Payton Blankenship

Ms. Navarrete
Human Geo
12/16/2022

Why Dress Codes Are Unfair

This essay talks about how dress codes in school are unfair to certain students

like females and not males. Teachers in school say that females wear more “distracting”

clothing and it “attracts” men, but they are males who show the same thing but don't get

any kind of warning which is unfair. In this world, females get dress-coded and called

out everyday for the clothes they wear more than guys do and it's unfair to the females.

I chose this topic because I believe that females in school are treated unfairly and

differently due to the dress codes than guys do.

In addition to this it’s not just high schools that have dress codes that aren’t fair to

all students it also happens in middle schools. According to the article “Are Middle

School Dress Codes Sexist and Unfair?” by Halimeh Salem, it states “girls get dress

coded over 5x as often as boys during school. It is common for girls to express their

personalities through their clothing. Schools place many restrictions on the way girls

dress because they believe that girls’ clothing can distract male students.” It also states

that “What the school system doesn’t realize is that they are teaching girls that their

bodies cause issues. They are taught that it is the way they dress that causes males to

not be able to control themselves. Girls may begin to believe that it is their fault if they

are ever sexually assaulted or raped, rather than placing the blame on the person who
commits the assault.” Lastly it states “Middle school and high school dress codes can

be seen as sexist and unfair because they tend to target female students. According to

‘This Is Gendered’, dress codes negatively affect the way girls look at themselves.” All

of this evidence supports my claim because all the evidence states that dress codes

aren’t fair to all students, specifically females.

In addition to the previous evidence, in the article “The Sexism of School Dress

Codes” by Li Zhou it states ““I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though

they also break the rules,” says Sunseri, who last summer produced Shame: A

Documentary on School Dress Code, a film featuring interviews with dozens of her

classmates and her school principal, that explores the negative impact biased rules can

have on girls’ confidence and sense of self.” it also states “Transgender students have

been sent home for wearing clothing different than what’s expected of their legal sex,

while others have been excluded from yearbooks. Male students, using traditionally

female accessories that fell within the bounds of standard dress code rules, and vice

versa, have been nonetheless disciplined for their fashion choices.” Lastly it states “At

Woodford County High, the dress code bans skirts and shorts that fall higher than the

knee and shirts that extend below the collarbone. Recently, a photo of a female student

at the school who was sent home after wearing a seemingly appropriate outfit that

nonetheless showed a collarbone—went viral on Reddit and Twitter.” This evidence

supports my claim because they all state how students feel about dress codes, and how

it is unfair to students for dressing differently.

In conclusion, all this evidence supports how dress codes are unfair to all

students but mostly how it is unfair to females. As I mentioned before In this world,
females get dress-coded and called out everyday for the clothes they wear more than

boys do, and girls get dress-coded more than the guys do too. This issue needs to be

addressed because having specific students not being able to express themselves

through what they wear isn’t fair if other students around them can do the same and not

get any sort of penalty.