Society’s dress code boundaries promotes slut shaming

While getting ready for school, a girl has to be extra careful with her outfit of choice to make sure she does not draw male attention and distract them from receiving their education because “boys will be boys.”

Are her bra straps showing? Can you see her back? Shoulders? Midsection? Oh my goodness, is that a hole in her jeans? Disrupt her class time and send her home because that is just way too revealing and we do not want our school to be known for being full of promiscuous young girls.

Ridiculous, right?

Men rule the world and every day a girl is drowned with these questions. It is now the responsibility of a teenage girl to make sure a teenage boy is provided a proper education. We are only adding on to the problem that has been growing for generations.

In general, dress code is just another way of looking at a girl and saying “you’re a slut, put some clothes on”. It is sadly biased towards males.

A woman should be able to dress herself the way she wants without the fear of being slut shamed. It is a way of learning confidence. Everyone knows the saying “fake it ‘til you make it”. If a girl is becoming insecure about herself, she tends to cover up with more clothing and makeup. If a girl is becoming confident in herself, she tends to want to show more of herself because she knows and believes that she is beautiful just the way she is. We should be allowed to dress in what not only compliments our figures but how we see ourselves.

This is where the continuing battle with freedom of expression takes place. In every argument a school has involving dress code, the first question usually asked is “what about freedom of expression?” but it is quickly shot down.

A girl is taught to cover up her body so it does not influence a boy’s decision or completely control it. Author of How to See a Woman: A Conversation Between a Father and Son, Nate Pyle said, “We’ve been taught a woman’s body will cause men to sin. We are told that if a woman shows too much of her body men will do stupid things. Let’s be clear: a woman’s body is not dangerous to you. Her body will not cause you harm. It will not make you do stupid things. If you do stupid things, it is because you chose to do the stupid things.”Teaching a girl to cover up her body may lead her to believe she is not good enough and not as important as another boy in her grade. There are countless times during sport practices where boys are running around with their shirts off but if you look at a girl, she is standing there in “school appropriate clothing”. Nothing biased here, right?

Yes, I know and understand the way a woman presents herself will cause people to either think positively or negatively of her depending on what extent she takes it. But the counterargument is and always will be freedom of expression.