Girls are taught from a young age that their bodies are sexual constructs that need to be regulated because men are “easily distracted.” They are lectured, judged, sent home, and made to feel less than because their skirt is maybe an inch too short or their shirt is a bit too low. This has to stop! 

Somehow the way a girl is dressed has become enough to affect her education and send her home. Boys have witnessed this behavior and learned the predatory narrative that the way a girl is dressed is grounds to objectify her because she is being “distracting.” However, we must teach young men that the clothing a woman wears shouldn’t be distracting or means to sexualize her, not that girls need to change the way they dress.

This exact thought process perpetuates rape culture, and boys learn that from a young age directly from the way schools regard their female students. “What was she wearing?” “Her skirt was too short; she deserved it.” “Why was she wearing that if she didn’t want anyone to touch her?” Sound familiar? Dress codes have always been increasingly aimed toward the sexualization of young girls. 

We need to do better as a community. We have young girls growing up who are learning that they have to monitor what they wear because their bodies are too sexual or too disturbing, but if we educate boys to respect women no matter what they wear, we are taking many steps forward and branching off from the years of discrimination and inequality women have had to face.