ACurricular Critiqueof School Dress Codesin The Clearing House AJournalof Educational Strategies Issuesand Ideas

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/339055039
A Curricular Critique of School Dress Codes
Article in The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas · February 2020
DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2020.1721415
CITATIONS READS
4 14,947
1 author:
Gretchen Whitman
Kent State University
8 PUBLICATIONS 23 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Gretchen Whitman on 30 November 2020.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

A Curricular Critique of School Dress Codes: The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol 0, No 0 2/24/20, 3(18 PM
Access provided by University of Wisconsin River Falls & Log in | Register Cart
Journal Enter keywords, authors, DOI, ORCIDThis

etc Journal
The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational
Strategies, Issues and Ideas ∠ !
Latest Articles Advanced search
40 Listen
Views
Viewpoints
0
CrossRef citations
to date
A Curricular Critique of School
0 Dress Codes
Altmetric Gretchen Marie Whitman #
Published online: 05 Feb 2020
$ Download citation % https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2020.1721415
Abstract
Related articles
The absence of comprehensive educational theory regarding
Schooling Sexual Cultures :
dress codes results in deference to community norms as a Visual Research in Sexuality
Education
way to determine implementation and compliance. Louisa Allen et al., Taylor &
Francis Group, 2017
Implementing dress codes ultimately results in inconsistent
Kissing brides and loving hot
practices and violations of students’ rights. To the detriment vampires: children’s
to student learning, dress codes disproportionately affect construction and
perpetuation of
girls and students of color embodying them as sexualized heteronormativity in
elementary school
and inferior. Females are treated like objects while males are classrooms
Caitlin L. Ryan, Sex
assumed to be incapable of controlling their sexual desires. Education, 2015
School dress codes have been adopted as a means of Unfulfilled hopes in
education for equity:
controlling student behavior without fully exploring the
redesigning the mathematics
relationship between curriculum and virtue. The current curriculum in a US high
school
inconsistent dress code policies in schools violate curriculum Lecretia A. Buckley, Journal
of Curriculum Studies, 2009
theorists’ calls for a caring, democratic classroom
Developing Citizens for
environment. As part of the hidden curriculum in schools, Democracy? Assessing
Opportunities to Learn in
dress codes serve to perpetuate oppression of females and Chicago's Social Studies
Classrooms
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NCYNQIYJPSR6HK549BJH/full?target=10.1080/00098655.2020.1721415 Page 1 of 17
Joseph Kahne et al., Theory

minorities, thereby promoting the hegemony of the white & Research in Social
male. Education, 2012
Medical students need better

Keywords: Curriculum theory, dress code, student rights, stereotypes training on the needs of
LGBT+ patients
Jeremias L K Reich et al.,
The BMJ, 2019
Adolescent Sexual Violence:

Introduction Prevalence, Adolescent
Risks, and Violence
Characteristics
At the beginning of the Back-to-School season there are PracticeUpdate, 2018
dozens of news stories about students being “dress coded” Making Mathematics More
Practical
for various infractions. For example, at the beginning of the Yew Hoong Leong et al.,
2019–2020 school year, a South Carolina mother argued World Scientific, 2013
Beyond Counting Tree Rings

against the school dress code because it unfairly targeted
her daughter for wearing yoga pants to school without a long GenomeWeb, 2017
t-shirt covering her bottom (Associated Press 2019). The

