Considering the CHS Dress Code BY SONIA JOHNSON

Over the past few years, conversations surrounding school dress codes have rapidly increased. More people have begun to express that they believe dress codes inappropriately sexualize children and promote a culture of sexism. In the school year of 2021-22, the CHS dress code only takes up less than a page in our student handbooks, but quite a bit more space in our minds. 

Over the past few years, conversations surrounding school dress codes have rapidly increased. More people have begun to express that they believe dress codes inappropriately sexualize children and promote a culture of sexism. In the school year of 2021-22, the CHS dress code only takes up less than a page in our student handbooks, but quite a bit more space in our minds. 

As I wait at the school bus stop, I hear a girl commenting on how she’s afraid she will get dress-coded for her shirt, which shows her stomach. Then I get to school, but before heading into the building, adjust the sleeves of my shirt so that my shoulders are covered. People are as conscious of what they wear as ever. All different styles are accounted for, many of which do not reach the dress code requirements. 

I wanted to see where the people of CHS stood on the issue. So I asked a variety of students for their opinions, and their answers weren’t all that surprising. Victoria Croft, a junior, explained, “Honestly, it’s fairly sexist. They claim that something I’m wearing is inappropriate, but guys can wear just about whatever they want.” Austin Rossi, a junior, similarly expressed anger over the situation after telling me, “…it seems the girls get nailed with it more than the guys.” 

I then looked at the dress code itself to see if it reflected these opinions. There is a list of fourteen items that students may not wear. This includes things like spaghetti straps, muscle shirts, exposed midriff and undergarments, and clothing that contains profane language. These are gender-neutral rules, meaning boys cannot wear what girls cannot wear and vice versa. However, the clothing banned includes more items that are typically sold to girls. 

Later, I began hearing from students of different opinions as well. They pointed out that the dress code is about setting a precedent of decorum that encourages the right balance of formality to casualness for a classroom environment. But if banning crop tops and spaghetti straps was about the right balance of casualness to formality, then wouldn’t kids get in trouble for oversized sweatshirts, baggy sweatpants, and pajama pants too?

The dress code allows only clothing that is deemed “clean, modest, and safe,” and the modesty ideal is the one that upsets so many. The dress code policy defines modesty as “A characteristic of behavior, manner or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency; the quality of a behavior, especially dressing in ways to attract sexual attention.” 

If you walk into a clothing store geared towards teenage girls, you will see a dramatic difference in that of a clothing store marketed to boys. The girls’ clothing is always significantly smaller and purposely tighter fitting, sometimes containing suggestive words/phrases. Girls are sold crop tops while boys are sold large tees. Boys are sold sporty pants while girls are sold sporty leggings. I bought a shirt the other day only to find later that the brand of it was “soft and sexy.” I promptly returned it. 

The clothing industry has become more about sex than anything, even for us children. Fashion advertisements that hyper-sexualize girls have become so commonplace, that we no longer recognize them as wrong. Popular TV shows and movies about teens almost always revolve around sex. And so do the music videos we watch, the music we listen to, the magazines we buy, the celebrities we admire, the social media accounts we create and follow, and the advertisements for various products we see. 

So if a girl were to want to wear a piece of clothing that happened to be marketed as “sexy” simply because she felt comfortable in it, would the dress code be right in telling her not to? An anonymous CHS graduate thinks so. She explained that “The school is not sexualizing the children…the clothing industry is. The school is just trying to protect the girls from that.” 

Many students also expressed that dress codes unfairly label people as distractions, just for wearing regular clothing. A junior told me, “it’s not a distraction to anyone, and if it is, that person needs to get help.” The reason cited in the dress code policy for banning specific clothing is not, however, that it is distracting. But, one student did point out that, under the Tinker v Des Moines ruling of 1969, students have the right to exercise free speech in clothing as long as it does not cause a distraction. But does the dress code truly limit our free speech? Some students argue that it does. But many were more concerned about other limits it implemented.

For example, Christina Lancellotta, a senior told me, “What I’ve seen is that the handbook is not necessarily the problem…enforcing it fairly is the challenge.” And she wasn’t alone in this idea. Claire Kelly, a junior, agreed. “ I personally understand the reasoning for the dress code, but enforcement of it is what concerns me. I have heard from many that it is much more common for those with more curvy bodies to get dress coded than those of smaller bodies, even if the smaller-bodied people are wearing something that is much more revealing.”

On the other hand, the majority of males which I spoke to were of the opinion that the dress code is reasonable and good. Damon Paquin, a senior, wrote, “If a guy like me wore a crop top and extra short-shorts we’d catch as much flack, if not more than, any girl who did.”

So is the dress code somewhat sexist? Or is it fair and important? The students are divided on this one.