Inexplicable Dress Codes Essay

Inexplicable Dress Codes There are many schools that currently have dress codes, some are stricter than others, but there are also some schools which do not have a dress code at all. The female’s dress code seems to lean more towards the covering up more of their body than the male’s dress code consists of. In high school sports, when a male is saw wearing a cut off with his stomach showing there is nothing said or thought about it. While if a female decides to wear a cut off with the side of her bra showing she is seen as the girl that is after provocative attention and trying to lure men. In the high school I attended there was a strict dress code for women, but it was not very strict for the men. The women could not wear shorts that were two finger lengths from the hip, they could not wear bottoms with holes in them or they were required to either wear something under it or cover the holes with tape, and they were not allowed to wear shirts that showed any back, shoulders, or were shoulder-strap related. The men on the other hand, did not receive as much discipline when it came to the dress code. The men could wear tank tops, cut-offs, or the short track shorts if they felt like they had wanted to without getting a word mentioned to them, let alone get punished for it. The way in which the male gets off without a shrug of a shoulder, while the female gets disciplined and embarrassed from doing less of an offense concludes what Bates believes when it comes to school dress codes between boys and girls. When it comes to the overriding sexist message being sent worldwide when it comes to school dress codes, when both male and females need to learn how to strive to accomplish a common goal without sexual harassment, there should be plenty of ways to resolve these issues when businesses continue every day with a healthy work ethic and environment. As Laura Bates mentions in the article “How School Dress Codes Shame Girls and Perpetuate Rape Culture” her main points are included, “Some of our most powerful and lasting ideas about the world around us are learned at school. Hard work pays off. Success comes from working together. Girls’ bodies are dangerous and harassment is inevitable.” Bates is trying to say although school is supposed to be somewhere that hard work and success comes from working together and working hard, she is stating that society in modern times blames girls’ bodies for the distraction and inevitable dangers from men not paying attention in class. She shows her evidence of the points throughout the article by using examples from other students and faculty, as well as her own experiences and beliefs. Many schools’ dress codes are sending an overriding message being sent worldwide that there are very sexist school dress codes when it …show more content…
Bates attempts to explain something similar to this where she says, “… Dress codes cite the importance of a ‘distraction free’ learning environment...” Bates, in return, shows a fallacy in the next statement she presents which includes her belief that because a few of the schools questioned, she tries to imply that all school’s dress codes are similar. The hasty generalization Bates implies when mentioning this statement, and then trying to imply that on all schools, may show that she has a straight forward and bias generalization on the topic. The common goals needing to be reached between the genders could not be achieved if both people cannot stay focused during the project or task at hand. Bates’s articles reveal her stating, “The problem is often compounded by a lack of any attempt to discipline boys for harassing behavior, which drives home the message that it is the victim’s responsibility to prevent.” The comment made by Bates shows everyone that although the male’s lack of discipline and behavior, the victim still has a responsibility in which they should prevent the situation from progressing. In return, both people could stay on task and therefore reaching their common goals, but this could not be done with male harassment and irresponsible behavior which could be hard to stand up to by some