common intimation is that when students are punished for Powered
by
dress code violations, teachers are “slut shaming” girls by
saying that their clothing is “disruptive to teaching and
learning” (Dockterman 2014, 1). Such a practice sends a
People also read
message to girls that they are to blame for male students’
and teachers’ inability to keep their eyes to themselves
Article
(Bates 2015). Punishment for dress code violations makes
School
girls feel guilt; and in the event of a sexual assault, uniform
“conditions boys to victim-blame women later in life” policy’s
(Dockterman 2014, 1). Dress codes are an integral adverse
impact on
educational practice because they set standards and are
equity and
laden with meaning, yet curriculum theory largely ignores access to
their existence. schooling
Amra Sabic-El-
Rayess et al.
Hidden curriculum
Compare: A Journal
of Comparative and
International
According to Aghasaleh (2018), many school dress codes are Education
Latest Articles
a form of oppression, disproportionately targeting females
Published online: 11
and minorities. This practice “means some bodies are more Mar 2019
privileged over the other” (p. 102). A focus on students
wearing yoga pants, tight jeans, spaghetti straps and the like
Article
has made girls feel ashamed of their bodies. In essence girls Effects of
are being told that they are disrupting the educational Student
experiences of other students, boys in particular. In addition, Uniforms on
many minority students are further marginalized when they
Attendance,
Behavior
are punished for wearing hooded sweatshirts or saggy jeans.
Problems,
This situation is best summed up by Aghasaleh’s assertion Substance
that “dress codes convey sexism with a male center gaze and Use, and
racism with White middle-class norms that serve as a hidden Academic
Achievement
curriculum with inherent biases” (p. 94).
Dress codes are established in order to enforce order and

David L. Brunsma
decorum, however there are double messages being sent.
et al.
This implicit “slut-shaming” of girls through school- The Journal of
Educational Research
sanctioned dress codes is a prime example of Michael Volume 92, 1998 - Issue
1
Apple’s concept of the hidden curriculum which refers to “the
Published online: 1
norms and values that are implicitly, but effectively, taught in Apr 2010
schools and that are not usually talked about in teachers’

statements or end goals” (Apple 1979, 84). By reinforcing this
Article
notion that girls need to cover up, schools are telling girls
Dressing “in
that they need to be ashamed of their bodies. code”:
Clothing
Coupled with the hidden curriculum present in dress codes rules,
is the idea of hegemony, which “implies that patterns in propriety,
society are held together by their tacit ideological and
perceptions
assumptions, rules if you will, which are not usually
conscious, as well as economic control and power” (Apple
1979, 86). This invisible oppression relegates girls to a
Regan A. R.
subordinate position in both their treatment vis-à-vis dress Gurung et al.
codes and the elevation of boys’ educational experiences The Journal of Social
Psychology
above their own. Volume 158, 2018 -
Issue 5
Published online: 8
By considering that girls’ clothing can distract boys from their Nov 2017
studies is an affront to boys by suggesting that they are weak

and unable to control base, animalistic urges. To place the
Article
education of boys in the crosshairs of the dress code debate
is unfair not only to girls, but it assumes that boys are
incapable of controlling sexual desire and therefore need to Uniforms in

the Middle
have temptation locked away from them. Furthermore, it
School:
ignores the fact that like all humans, boys have the ability to
Student
reflect on their actions, make decisions and apply reason. Opinions,
Discipline
A study of high school dress codes in the District of Columbia Data, and
found that African American female students are more School Police
frequently cited for dress code violations (Barrett 2018). Data
These students are implicitly being told that their education
Jafeth E. Sanchez
is not as important as their male and white counterparts.
et al.
According to Lovell (2016), the practice has been ongoing Journal of School
Violence
since the 1960s when “schools recognized the power of strict Volume 11, 2012 - Issue
4
gender-specific and class-specific dress codes in suppressing
Published online: 4
youth anarchy” (p. 77). A focus on adolescent girls’ clothing Sep 2012
sexualizes them thereby creating an environment in which

students are made to feel unworthy or uncomfortable,
Article
effectively robbing them of their innocence.
Undressing
policy: a
Wesley Null (2011) states that “the relationship between
critical
virtue and curriculum making has not been explored, and analysis of
the curriculum field has suffered for it” (p. 269). Likewise, North
school dress codes have been adopted as measures of Carolina
(USA) public
controlling behavior without fully exploring this relationship
school dress
between curriculum and virtue. Aristotle’s concept of virtue codes
holds that it “separates humans from animals because it
requires reason, a capacity that animals do not possess. Torrie K. Edwards
Aristotle furthermore maintains that virtue is a characteristic et al.
Gender and
of our souls, not an excellence of the body” (p. 266). Divided Education
Latest Articles
into two categories, the moral and the intellectual, virtues
encompass such notions as courage, friendship, practical Jul 2018
wisdom, intelligence, theoretical wisdom, science, art,

