Our school has had a dress code that targets and shames the female form for too long. We demand that our principal make changes to the dress code so that there is more equity in our community.

Female students have experienced issue after issue due to the dress code. We have missed out on education because their shoulders were showing. Tall and curvy girls are targeted even more, as the dress code aims to hide legs and figures. Additionally, it is rare that male students are stopped or sent home for how they dress, and the dress code is seemingly designed to accommodate their lack of self control around women. This has affected our lives by making us feel ashamed of their bodies, increasing insecurities, and ultimately hindering young womens’ ability to learn. 

I have also been personally affected by this issue. Since I have gained weight I have noticed that I have been wearing more jeans and t-shirts rather than the shorts and skirts that I would normally wear in fear of getting dress coded. This year the dress code has become more enforced this school year, and it has made many of us realize how unfair it really is. The dress code not only prevents students from truly expressing themselves, but it is also unjust, shifting the attention more towards young women. Not being able to wear tank tops on some of the hottest days, because girl’s shoulders might “provoke” a young man is not a reason to discriminate against women. It is not girl’s responsibility to make sure her skin will not provoke a boy. It is the school’s. We do not even have an issue with wearing clothes deemed to be “distracting” until the school brings attention to it. The only people our clothes are distracting to are the administrators. The education system is unprincipled in many different ways, and the dress code infuriates young men and women each and every day.

It is clear that the need for change has arrived. 

We, the undersigned, demand that Principal John Klaber initiates dress code changes to the Dress Code Committee so that gender discrimination no longer harms our community by targeting and shaming our bodies

Make our dress code fair, inclusive, and equal! When did our clothing choices become more important than our education?