The reason for this petition is because of the Stockton Unified School District/Franklin High School’s dress code. The dress code is very clearly misogynistic towards women. Franklin High School’s staff takes the dress code way too seriously by dress coding women by just showing a little bit of stomach and/or showing their shoulders. The staff that are consistently dress coding women are MALE. I, a male, had to witness this happen first hand and I’ve overheard a girl state that she was dress coded by a male staff. Furthermore, my friend was dress coded for wearing a crop top and it was seen has “inappropriate.” I tried asking why she was dress coded and I was ignored by staff until I asked another staff and he said and i quote “this is her issue.” After that my friend had to change in the bathroom (ordered by the male staff) and had to remove her top and put her little sister’s jacket on. My friend couldn’t even wear the top underneath the jacket. She was basically naked under the jacket. Therefore, she couldn’t remove the jacket even if it’s hot because as stated, she wasn’t wearing a top underneath her jacket. 

One of my female friends states “The dress code encourages the sexualization of teenaged girls by calling tank tops indecent and enforcing punishment just because it shows a girls shoulders, and how instead of punishing a girl for how she’s dressed they should address the problem at its root and actually teach students to respect each other because the excuse of ‘being distracting’ is so objectifying to women. it’s also a standard that accommodates to MEN because instead of punishing them for being distracted by an UNDERAGE GIRL it punishes the girl for wearing literally clothes and staff is so much less strict when it comes to men breaking the dress code like sagging their pants or wearing a sports shirt, but as soon as a girl wears a cami she’s brought to the office, and how it not only sets women back years but how it normalizes the enforcement of rules in order to make things better for men.”

Another female that I’ve contacted complained how she was suffering in the heat, wearing a sweater because she didn’t want to be dress coded. That alone can lead to a health risk because women don’t want to be dress coded. That alone can lead to a heat stroke.

Lastly, teachers should be held accountable for what they say. A good friend of mine told me that a teacher said “ladies, don’t wear a tanktop because you’re exposing yourself to harassment.” That alone shows how narrow minded male teachers are. Females should be comfortable to wear whatever they want to wear without being sexualized by male teacher and/or male students. They need to be educated that it isn’t right to sexualize underage females because of what they’re wearing. This also goes for female teachers that calls females “sluts” or “whores” for what they’re wearing. This has to stop. 

After reading all of that, I would like you to sign the petition to change the dress code. The dress code has been an issue for women for many years and it needs to change. We, as a community, need to move forward, not backwards. Help us bring a good future, for future generations and also stop the misogyny in the school system.