generosity, faith, hope, love, moderation and justice (Hendry
Article
2011; Noddings 2012; Null 2011). The ideas that education
should promote the intellectual, physical and moral self;
include essential topics of study; and a mutually beneficial
relationship between teacher and pupil, have become the
foundation for Western education (Hendry 2011). For
centuries scholars have studied the teachings of Aristotle Disciplining

the Female
and one of his “great legacies is his lasting influence on
Student
moral education” (Noddings 2012, 166). It is from this legacy
Body:
that school dress codes need to be examined and Consequenti
administered. When an adversarial relationship is being al
fostered through issues of control over student dress, the Transference
in
question needs to be asked: What virtues are school dress
Arguments
codes teaching children? for School
Dress
Codes
Letter of the law

Meredith Neville-
Shepard
While the matter of school dress codes has escaped the Women's Studies in
Communication
critical gaze of curriculum theorizing, the area of law has Volume 42, 2019 - Issue
1
been grappling with this issue with regard to students’ rights
under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The First May 2019
Amendment protects citizens’ freedom of speech and

expression, while in terms of dress codes the Fourteenth
Amendment involves issues of personal liberty in which the
Equal Protection Clause is commonly invoked (Smith 2012;
Wilson 1998). The most well-known case involving the First
Amendment and school dress codes is Tinker v. Des Moines,
393U. S. 503 (1968). In this case, students were suspended
because they chose to wear black armbands to school as a
way of protesting the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court
“agreed with the students and held that they had been
suspended in violation of their rights” (Wilson 1998, 3).
Other noteworthy issues involving school dress code

violations have involved hair length, T-shirt slogans, and the
wearing of earrings to show gang affiliation. In these cases
the decisions have been largely split. Historically when dress
codes have been challenged on the grounds of the First
Amendment, courts have upheld a school district’s right to
maintain health and safety of students. The courts have
afforded more protection to issues concerning symbolic
expression and less to dress and grooming (Lunenberg

2011). When deciding whether student dress is acceptable,
courts tend to “distinguish between dress codes that
regulate the medium of expression rather than the contents
of the message” (Weisenberger 2000, 7). Courts often defer
to the rulings of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 484U.S. 260 (1988)
and Bethel v. Fraser, 478U.S. 675 (1986) in which free speech
was challenged. Neither case had to do with dress codes,
- Top
however their rulings distinguished between speech that is
+
“political,
, Full Article vulgar/lewd/offensive,
( Figures & data and school
) References sponsored”|
$ Citations (p.Metrics + Reprints & Permissions
4). Essentially, schools must determine whether the free

In this article'
speech on a T-shirt is protected and to what extent that
Abstract protection applies to students (Mitchell and Knechtle 2003).
Introduction
However, the bottom line is that the courts defer to the
school districts in their goal of “maintaining an educational
Hidden curriculum
environment conducive to learning and in teaching students
Letter of the law community norms” (Wilson 1998, p. 4).
The behavioral
The troubling issue here is the continuity of community
caveat
norms. When “the court effectively adopts a ‘majority rules’
Is there a solution?
approach in determining what are appropriate values they
Conclusion must recognize and protect” (Smith 2012, 257) it essentially
marginalizes segments of the student population. The
References
question arises of what the community considers a “norm”
and who decides on these norms. In most cases it is the
majority culture that determines these norms, therefore,
“the dominant elites consider the remedy to be more
domination and repression, carried out in the name of
freedom, order, and social peace” (Freire 2000, 78).
The Fourteenth Amendment has been the best avenue for

legal challenges to school dress codes in cases involving
transgender students. In Harper v. Edgewood, 655F. Supp.
1353 (S.D. Ohio 1987) students were prohibited from
wearing clothing to the prom that was typically worn by the
opposite sex. In another situation, Youngblood v. School
Board of Hillsborough County, 02-1089-24 (M.D. Fla. 2002) a
girl’s yearbook photo was deleted because she chose to

