It’s no secret that school dress codes often lean towards being sexist. A glance at any school’s guidelines typically reveals a lengthy list of rules for girls, while boys get a mere mention. But is it really necessary to enforce a dress code that requires a five-year-old to cover her shoulders because she wore a spaghetti strap dress to school?
When Mike Thompson picked up his daughter from school last week, he was taken aback to see her in a t-shirt layered over her cute sundress, with jeans underneath to boot. He had packed an extra outfit for her in case the weather turned chilly, but she was insistent on wearing her adorable new sundress.
The school’s dress code explicitly prohibits spaghetti strap dresses, stating: “Students are not to wear clothing that is tight, loose, sagging, baggy, revealing, spaghetti-strap, backless, low cut or short.” However, Thompson didn’t expect such a rule would apply to a child as young as his daughter. In a blog post for the Houston Press, he argues, “Make no mistake; every school dress code that isn’t a strict uniform is fundamentally about policing girls.”
One might think that this parent simply didn’t comply with the rules, but Thompson raises a valid point. The dress code is so vague that it could easily be used to shame girls based on the subjective judgment of whoever is monitoring the situation.
Notable Points from the Dress Code
- Shorts and Skirts – must fit properly at the waist or upper hip, must not reveal underclothing, and must be mid-thigh or longer.
- Tops, Shirts, and Blouses – must not expose underclothing, midsection, torso, back, chest, breasts, or cleavage.
- Dresses – must not reveal underclothing, midsection, torso, back, chest, breasts, or cleavage and must be mid-thigh in length or longer.
While these rules may seem reasonable, they leave girls with very limited options when it comes to clothing choices. Especially in regard to tops, which essentially exclude anything that might show even a hint of skin. So what’s left for girls? Turtlenecks and high-neck t-shirts?
As someone who developed early, I can confirm that the same outfit can look completely different depending on the body wearing it. A friend of mine who was tall and slender could pull off an outfit that might appear more “modest” on me simply because I had a curvier shape. Why are we teaching young girls to feel ashamed of their bodies? Covering the shoulders of a five-year-old? Thompson rightly points out, “The obsession with policing girls’ bodies, as if showing skin invites judgment about their purity or worse, is a troubling trend.”
Recent stories support his concerns. In one instance, nearly 200 girls received detention at a New Jersey high school (with no AC) after the dress code was updated to ban tank tops. A Utah student was turned away from her high school dance for wearing a dress that revealed her shoulders. Plus, 30 female students in a Canadian high school were sent home for showing a glimpse of their bra straps under tank tops.
Thompson’s critique of a dress code that punishes girls for minor displays of their bodies at such a young age is not only valid but essential. We need to ask ourselves why we feel compelled to scrutinize our daughters’ appearances so intensely.
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Summary
In a recent incident, a father named Mike Thompson expressed his frustration over school dress codes that disproportionately target girls, particularly young ones. After picking up his five-year-old daughter, who had been made to cover her spaghetti strap sundress, he questioned the rationale behind such regulations. The blog highlights broader concerns about how these codes limit girls’ clothing choices and contribute to a culture of body shaming, urging parents to reconsider the implications of enforcing such rules.