#school dress code

Thank the Vietnam War for disrupting strict school dress code patterns. The wearing of a black armband in protest lead to the case of Tinker v Des Moines. After that, it has all been chaos. Why, girls now wore dungarees. Or jeans. It depended on whether TLC was big which. And boys quit bothering to tie their ties. Girls tended to still tie them, I guess?

Hey there Anon!

So in this post about romanticizing school I mentioned that it can be helpful to wear a cute outfit that you feel confident in.

And while I personally never went to a school with a dress code I can definitely see how that can be hard to navigate.

They’re worried that someone will make unwanted advances on them or in some way make them uncomfortable by their presence and/or intentions

Think about that for a second. Really think about that

I saw a post earlier today about an exchange between a high school student and teacher. The student expressed his concern about having a gay gym teacher because what if they start looking up the shorts of the boys or something. The teacher basically told him not to worry because no one in the school wanted to have sex with him

The point of the post was most likely what the teacher said in response to the student but what I took away from it was the concerns of the male student

He’s concerned about a gay teacher preying on young male students

He’s concerned about a teacher preying on students because of what they’re wearing

Think about that. Really think about that one

Does that remind you of anything?

It’s just really interesting to me how when it’s a problem that men are having (someone forcing themselves onto them or preying on children because of their outfit choice) that the concerns are valid. Parents start protesting. Schools stop hiring teachers of the LGBT community

But it’s when girls express that this is their everyday, do they not seem to understand how/why it’s a problem

It’s truly mind boggling how they don’t see it

The hypocrisy here…

Of course if it was a gay teacher preying on male students it would be the teacher’s fault. The teacher is the issue. Parents would be up in arms demanding that the teacher was fired. And they most likely would be. No questions asked

But if it’s a female student being preyed upon by a straight male adult teacher, it’s the girl’s fault for wearing that outfit that day. They shame her. They send her home or call her parents to bring her a change of clothes. They make it against the rules for girls to wear certain things as to not disrupt the boys (and the grown men who should very much know better and should not be allowed anywhere near CHILDREN). Girls can’t wear tops with sleeves that are shorter than a certain number of inches while the boys can walk around in muscle tees and not have an issue

If you don’t think male privilege or double standards for men and women exist, then I think you should really take a minute to think this over

It’s something so subtle, yet so obvious when you see it

I didn’t even realize this until today

We need to do better. We need to be better

Better at listening to women and girls when they have a problem

Better at addressing their needs and concerns when something is wrong

This great photograph shows students protesting the high school dress code that banned slacks for girls in Brooklyn NYC back in 1942. It illustrated a question in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper on March 26 1942. As war raged around the globe, readers were invited to consider the burning question: “Should high school girls, particularly students of Abraham Lincoln High School on Ocean Parkway… be permitted to wear slacks to class?”

The article featured Lincoln pupil Beverly Bernstein, a 16-year-old suspended by the school’s dean of girls, Bertha Cohen, for wearing blue gabardine slacks. “She wore them to school, along with a lipstick-red sweater,” the Eagle reported.

Her rustication sparked a protest movement. The above photo was captioned: “Girls show up in slacks at Abraham Lincoln High School, in Brooklyn, in protest because a classmate, Beverly Bernstein, was suspended the day before for wearing slacks.”

Bernstein’s champions argued that slacks “are better than skirts in the event of an air raid”. Moreover they were vital to “conserve silk stockings”. They circulated a petition.

“The undersigned want to have official permission for girls to wear slacks to school for the following reasons:

a) The United Stated Government advocates slacks for school because they are better than skirts in the event of an air raid

b) They conserve silk stockings

c) They curb sexy clothes such as short skirts. Note: Boys also wish the girls to wear slacks and signing the petition in hope that it will be allowed.”

Presented with such reasoning, Lincoln’s principal shrugged, stating that “if the girls wear them, we won’t get excited about it”.

Slacks for girls was a national concern. Writing for the San Antonio Light newspaper (San Antonio, Texas) on May 22, 1942, Russ Westover, “Famous Cartoonist – Creator of ‘Tillie the Toiler'”, opined:

The girls appear to be winning their battle for the right to wear slacks to school. In Pittsburgh, for example, the superintendent of schools approved, provided, however, the girls do not take to any outlandish fashions that will create a distraction and a disturbance. In New York, when Beverly Bernstein was forbidden to wear slacks to Abraham Lincoln High School, she and fellow students staged a strike for the emancipation of women from skirts. They got up a petition which school authorities couldn’t talk down:

“The undersigned want official permission for girls to wear slacks to school for the following reasons:

(a) the United States government advocates slacks for school, because they are better than skirts in the event of an air raid; (b) they conserve silk stockings; (c) they curb sexy clothes such as short skirts.

Note: Boys also wish the girls to wear slacks and are signing this petition.”

It isn’t exactly true the government is advocating slacks for school. In fact, it’s fearful that unnecessary adoption of the style will aggravate the shortage of wool. However, in scores of other cities, girls have donned pants for school hours, and they’re on their honor not to let the fashion get beyond conservative bounds.

The least captious girls hate their beaux to present a rumpled, unpressed appearance. Let them take this tip unto themselves and keep slacks in press. Washable slacks should be kept at least as fresh as a girl keeps her blouse, her handkerchief. If the tailor stitches down the crease of wool pants, pressing them neatly is then an easy home job, and the crease doesn’t get out of line between pressing.

There has been a great spurt of publicity to get hats onto heads above slacks. And the long-visored cap, the cocoanut straw hat and the felt fedora type have been advocated for the slacks ensemble. The scarf or handkerchief turban is very popular. Another suggestion is the worsted snood.

Tomorrow: Practical hints on getting the best fit in slacks.

Dolphin Shorts are a clear example of false advertisement, as apparently dolphins are incapable of wearing them!

So like. (I googled some examples semi similar to shirts I'd have)

I wouldn't be allowed to wear these? Huh? Who is this distracting? Why would this be inappropriate?

And when stuff like this is declared "inappropriate" or "distracting" it makes me nervous to wear this stuff outside of school. The entire situation is just so- ew. Idk. I get that we need dress codes but for the most part it kinda just targets girls?

Like the main parts of the dress code (besides "wear shoes" and "basically don't come into school naked") don't really apply to guys? It just bothers me so much. And makes me feel really uncomfortable? Ig? Like I never considered my stomach an inappropriate part of my body? I still don't think it is.