dress in clothing considered more appropriate for a male.
Even though the case settled out of court, this complaint is
indicative of many situations in which “even where a school
permits a student to wear gender nonconforming clothing,
school dress codes are sometimes applied in a
discriminatory way in specific situations, such as yearbook
photographs” (Franson 2013, 5). In the case of Pat Doe v.
Yunits, 001060A (Mass. Cmmw. 2001), a Massachusetts
middle-school student was subjected to daily dress code
screening because after being diagnosed with Gender
Identity Disorder, the biological male student identified as
female. The school found the student’s desire to wear female
clothing to be distracting. The student filed a suit against the
school and was supported by the courts on the basis of the
Fourteenth Amendment as well as Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964. By forcing these dress code standards on the
child, the school was found to be in violation of both the
student’s right to free expression and subjecting her to
sexual discrimination. While the student was adjudicated,
the bigger picture here, points to the fact that such
“heteronormative structures are limiting” (Sumara and Davis
2013, 315). Furthermore, by continuing to force students to
dress in a manner antithetical to their personal identity,
schools can do irreparable harm to a student’s identity
development.
According to Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development a

person’s “identity includes comfort with body and
appearance, comfort with gender and sexual orientation, a
sense of one’s social and cultural heritage” (Evans et al. 2010,
68) among other things. Without being able to attend to
these issues at a young age, a person could face identity
crises later in life causing crippling effects to both self-
esteem and interpersonal relationships. If a dress code’s
purpose is that a school “provides the foundation that
supports all children in their development as lifelong

learners and contributing members of the community”
(Massachusetts Executive Office of Education 2015), then by
subjecting students to such scrutiny does not meet the mark.
These legal cases create situations in which the students are

made to feel abnormal, such that “usually the ‘deviant’ label
has an essentializing quality in that a person’s (here, a
student’s) entire relationship to an institution is conditioned
by the category applied to him… and is usually viewed as
morally inferior” (Apple 1979, 135). Dress is effectively a way
in which young people in particular, express themselves and
to come under attack for it is destabilizing (DaCosta 2006;
Wilson 2012). Smith (2012) writes that “the proffered intent
of school dress codes is to keep students safe and focused
on their work. While this is a valid and necessary objective,
there is a fine line between preventing distractions and
infringing upon constitutional rights” (p. 252). It is essential
that these cases of discrimination be settled not only by a
court of law but prevented in the first place by well-thought
out policies based on informed theory.
The intention of dress codes is to protect students and to

maintain a conducive learning environment free from
distractions, however, many of these so-called infractions
seem to be more about maintaining social norms and
ignoring diversity (Lindsay 2015). In continuing to ignore
students’ rights to freedom of individual expression of
individuality, gender and religious preferences, school
districts are complicit in this hegemony that aids the
“reproduction of society, its class structure, cultural
variations, (and) institutions” (Grumet 1988, 4).
The behavioral caveat
Not all issues related to school dress codes are related to
suppressing of student self-expression or the sexualizing of

girls. In some instances there may be a real need for dress
codes in order to maintain actual law and order of the
schools. According to Holloman et al. (1996), “minimal
empirical research exists about the relationship between
dress and behavior among youth in the school setting” (p.
270) however, many urban schools have dress codes in place
that restrict what students can wear in an effort to stop
students from displaying gang affiliations. In addition, some
schools ban the wearing of certain expensive clothing items
so that students will not fall victim to theft. Clothing with
inappropriate slogans or depictions gives administrators just
cause for having students change their clothes. Few would
argue that obscenities in a school setting infringe on a
student’s rights to free speech.
All this being said, there still exists prejudice when

implementing dress codes. The wearing of certain colors or
styles of clothing at schools has been prohibited among
African American students, but white students at the same
schools have been allowed to wear these colors or symbols
(Herbon and Workman 2000). It has been noted that many
“dress codes may contain an inherent racial bias because
they tend to focus on clothing associated with African-
American gangs while ignoring other groups such as white
supremacist gangs” (Wilson 1998, 1). There is little evidence
showing a direct correlation between student dress and
violence, or even a reduction in gang membership, yet many
schools continue to restrict the wearing of earrings among
males and certain expensive clothing items (Holloman et al.
1996; Herbon and Workman 2000). Many of the preferred
clothing items and hairstyles worn by African American
students differ from the white, middle-class social norms
and therefore this “often causes undue and disproportionate
attention to be directed toward the dress-related behavior of
African American youth” (Holloman et al. 1996, 272).
Is there a solution?
Researcher Diane Gereluk (2006, 2007) has grappled with the

