University High School,

I am writing to you in regards to your outdated policies. Many students (mostly girls), including myself, feel targeted and sexualized by your “dresscode”. We are put in a very uncomfortable position when someone points out that our clothes are sexual. 

Some girls have been complaining about how the principal Dr. Astor usually comes up to them rather than female admin. If you already do not see the problem, then you are a part of it. Who gave the right to men to come up to teenage girls to tell them what she is wearing is inappropriate? Not only does that make girls extremely uncomfortable but it is very disgusting and wrong. 

Here are some quotes from the girls that have gotten dress coded. 

Quotes from students:

“I was walking down the hallway and I did not see anything wrong with my shirt. Suddenly Dr. Astor came up to me, patted my backpack, and looked at me up and down while saying, ‘we need to fix this shirt’. I immediately got frustrated and a little uncomfortable. I went up to the office and got a shirt from a woman in the front office. They gave me a white shirt and when I got to the bathroom I realized I was not wearing a bra and had to go ask for a new shirt. When I got to the office Dr. Astor asked me why I didn't have my shirt on. I told him ‘I can't really tell you’ and he for some reason thought it was funny and giggled and told me to talk to the same lady that gave me the shirt, and I did. 

She grabbed me another shirt and said ‘next time, wear a bra or an appropriate shirt’ I was very thrown off by this comment, because a woman telling me this was very very weird. Keep in mind she said this in front of a male police officer which was very unprofessional and rude. I felt unsafe and sexualized by grown adults and I am a minor.” 

As you can see this student was not only sexualized but was treated like it was no big deal.  If you are trying to “keep us safe” who exactly is the predator here, because I believe it is the people you are hiring the people you are letting control the school. 

This system is very messed up and  unprofessional to tell teenage girls what to wear in order to not distract your “staff”. It is not our fault, take a look at the bigger picture and realize what you are doing. 

Not only is your definition of a “dresscode” extremely inappropriate, it is sexist. Only women are being objectified at your school which you claim to be inclusive and accepting. Uni preaches equality between all students, yet women are constantly being degraded daily. The dress code is said to be enforced to “not distract boys”, yet there has never been a boy distracted by a woman's midriff, shoulders, or legs. I’ve noticed only the male staff at Uni go up to girls to dresscode them. What concerns me is they are taking a huge chunk of time from their day to look at women and their bodies to check what they are wearing. If University High is a place to learn, why stop me when walking to class to ask me to change? The only thing causing a distraction in this environment is men stopping women in the middle of their school day demanding them to change. So, UHS we ask you to loosen your dress code policy. Midriffs are NOT distracting, shoulders are NOT distracting, LEGS are not distracting, and WE are NOT distracting! We are not asking to come to school in swimsuits, we just ask to be able to enjoy our school day without being harassed by the male staff constantly. I highly urge you to take a look at the petition and the comments from students.  Instead of telling women to hide the body they were born with, you should teach men to keep their hands to themselves and stop looking at women. Thank you.

Please take a look at our petition and instagram account. Listen to the students.

-@BetterUHS