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Reese Smith

Professor Perkins

ENGL 1302.910

August 2nd, 2022

Dress Codes and Regulations

Dress codes are basically a collection of guidelines that specify what apparel and

accessories people are allowed to wear. Dress rules are founded on certain social views and

customs, and they differ depending on the context, type of situation, and events. Dress codes

have been enforced in schools since the early 1900’s and have been creating arguments ever

since. Many have varying opinions on whether these dress codes are positive or negative in

schools, workplaces, sporting events, etc. Some people feel as if dress codes keep things

professional and reduce social conflict. However, over the years dress codes have created much

controversy and raised concerns among many. Most girls who have been in some sort of public

school, or even private school have been dress coded for something as simple as a tank top or

leggings. Due to the oversexulization of young girls, double standards between men and women,

and even the racism and classism that arises from dress codes and clothing regulations,

adjustments need to be made to fix these long held issues and to foster a healthier environment

for people in school and in the workplace.

Certain people still support dress codes for many reasons. They believe a dress code

encourages a more serious school environment that prioritizes education and positive behavior.

Along with this, they imply that dress codes have been shown to improve student achievement

by encouraging the scholars to focus on their education rather than their appearance, meaning the

students’ attention would be more towards school work. Many also feel as if clothing restrictions
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in schools decrease social problems and peer pressure which might arise from physical

appearance, and that there will be less pressure to keep up with styles and trends that can be

expensive and if there is less focus on apparel. Some of these things create an environment with

less bullying, but it does not completely stop it. An article from Kosher Casual says, “According

to studies, a school dress code helps decrease the occurrence of some habits such as aggression

and promiscuity that are commonly conveyed through clothing. Dressing rules, unlike uniforms,

allow students to wear anything they desire, creating a feeling of self-expression” (“Benefits of a

School Dress Code”). This viewpoint does differ greatly from people who don’t approve of the

dress codes, creating such staggering viewpoints on the issue.

Some of the specific rules that are created within dress codes seem to create a double

standard between men and women. As time has gone on and women have gotten more equality

and rights, it has come to the attention of many that dress codes are unfair and favor boys and

men. Over fifty percent of public schools in America have a dress code, which often includes

certain gender-specific rules. Because of the differences in how girls and boys dress, some

administrators believe these distinctions are justified and make sense. However, specific policies

that are directed towards females, account for a disproportionate amount of the dress rules

included in school handbooks in many instances. An article from Educators 4 a Change touches

on the importance of this by saying, “It is extremely important for educators to learn how to

teach in a school environment which has a dress code in order to promote a positive atmosphere

where students feel comfortable and safe in their own skin. In addition, making sure that girls

and transgender students don’t feel targeted by dress codes is a significant part of this process, as

all students should be equally affected by these restrictions” (“Teaching with Dress Code

Restrictions”). Transgender students often feel like dress codes limit their abilities to express
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themselves and create a wardrobe that helps them identify with themselves. When rules within

dress code policies specificy target girls and transgender students, it creates an unfair

environment. With this being said, when girls or transgender students are targeted by dress

codes, they are usually faced with a much bigger punishment than if it were a boy. Female

students have been punished by school administrators, sent home, or prevented from attending

events such as dances and field trips. With punishments like this for something as small as

spaghetti straps on a tank top or shorts an inch above finger-tip length, it is clear to see why

many want change to be made. This is why the problems came about and continue to even in

2022 because girls seem to have an increased amount of rules to follow for their attire and boys

skim by with no punishments.