issue of dress codes in both Canada and the United States.
She stated that “decisions regarding dress rest primarily with
those who are in office at a particular time” (p. 644), and
furthermore, “few guidelines are available to help educators
and policy analysts to deal with these matters in a more
consistent way” (p. 644). Gilbert (1999), on the other hand,
suggested several principles to consider when implementing
effective dress codes. While Gereluk looks at this process
from the viewpoint of an educator, Gilbert provides a legal
lens. When taken together, a framework for administrators
to use when creating dress codes emerges. Dress codes
should:
Maintain health and safety of students
Minimize learning disruptions
Prevent intimidation, harassment, and oppression
Give consideration to students’ gender identity
Undergo continuous review for relevance
Recognize that style of dress is not a speech act
Be age appropriate
Ignore hair length as an issue
Finally, school administrators should be able to provide a

clear rationale for each guideline.
Increased scrutiny of student dress codes and the

subsequent punishment of students, girls in particular, has
led to some changes. The majority of these changes are the
result of activism on the part of students, parents, and
school personnel. For example, Neville-Shepard (2019)

explains that a high school in Evanston, Illinois enforced an
equal treatment policy stating that individual students and
teachers are responsible for controlling their own reactions
to student dress without infringing on a students’ rights to
self-expression.
As opposed to mere dress codes, some (e.g., Holloman et al.

1996; Wilson 1998; Workman, Freeburg, and Lentz-Hees
2004) have studied the use of school uniforms. Embraced
back in the Clinton administration, school uniforms were
deemed as “a means of reducing and preventing dress-
related violence and other problems in public schools”
(Holloman et al. 1996, 268). Advocates see uniforms as
having an equalizing effect on students. Implemented in
such a way that all students wear the exact same thing
regardless of ethnicity or gender, creates a gender-neutral
dress code that leaves little room for self-expression, but
also leaves little room for interpreting, what some consider
arbitrary rules.
Conclusion
In the absence of comprehensive educational research and

theory school administrators are given little guidance on
developing school dress codes. They are given no choice but
to turn to case law and community norms to determine
these policies. Some current some dress code practices in
school districts sexualize young girls and further marginalize
minority students. Based on current news articles as well as
the case law, it is evident that a disproportionate amount of
dress code regulations target girls and minority students.
This has a tendency to send the message to these students
that they are inferior or outside of the accepted cultural
norms of the community. Dress codes are often applied
inconsistently among different groups of students,

particularly African American students. In so doing, school
administrators are reproducing an oppressive class structure
that has existed for centuries. Because dress codes are an
undertheorized curricular practice, there needs to be
continued scrutiny of their implementation.
While there is no clear-cut answer to this issue, it is

important that dress code rules are applied thoughtfully,
fairly, and within the confines of students’ constitutional
rights.
References
1. Aghasaleh, R. 2018. Oppressive curriculum: Sexist, racist,

classist, and homophobic practice of dress codes in
schooling. Journal of African American Studies 22
(1):94–108. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
2. Apple, M. W. 1979. Ideology and curriculum. Boston:

Routledge & Kegan Paul. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
3. Associated Press. 2019, September 7. Mother says school

district dress code unfair to girls. US News and World
Report, p. 1. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-
states/south-carolina/articles/2019-09-07/mother-says-
school-district-dress-code-unfair-to-girls. [Google Scholar]
4. Barrett, K. 2018. When school dress codes discriminate.

neaToday. http://neatoday.org/2018/07/24/when-school-
dress-codes-discriminate/to-girls. [Google Scholar]
5. Bates, L. 2015, May 22. How school dress codes shame

girls and perpetuate rape culture. Time. www.time.com.
[Google Scholar]
6. DaCosta, K. 2006. Dress code blues: An exploration of

urban students’ reactions of a public high school uniform.
The Journal of Negro Education 75 (1):49–59.
[Google Scholar]
7. Dockterman, E. 2014, September 19. Schools are still slut-

shaming girls while enforcing dress code. Time.
www.time.com. [Google Scholar]
8. Evans, N. J., D. S. Forney, F. M. Guido, L. D. Patton, and K. A.

