I attend an arts middle/high school, which functions well with hardly any altercations. This year, a new vice principal was hired, Mr. Gore. Mr. Gore has recently declared war on dress code violators; specifically people wearing non-religious head coverings of any kind (head scarves, hats, beanies, etc.) and dancers in leotards and tights/leggings outside of the dance rooms. He called the entire school into assemblies yesterday and today to tell us his reasons for these rules. In his explanations, he went into great detail that girls dressed "provocatively" in dance wear is a distraction to many of the other students, as well as construction workers that routinely work repairs to the school. He explained that wearing a leotards and tights in public places around the school would motivate the men to rape us. He went on to say that once you are raped; you will be the talk of the town, all because you choose to dress promiscuous.
I am outraged by the fact that my uniform I am required to wear for my class will, in his mind, motivates employees hired by the school to rape me, because I need to use the bathroom. They uniform, created to keep me safe from injuries that loose and baggier clothing often create in dance class. How can you say that these new rules are for the protection of the teenagers at my school, when you should be proactive and not hire men that will rape us? Furthermore, wearing which of these would it be easier to force a girl to have vaginal or anal sex against her will in; tights and a leotard or pants with an easy access zipper in the front?
Many of the guys at my school expressed that the required dance dress code is not distracting. It is when someone is not in dress code they stand out. In addition, the new rule regarding head gear in distracting for teachers, as they have to ask their students in the early morning before the heat comes on to remove their hats, so the instructors themselves don’t get reprimanded by their superiors (in place of teaching, of course.) It is difficult and distracting to the rest of the class to return to the dressing room to retrieve a cover up, as it is policy to lock the dressing room door once everyone is finished changing.
It is wrong to justify raping someone because of the clothes they are wearing. It is wrong to justify raping someone for the lack of the clothes they are wearing. It is wrong to rape someone if they stripped naked and wrote “Rape Me” on their forehead. It is never the victims fault. Rapists are more likely to pursue a victim wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and has long hair tied in a ponytail. Rapists are often close to the victim, and the victim often trusts him. The vice principal attempting to argue that wearing dance attire around the school campus is an invitation for school hired employees to rape me is an act of a misogynistic mindset, flawed logic, and ignorance.
During the assembly, there was a question and answer section in which several students, including myself, addressed the error in these new policies. Some sample questions asked include, “is it my responsibility to not get raped, and if so, why am I not allowed to carry pepper spray?” “Do we really have to adjust to new rules because your workers can’t control their hormones?” “Safety is the most misused term in America.” And “Hair is a beautiful, sex appealing part of our bodies, so in interest of our safely, are you really going to ask us to remove another piece of clothing?” He refused to answer specific questions, gave intentionally vague responses, or told the questioner they were being smart with him and proceeded to the next question.
In the interest of everyone who has ever been sexually molested, as well as those who may be victimized in the future, please tell Mr. Gore that it is wrong to tell students that how they dress will make men rape them. It is the thoughts, decisions, and actions of those men, not the victim. Tell him that in place of basing new rules on ways girls can stop men from wanting to rape them, to stop men from wanting to rape girls.