While the double standards are a big issue, classism and racism are also problems that

have been shown in dress codes as well. An article written by Rouhollah Aghasaleh called

Oppressive Curriculum: Sexist, Racist, Classist, and Homophobic Practice of Dress Codes in

Schooling. depicts a lot of these racist and classist tendencies that occur within clothing

regulations. When discussing the dress codes and how they have the ability to create a positive

impact he says, “...all individuals should receive an equal respect and all cultures should be

valued equally in a public institution. How could we call for diversity and multiculturalism, and

yet tell students to leave their cultural knapsack at the door? Dress code means some bodies are

more privileged over the other. Dress code is to regulate and maintain the normative gender,

sexuality, race, and class” (Aghasaleh). The portrayal of working-class masculinity and

femininity is prevalent in dress codes, and race is undoubtedly a factor. Some of the regulations

and rules send the message that it wants to keep working-class and Black children, along with

instructors and staff out of the school setting. It also placed emphasis on what the South values in
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modesty. Dress codes seem to signify that White middle-class clothes and culture is preferred

over working-class and Black clothing and culture, creating a negative effect from the fact that

clothing is a socio-cultural construct that may signify race, class, sexuality, and many other

things (Aghasaleh). It is uncanny how similar the two patriarchal and White supremacist

structures of education and law enforcement function are when considering school dress code

policies and related issues, such as cultural diversity, racial profiling, gender bias, and

homophobia in the professional environment. Shannon M Ruzycki, a writer, touches on this in

her paper called, The contribution of undergraduate medical education dress codes to systemic

discrimination: A critical policy analysis, where she says “A discourse of ‘professionalism’

based on patient preferences prioritised Eurocentric patriarchal norms for appearance, potentially

penalising racially and culturally diverse students…. (dress codes) overregulate women and

gender, racially and culturally diverse students by explicitly and implicitly enforcing white

patriarchal social norms. Administrators should apply best practices to these policies to avoid

discrimination and a hostile culture to marginalised groups.” (Ruzycki). Sexism, racism, and

classism could be just as cruel and lethal in formal and informal curriculum as they are in the

other racist situations. With a male center gaze and white middle-class norms that act as a

concealed curriculum with built-in biases, dress codes communicate racism and sexism.

But not only do dress codes show racism and classism in schools, they also prove to be

present in workplace dressing too. Many people of color in a workplace feel they have to dress a

certain way to “prove themselves” or to get the same type of privileges or promotions a white

person would. This is discussed in a paper written by Mitra Kalita called The new, more relaxed

rules for office dressing, where she discusses how COVID-19 is changing the future of the

workplace, specifically the dress regulations. She notes, “AN IMPORTANT EXCEPTION to the
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move toward casual office dressing is people of color. A Slack Future Forum survey found 81%

of Black respondents in the U.S. say they prefer a fully remote or hybrid workplace, which offers

some relief from the micro aggressions and extra scrutiny that come with in-person work—and

the biases built into the norms defined as "professional" appearance” (Kalita). The large

percentage of people of color who prefer not to work in an office is staggering, and shows how

prevalent these problems are. When people would rather work from home because they are

worried about racism and bias, change needs to be made.

Going hand in hand with the double standards, dress codes also stimulate the

oversexulization amongst women in school and in the workplace. Many young girls who are

students all around the world feel as if dress codes enable boys to sexual girls’ attire and punish

the girls for it. An article called Are My Pants Lowering Your Test Scores? Blaming Girls and

Girls' Empowerment for the "Boy Crisis" in Education, magnifies this issue and gives research to

back it up. Sara Goodkind, the writer of the article argues, “girls of color were held accountable

for boys' sexual and even academic behavior. We argue that this misattribution of blame

succeeds by capitalizing on entrenched gender roles that cast girls/women as responsible for

boys/men and on neoliberal rhetoric trumpeting postfeminist, commercialized "girl power" and

the virtue of personal responsibility. We focus particularly on how girls' supposed newfound

empowerment is folded into the long-standing discourse of girl blame by posing girl power as a

problem for boys” (Goodkind). Even the title of the article goes to show how the

oversexualization of young girls in schools is wrong and demeaning.