Renn. 2010. Student development in college: Theory,
research, and practice, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[Google Scholar]
9. Franson, H. V. 2013. The rise of the transgender child:

Overcoming societal stigma, Institutional discrimination,
and individual bias to enact and enforce
nondiscriminatory dress code policies. University of
Colorado Law Review 84 (497):1–21. [Google Scholar]
10. Freire, P. 2000. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York:

Bloomsbury. [Google Scholar]
11. Gereluk, D. 2006. Why can’t I wear this?! Banning symbolic

clothing in schools. Philosophy of Education Yearbook
2006:106–14. [Google Scholar]
12. Gereluk, D. 2007. What not to wear: Dress codes and

uniform policies in the common school. Journal of
Philosophy of Education 41 (4):643–57.
[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
13. Gilbert, C. B. 1999. We are what we wear: Revisiting

student dress codes. Brigham Young University Education
& Law Journal 1999 (2):1–12. [Google Scholar]
14. Grumet, M. R. 1988. Bitter milk. Amherst: The University of

Massachusetts Press. doi: 10.1086/ahr/94.4.1162.
[Crossref], [Google Scholar]
15. Hendry, P. M. 2011. Engendering curriculum history. New

York: Routledge. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
16. Herbon, B., and J. E. Workman. 2000. Dress and

appearance codes in public secondary school handbooks.
Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences 92 (5):68–76.
[Google Scholar]
17. Holloman, L. O., V. LaPoint, S. I. Alleyne, R. J. Palmer, and K.

Sanders-Phillips. 1996. Dress-related behavioral problems
and violence in the public-school setting: Prevention,
intervention, and policy – A holistic approach. The Journal
of Negro Education 65 (3):267–81. [Crossref],
[Google Scholar]
18. Lindsay, R. 2015. Why school dress codes may be harmful

to girls. The Christian Science Monitor, January, pp. 26–28.
[Google Scholar]
19. Lovell, K. 2016. Girls are equal too: Education, body

politics, and the making of teenage feminism. Gender
Issues 33 (2):71–95. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar]
20. Lunenberg, F. C. 2011. Can schools regulate student dress
and grooming in school? Focus on Colleges and

Universities 5 (1):1–4. [Google Scholar]
21. Massachusetts Executive Office of Education. 2015.

Mission statement.
http://www.mass.gov/edu/government/departments-and-
boards/department-of-early-education-and-care/mission-
statement.html. [Google Scholar]
22. Mitchell, H. W., and J. C. Knechtle. 2003. Uniforms in public

schools and the First Amendment: A constitutional
analysis. The Journal of Negro Education 72 (4):487–94.
[Crossref], [Google Scholar]
23. Neville-Shepard, M. 2019. Disciplining the female student

body: Consequential transference in arguments for school
dress codes. Women’s Studies in Communication 42
(1):1–20. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar]
24. Noddings, N. 2012. Philosophy of education, 3rd ed.

Boulder: Westview Press. [Google Scholar]
25. Null, W. 2011. Curriculum: From theory to practice.

Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
[Google Scholar]
26. Smith, N. 2012. Eliminating gender stereotypes in public

school dress codes: The necessity of respecting personal
preference. Journal of Law & Education 41 (1):251–9.
[Google Scholar]
27. Sumara, D., and B. Davis. 2013. Interrupting

heteronormativity: Toward a queer curriculum theory. In
Curriculum studies reader, eds. D. J. Flinders and S. J.
Thornton, 4th ed., 315–29. New York: Routledge.

[Google Scholar]
28. Weisenberger, C. 2000. Constitution or conformity: When

the shirt hits the fan in public schools. Journal of Law and
Education 29 (1):1–8. [Google Scholar]
29. Wilson, A. M. 1998. Public school dress codes: The

constitutional debate. Education & Law 1998 (1):1–13.
[Google Scholar]
30. Wilson, C. 2012. No piercings? No tattoos? That'll teach

them. USA Today, August, p. 1. [Google Scholar]
31. Workman, J. E., E. W. Freeburg, and E. S. Lentz-Hees. 2004.

