The dress code is something many feel deserves more attention at Homestead High School. Female students are consistently being dress coded for a variety of “unreasonable” attire. With current fashion choices today, it is time for the dress code that fits everyone's standards and what people feel comfortable wearing. 

       There are a variety of issues with the Homestead High Schools dress code. To elaborate, the dress code targets females who wear tank tops, leggings, shorts, have their shoulders, collarbones, and/or midriff showing. Female students of Homestead should not be treated like the clothing they are wearing is more important than their time in class. Female students are consistently taken out of their classes to change because their clothing was deemed “inappropriate” and/or “provocative”. Male students however, walk around in school wearing clothing that if a female wore, would be deemed inappropriate.. Why is that? 

Many female students at Homestead High School have seen male students in shorts that are so short their underwear is visible, but if a female student wore shorts above her knee it would be considered inappropriate. Many male students are seen around campus in tank tops however they aren't forced to change into something else because they are not seen as a distraction. How can that be deemed acceptable? Could it be because they do not have breasts? 

It comes down to treating female students as objects and believing that they are dressing for attention. The many female students of Homestead High School can agree that we understand you don't want our butts hanging out of our shorts and our entire midriff, or to be showing our breasts for all to see, to be completely honest that is the last thing we want as well. However, at the end of the day it is outrageous for the many little things girls are getting dress coded for. For example, females sit down and their shirt rises up a bit, we don't notice, however we get dress coded for the minuscule amount of our back being exposed. 

Another example, we are wearing leggings with a tshirt but the shirt doesn't cover our butts, the leggings cover our butt and no skin is showing, we are dress coded. Another example, with a female student with a bigger chest size wears the same shirt that a girl with a smaller chest size, one of them is dress coded for wearing the shirt that “shows too much”, however,  the girl with the smaller chest does not get dress coded. 

A final example, a female student wearing a shirt with the shoulders cut out is dress coded because their  “shoulders are too distracting”. The list could go on and on and there are an infinite amount of examples many female students can say they personally experienced. Female students should not be treated as if the time they spend changing their clothing was more important than the time they could have spent in class learning; being dress coded and demishied into nothing but a physical object for little things that most likely no one noticed… Male students should not have more freedom in their attire because they are males. The female student body of Homestead High School deserves a significant change in dress code that better fits standards of today's society and what the female students and their respective families deem comfortable and appropriate for school.

These are some students personal experiences:

“Brother got coded for wearing a shirt that said “always up for a good ride”. The shirt was promoting my gma’s watersports store.” - Gage

“Took me out of class to change out of my long sleeved shirt with holes cut out of the shoulder. Just got dress coded at lunch TODAY” -Wynter Shaffer

“I’ve been dress-coded before because I was wearing MEN’S SHORTS. Another time I’ve been dress-coded because I was wearing a hoodie that was too big, and my sports bra strap was showing.” -Addison Sawyer

“I personally am afraid to dress more feminine because of how overbearing the girls’ dress code is. I’m afraid to take risks and that’s not a good thing.” - Elle Barnett

“I was dress coded for a bandana but a majority of my friends wear them and have never gotten dress coded for them” - Bri Stahl 

“I have broken the bandana rule and have not gotten told to take it off. Is it because im white? But my friend does because she's black?” - Kora Marquell

“I just want to feel confident about myself and not look like a little boy.” - Haley Witt

“I've been dress-coded because my chest looked too big in a shirt or that my oversized hoodie didn’t cover my butt enough, or that the flannel I was wearing around my waist didn't cover the front of my leggings even though it covered the back completely.” - Emma Snyder

“I’ve been dress coded for having my bra line show through a white shirt, most white shirts are see through” - Julie Amstutz 

“I have a bigger chest, and I can’t wear clothes that I like because I’m revealing too much.” -Aurelia Moore

“They dress-coded me for wearing Trump apparel, and shirts with sayings the school didn’t agree with.” - Ethen condo

“I want to wear my shorts i like and the brand new shirts i got because it's HOT OUTSIDE” - Shaylynne Gosnell

“I got dress-coded because my shirt was too long. They said it was distracting.” - London Harris

“Yoga pants/leggings are comfy, enough said fam.” - Rachel Rodriguez

“I don’t understand how my shoulders and my stomach are distracting?” - Addison Stalter

“It's hard trying to fit clothes to match the school dress code without having to fear the consequences.” - Armani Thompson 

“I was wearing a shirt that covered everything but a little bit of my chest. I was wearing a jacket over it and I guess I didn't have it covered to their satisfaction because I got told to zip up my jacket by a male teacher. Like why are you looking at me and other girls like that anyways?” -Chesnee McMahan

“With today’s current styles, it has become virtually impossible to find clothes that fit curvier body types that don’t violate dress code.” -Emily Adams

“(09/10/21 - 9:53am) I just saw a girl in my study hall get dressed coded for wearing a ‘cropped shirt’ even though her stomach/skin wasn’t even showing! Mrs. Lorenz legit made her raise her arms in the air to show that she was breaking a dress code violation. The poor girl just wanted to use the bathroom! I swear, this school will punish you for literally anything.” - Taylor Zumstein

“I was there for that study hall and I was in the front. She looked incredibly upset and embarrassed. Mrs. Lorenz did this in front of everyone and didn’t even bother keeping her voice down. Awful.” - Rachel Rodriguez  

Freshman year one of my friends got dress coded for wearing shorts in the middle of summer. They were fingertip length and she cried in the bathroom because she was told this by a male teacher and felt extremely uncomfortable. - Ameenah Khan

“I got dress-coded for rolling my shorts up so that they didn’t go below my knees, and a male teacher said I was revealing too much of my behind.” -Keegan Mooney 

“I got dress-coded because my shirt lining was “too low” there was a guy with a shirt that basically showed all of his chest, So what i want to be comfortable it shouldn't matter it's not our fault people are pervs.” - Lee Tyler 

“I was dress coded for wearing womens High heels in freshman year because they were “distracting”.”- Dawson Bohn 

“I have outfits that I could wear to school, but I can’t because of the dress code. Instead I wear oversized shirts with leggings or jeans everyday so then I wouldn’t.” - Olivia Adams

A girl in my study hall got dress-coded today (9/16/2021-9:10) for wearing biker shorts, they are to her knees and none of her skin is showing. She was just asking a question. There was no problem with what she is wearing. - Wynter Shaffer 2nd period study hall

“I get away with wearing leggings but my friend who doesn’t have a flat butt like me doesn’t?? It’s too obvious how sexist the dress code is.” -Grace HIlyard

“I got dress coded twice already this year for wearing a crop top even though it was barely showing my skin. I also had a jacket on over it and they still made me change and gave me detention.” - Kamryn Parks

“(09/29/21 - 9:32am) Mrs Lorenz tells a girl - in front of a bunch of guys - to, ‘Zip. Your. Sweatshirt. You know better’ in an aggressive tone that was completely uncalled for. And a minute later, just told another girl that she needs to put on a sweatshirt - but the girl didn’t have one - so she was sent down to the office, like… wtf?!” - Taylor Zumstein