The stereotype placed upon Female dress Codes

The ways in which dress codes impact adolescents

Story by Jillian Shelton, Reporter

Dress codes are made to decrease the chances of people becoming or being distracted in the classroom, but when is it going too far?
Many teens would say typical dress code consists of: no shoulders, no shorts/short skirts and no cleavage.

Though it’s not as strict as it was in junior high, it’s still a problem for the majority of females at school because the dress code is mainly for them.

According to sophomore Isabella Johnson, they have a dress code for females because teenage boys like to sexualize things.

“Shoulders are not a distraction,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing sexual about them.”

“The shoulder idea is too much,” senior Regan Gallo said. “I think it’s ridiculous.”

“Shoulders are not something I typically look at,” sophomore Cameron Gebhardt said.

According to Gebhardt, being asked if shoulders are distracting is the same as asking if he likes to look at fingers.
We all can understand the ‘no cleavage’ and the ‘no short skirts/shorts’ rules and we understand why that is in place.

“There is a fine line between tasteful and restricted,” Gallo said.

Is it really worth it to send someone home or make someone change their clothes so others don’t get distracted? Has there been much thought as to how it makes us feel?

“I honestly think the rules are stupid,” junior Cameron Cassels said. “They make the girls feel limited.”

“It is sometimes too restrictive,” Gallo said.

“Most girls I know don’t like it,” Johnson said. “But, we’ve grown up with it, so we are used to it.”

And as for a male dress code, no one seems to know if there even is one.

“I think they just expect us guys to wear jeans and a t-shirt,” Cassels said.

According to Cassels, the only way for a male to get dress coded is for them to walk into school without a shirt on.

According to Gallo, if one thing were to be changed, it needs to be the constant enforcement of the dress code – for all students.

“Some teachers are very open and don’t really enforce the dress code,” Gallo said. “But then, there are the others who are very hard on the rules and that itself is a distraction.”