Students Protest ‘Slut Shaming’ Dress Codes
RESIST! EDUCTION, STUDENT ACTIVISM, STUDENT PROTESTS
By Rory Carroll, www.theguardian.com
September 28th, 2014
By Rory Carroll, www.theguardian.com
September 28th, 2014
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Students Around US Organise Mass Walkouts to Protest Administrators Who Made Them Wear ‘Shame Suits’ or Mandate Hemline Limits
A spate of revolts against school dress codes appears to be gaining momentum across the United States, with students staging walkouts and other protests to complain at the way girls have been “humiliated” and forced to cover up.
A vocal campaign has emerged after recent incidents angered students in New York, Utah, Florida, Oklahoma and other states, with some accusing schools of sexism and so-called “slut shaming”.
The protests have spawned a hashtag, #iammorethanadistraction, and expressions of support from some parents who say the application of dress codes can be capricious and unjust.
“I do think these protests are a trend and I think it’s a good trend,” said Ruthann Robson, a City University of New York law professor and author of Dressing Constitutionally: Hierarchy, Sexuality and Democracy.
The mass walkouts showed that dress codes related to public policy and were not just confined to individual students and schools, she said. “Such resistance points out the larger structural issues. There is a problem here of state power getting confused with matters of good taste.”
The recent protests have coincided with the resumption of the school year but the controversy is not new. In March a group of middle-school girls in Evanston, Illinois picketed their school for the right to wear leggings. In August a school superintendent in Oklahoma allegedly referred to “skanks” with inappropriate clothing, prompting calls for her resignation.
Previous dress code battles have focused on issues such as the length of boys’ hair or sagging trousers. The current round centres on girls revealing skin or wearing figure-hugging attire such as leggings or yoga pants.
Schools have expressed concern such attire could “distract” other pupils and responded by sending students home or obliging them to wear oversized, baggy “shame suits”.
Since such punishment predominantly affects girls some commentatorsthink it could Students Protest ‘Slut Shaming’ Dress Codes | PopularResistance.Org: