Dress codes have had a nasty habit of targeting women throughout history. Showing ankles during the Victorian age was synonymous with promiscuity. Women’s body parts are constantly sexualized by society, and people of all ages pay the price of being labeled a “sl*t” if too much skin is shown—even in middle school.
Earlier this fall, a 12-year-old girl was sent to the principal’s office at Moultrie Middle School in South Carolina for wearing a skirt that was considered too short. A teacher informed her that her outfit was more appropriate for “clubbing.” Take a look for yourself.
In this case, we are challenged with a dress code that is notorious for double standards. What’s interesting is that the rule for skirt length wasn’t even broken. Reese, the student, measured her denim skirt after being embarrassed in front of a group of her peers, only to find out that it was five inches above the knee, which is supposed to be allowed.
Her principal told her she could continue to wear the skirt, but Reese was so ashamed for wearing something dismissed as club-worthy that she called her mother to bring a change of clothes. Reese’s incident is unfortunately one of many that leads girls to being shameful about their own bodies. This type of behavior—especially from educational institutions—is not acceptable. It teaches impressionable youth that bodies, namely those that are female, are a violation. It went as far as telling a 12-year-old that she looked like she could be in a club, which was essentially linking the child to the promiscuous atmosphere of clubbing.
There is so much more that teachers should focus on when educating their students. Perhaps instead of trying to measure the difference between five or six inches above the knee, they should inform students on the difference between what is consent and what is not. Early education appears to be set on teaching young female students the “how to not get assaulted” approach. It supplies these step-by-step guides to stay safe from predators: don’t walk alone at night, dress modestly, cover your drinks… Newsflash: rape isn’t avoidable by simply following this list. Anyone is subject to unwanted sexual advances if they end up in the wrong situation. What needs to be a priority in our health education curriculum is providing a full understanding of topics like consent, body image, and female empowerment—not punishing students for wearing skirts that don’t reach their knees.
The discussion of sexual assault might seem a little far off from a 12-year-old getting wrongly accused of violating a dress code, but it relates in the long run. This girl, like many others, has to live in a world where she is taught that dressing certain ways is distracting—this leads to young girls closely analyzing their own actions, words, and even clothing decisions to ensure that they won’t face repercussions. In this case, it was a student trying to learn, who left school ashamed of herself because of a culture that hypersexualizes the female body. As a result of women blaming themselves for not dressing conservatively enough, they are in turn conditioned to place the blame for their sexual assaults on themselves. We need to prove to the upcoming generations that we will not blame ourselves for someone else’s actions—whether that’s in the classroom or on the streets.
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