Sanctions connected to dress code violations in secondary
school handbooks. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences
96 (4):40–7. [Google Scholar]
Browse journals by subject Back to top ∠
Area Studies
Arts
Behavioral Sciences
Bioscience
Built Environment
Communication Studies
Computer Science
Development Studies
Earth Sciences
Economics, Finance, Business & Industry
Education
Engineering & Technology
Environment & Agriculture
Environment and Sustainability
Food Science & Technology
Geography
Health and Social Care
Humanities
Information Science
Language & Literature
Law
Mathematics & Statistics
Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health
Museum and Heritage Studies
Physical Sciences
Politics & International Relations
Social Sciences
Sports and Leisure
Tourism, Hospitality and Events
Urban Studies
Information for Open access Help and info Keep up to date
Authors Overview Help & contact Register to receive personalised

research and resources by email
Editors Open journals Newsroom
Librarians Open Select Commercial services
/ Sign me up
Societies Cogent OA All journals 01
23
Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited Privacy policy Cookies Terms & conditions Accessibility
Registered in England & Wales No. 3099067

5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG
View publication stats

ACurricular Critiqueof School Dress Codesin The Clearing House AJournalof Educational Strategies Issuesand Ideas

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ACurricular Critiqueof School Dress Codesin The Clearing House AJournalof Educational Strategies Issuesand Ideas

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

A Curricular Critique of School Dress Codes

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Journal Enter keywords, authors, DOI, ORCIDThis

$ Download citation % https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2020.1721415

Joseph Kahne et al., Theory

Medical students need better

Adolescent Sexual Violence:

Beyond Counting Tree Rings

t-shirt covering her bottom (Associated Press 2019). The

privileged over the other” (p. 102). A focus on students

Dress codes are established in order to enforce order and

schools and that are not usually talked about in teachers’

studies is an aﬀront to boys by suggesting that they are weak

incapable of controlling sexual desire and therefore need to Uniforms in

sexualizes them thereby creating an environment in which

wisdom, intelligence, theoretical wisdom, science, art,

centuries scholars have studied the teachings of Aristotle Disciplining

Letter of the law

Amendment protects citizens’ freedom of speech and

Other noteworthy issues involving school dress code

expression and less to dress and grooming (Lunenberg

4). Essentially, schools must determine whether the free

The Fourteenth Amendment has been the best avenue for

girl’s yearbook photo was deleted because she chose to

According to Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development a

supports all children in their development as lifelong

These legal cases create situations in which the students are

The intention of dress codes is to protect students and to

The behavioral caveat

Not all issues related to school dress codes are related to

suppressing of student self-expression or the sexualizing of

All this being said, there still exists prejudice when

Researcher Diane Gereluk (2006, 2007) has grappled with the

Maintain health and safety of students

Minimize learning disruptions

Prevent intimidation, harassment, and oppression

Give consideration to students’ gender identity

Undergo continuous review for relevance

Recognize that style of dress is not a speech act

Ignore hair length as an issue

Finally, school administrators should be able to provide a

Increased scrutiny of student dress codes and the

school personnel. For example, Neville-Shepard (2019)

As opposed to mere dress codes, some (e.g., Holloman et al.

In the absence of comprehensive educational research and

inconsistently among diﬀerent groups of students,

While there is no clear-cut answer to this issue, it is

1. Aghasaleh, R. 2018. Oppressive curriculum: Sexist, racist,

2. Apple, M. W. 1979. Ideology and curriculum. Boston:

3. Associated Press. 2019, September 7. Mother says school

4. Barrett, K. 2018. When school dress codes discriminate.

5. Bates, L. 2015, May 22. How school dress codes shame

6. DaCosta, K. 2006. Dress code blues: An exploration of

7. Dockterman, E. 2014, September 19. Schools are still slut-

8. Evans, N. J., D. S. Forney, F. M. Guido, L. D. Patton, and K. A.

9. Franson, H. V. 2013. The rise of the transgender child:

10. Freire, P. 2000. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York:

11. Gereluk, D. 2006. Why can’t I wear this?! Banning symbolic

12. Gereluk, D. 2007. What not to wear: Dress codes and

[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]

13. Gilbert, C. B. 1999. We are what we wear: Revisiting

14. Grumet, M. R. 1988. Bitter milk. Amherst: The University of