So frequently these days we’re being blasted with reports about sexist dress codes or blatantly ridiculous conservative clothing expectations for women at high schools across America. Well folks, it’s happened again! According to the Daily Mail, Cleveland High School in North Carolina has taken the issue of dress code to an entirely new level by releasing a student-created video about what is considered “Prom ’Propriate” for women.
First off, the video and guidelines for what constitutes “prom ‘propriate” is presented by a male student, which is the first red flag. The video displays three rounds of dresses, all with varying levels of appropriateness, which are judged by a team of five women in a So You Think You Can Dance style. The conservative dresses earn applause, while dresses with leg slits, open backs and any sort of mesh cut outs earn outraged cries and even a flipped table. There is nothing in the video that sets dress code guidelines for men.
According to the school district’s Public Information Officer, Tracey Peedin Jones, the reason the video occurred is because the school experienced trouble and confusion at the previous year’s prom when it came to the female dress code. The male students weren’t addressed in the video because they supposedly weren’t dressing inappropriately, Uproxx reports.
So yes, the video is obviously sexist, but that’s not the real issue here. The problem is that this video teaches young women that they should feel ashamed of their bodies, and should be more concerned with covering their skin than getting to feel beautiful on their special night. It teaches them that they are not worthy of respect if they have a dress with an open back.
The video absolutely had good intentions of creating a safe and friendly environment for prom night, but we can only hope in the future that dress code issues can presented in a way that doesn’t police women.