds on it happening are slim to none. Gender biased society Christ
Yes, they can be. However, I also don't think it's unreasonable for you to ask kids to not have their nipples and buttcheeks out.
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Anonymous
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+1 y
Honestly, if you ask me, every school in my country has a dress code, for girls as well as for boys. Just like girls are expected to wear knee length skirts, boys are not supposed to wear low waist pants. Of course, all these are to be done when in school and in the school uniform. We're supposed to wear school uniforms till the time we enter university. I think, schools have their own opinions and ways the students should behave and what they should be taught, what language they should or should not use etc. It's their rule and the students who don't like them can stop studying there.
Of course they are biased towards women considering I don't see any guys walking around in booty shorts and crop tops. Obviously that is the schools decision but if you are wearing something that can be viewed as a distraction to other students obviously it shouldn't be worn.
There should be dress codes for both boys and girls. And by the way, the sign in the second picture mentions stomachs, I'm not sure if any boy would think it appropriate to show up dressed in a way that shows their stomach (and if they did, it should be banned). This has nothing to do with gender.
I hated school dress codes and uniforms. However I feel as long as you don’t have your tits and ass/vag out then nobody should say anything. A crop top isn’t a big deal, neither are shorts as long as the butt is covered in my opinion. (I prefer mid thigh shorts because my thighs change if they’re too short).
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