“You’re asking for it”
Junior year picture day was coming up, and of course I wanted to get a great picture. I picked out my favorite plain, black strapless shirt. As soon as I get to school, I am called into the principal 's office. I had been dresscoded. The middle-aged man told me that I “was distracting to my fellow male classmates.” Despite the fact that my hair falls and covers way lower than my shoulders, my body was still too inappropriate, even though every human has shoulders of their own. In today’s society, a woman 's body is discriminated against to the point where if the slightest bit of skin shows, it is presumed that the woman is trying to be provocative. The fact that authority figures, especially males, can tell an adolescent …show more content…
African American girls are targeted for having unacceptable, distracting hairstyles. A first hand experience happened to second grader, Tiana Parker. She was banned from Brown Community School, in Tulsa Oklahoma because of her dreads. At age 7, she found herself at the center of a debate over female standards, cultural pride and expression. At this point, it feels like such codes are about protecting strict social norms and hierarchies that refuse to tolerate differences or diversity. Will Tiana be taught that all she could ever be is a housewife, because that was the norm in society? Why are girls taught to lessen themselves to fit a mans requirements? Schools are meant to empower students and encourage them to reach their full potential, so why are girls appearances more important than their education?
The school dress code debate will be dismissed by many for being minor or unimportant, but it is the opposite. It is reasonable that all students should be sufficiently covered. But, the issue lies when a school makes the decision to prioritize female students’ bodies over the value of her education. One can easily say that girls should be sent home for their inappropriate clothing, but why are boys not reprimanded for sexualizing the girl 's body? A women should not be penalized because her classmate cannot stop staring at her, after all, it is not her problem if he cannot focus due to her
Junior year picture day was coming up, and of course I wanted to get a great picture. I picked out my favorite plain, black strapless shirt. As soon as I get to school, I am called into the principal 's office. I had been dresscoded. The middle-aged man told me that I “was distracting to my fellow male classmates.” Despite the fact that my hair falls and covers way lower than my shoulders, my body was still too inappropriate, even though every human has shoulders of their own. In today’s society, a woman 's body is discriminated against to the point where if the slightest bit of skin shows, it is presumed that the woman is trying to be provocative. The fact that authority figures, especially males, can tell an adolescent …show more content…
African American girls are targeted for having unacceptable, distracting hairstyles. A first hand experience happened to second grader, Tiana Parker. She was banned from Brown Community School, in Tulsa Oklahoma because of her dreads. At age 7, she found herself at the center of a debate over female standards, cultural pride and expression. At this point, it feels like such codes are about protecting strict social norms and hierarchies that refuse to tolerate differences or diversity. Will Tiana be taught that all she could ever be is a housewife, because that was the norm in society? Why are girls taught to lessen themselves to fit a mans requirements? Schools are meant to empower students and encourage them to reach their full potential, so why are girls appearances more important than their education?
The school dress code debate will be dismissed by many for being minor or unimportant, but it is the opposite. It is reasonable that all students should be sufficiently covered. But, the issue lies when a school makes the decision to prioritize female students’ bodies over the value of her education. One can easily say that girls should be sent home for their inappropriate clothing, but why are boys not reprimanded for sexualizing the girl 's body? A women should not be penalized because her classmate cannot stop staring at her, after all, it is not her problem if he cannot focus due to her