The CMS dress code is fat-phobic, racist, and sexist. < Please click on this link for context and read on the CMS Dress Code 2020-2021  > No one is distracted but teachers, and if teachers are distracted by young students’ appearances, then that's a problem and they shouldn't be teachers. Students know what other students look like outside of school so why is it so different inside the school? It's mainly because male teachers or teachers, in general, don't know how to keep their eyes to themselves. Those are the teachers that have a problem. Most dress codes target girls and people Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB). The dress code is teaching young women to hide their bodies in order for the men to not be distracted, instead, CMS should be teaching men to not stare at young women’s bodies because they are not a distraction.

The dress code is fat-phobic in the sense of requiring students to not wear clothes that are “too tight” or form-fitting. That administrators can dictate whether what one is wearing is too small or too tight. Another reason why the dress code is fat-phobic is because this requirement only applies to plus-size or bigger-sized girls and students. A student with a skinnier appearance will most likely not get dress coded for this in comparison to a more curvier appearance. 

The policy for no head wraps such as durags, bonnets, or scarves is offensive in a way that it targets the one main demographic of people who wear them, Black students and other Students of Color. These items not only allow for self-expression but it also allows the student to protect their hair. Notions that durags or scarfs symbolize gang culture are antiquated and stereotypical. Wearing such things can be a part of one's culture and to take it away from them is not only offensive but also goes against our human rights as people. 

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are supposed to be teaching us and preparing us for the real world, business, higher education, and careers. Teaching us that we are in charge of our own education and that we are in control of our own performance. Then why would something as small as a spaghetti strap or a durag distract us? We should, and are able to, stay focused on our own accord at school and in business settings.

Teachers and faculty members, this applies to you, too. Most likely to be the ones who have seen this in the work field. Whether it's from students, your coworkers, your boss, anyone. Being told what to wear in the classroom so you can "create an educational learning atmosphere", you are the teacher, you are the administrator, you can make those atmospheres first hand without the dress code. And you can help make those changes by starting here.