Oversexualization of women isn’t just occurring in schools, though, but also in

workplaces and world-wide events, like the recent Summer 2022 Olympics that were held in

Tokyo, Japan. Headlines were made when officials came under fire because they were mad the
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Norway Beach Handball women decided to wear shorts instead of the usual required attire of

bikini bottoms. Steve Sack, a man from the Star Tribune created a political cartoon to showcase

the sexualization of women and injustice in this instance. The audience sees the political cartoon

and a sense of compassion comes about. This is because of the diction Steve Sack uses. In the

cartoon there are two bystanders off to the side glancing at two men dressed in suits with

briefcases. At the top of the picture there is a statement that suggests “In a perfect world”...

(Sack). The bystanders are then talking to each other, and they are making a comment towards

the men which says, “New dress code for the sports executives who set rules for what women

athletes must wear…” (Sack). The specification of women in this statement is for a reason. It

seems that most of these sports executives who were mad about the Beach Handball Teams

wardrobe change were men. And the only people required to have these small and not very

covering outfits, would be women. While many sports executives at the Olympics were more

concerned with shorts the women had on, they were less focused on the actual game at stake and

how the women were playing. When this oversexualization of women through dress codes

occurs at such a public, well-known event, people take notice, and this makes many angry.

Lots of people feel as if dress codes keep things professional and reduce social conflict.

They have bought into the idea that a dress code encourages a more serious school environment

that prioritizes education and positive behavior. However, the double standards present between

men and women, the oversexualizaition of women and even young girls, as well as the distinct

racism and classism that occurs because of this dress codes is wrong and disheartening. Many

young girls who are students all around the world feel as if dress codes enable boys to sexual

girls’ attire and punish the girls for it. Even women as adults are being sexualized by dress codes,
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but in a different way. If dress codes are not adjusted to fix these long held issues, then

disagreements will keep occurring, even leading to things such as court cases or large protests.
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Works Cited

“5 Benefits of a School Dress Code.” Kosher Casual, https://www.koshercasual.com/5-

Benefits-of-a-School-Dress-Code_b.html#:~:text=Here%20are%20some%20of

%20the,and%20less%20on%20their%20wardrobe.

“Teaching with Dress Code Restrictions.” Educators 4 Social Change,

https://educators4sc.org/classroom-practices/teaching-with-dress-code-restrictions/?

utm_campaign=&utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=adwords&utm_term=student+dress+

code&hsa_tgt=kwd-

112446192&hsa_mt=b&hsa_acc=2755491261&hsa_grp=129221826160&hsa_ver=3&

hsa_src=g&hsa_cam=14493075334&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_kw=student+dress+code

&hsa_ad=542927736705&gclid=CjwKCAjw46CVBhB1EiwAgy6M4m7TtILk4nAgZLSyb

0LTaE6g47OVBTGnMeu_bFDORmNCaVBG_r8LBBoC9DsQAvD_BwE.

Aghasaleh, Rouhollah. “Oppressive Curriculum: Sexist, Racist, Classist, and

Homophobic Practice of Dress Codes in Schooling.” Journal of African American

Studies, vol. 22, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 94–108. EBSCOhost, https://doi-

org.library.collin.edu/10.1007/s12111-018-9397-5.

Goodkind, Sara, and Laina Bay-Cheng. “Are My Pants Lowering Your Test Scores?

Blaming Girls and Girls’ Empowerment for the ‘Boy Crisis’ in Education.” Youth &

Society, vol. 53, no. 5, July 2021, pp. 745–63. EBSCOhost, https://doi-

org.library.collin.edu/10.1177/0044118X19892357.

Kalita, S.Mitra, et al. “The New, More Relaxed Rules for Office Dressing.” TIME

Magazine, vol. 198, no. 21/22, Dec. 2021, p. 34. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-
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com.library.collin.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=153743039&site=ehost-

live.

Ruzycki, Shannon M., et al. “The Contribution of Undergraduate Medical Education

Dress Codes to Systemic Discrimination: A Critical Policy Analysis.” Medical

Education, June 2022, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.library.collin.edu/10.1111/medu.14854.

Sack, Steve. “Sack Cartoon: Olympics Dress Codes.” Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 27 July

2021, https://www.startribune.com/sack-cartoon-olympics-dress-codes/600082071/.