The Gender Equality Checkpoint

[BigV]

Stories like this abound. I haven't heard much objection to the idea of a dress codeo one is lobbying for the right to wear a toga or a swim suit or anything else ridiculous. What all the objections seem to be about are the sexual distraction a given outfit represents. As glatt points out and as I'm sure we've all experienced, sexual distraction is in the eye (or pants) of the beholder. It doesn't *have* to be especially revealing or exposing.

Reading through these articles I find one other thing common and that is the way the adults handle the situation is awful. The sexual shaming directed at these girls is horrible. It's not an exaggeration to see that comments like "your bare shoulder/curvy thigh/exposed neck/ankle/does it really matter? is provocative and invites unwelcome attention" is just more support of the rape culture. "She was asking for it, just look at that midriff." What. Bullshit.

When my daughter chooses her outfit, there's nothing in her closet that justifies sexual assault. And the same goes for my sons--what a woman in their field of view is wearing is in no way an excuse for any improper behavior on their part. Period.

Rape culture is also evident in the attitudes that lead school administrators to treat young girls’ bodies as inherently “distracting” to the boys who simply can’t control themselves. That approach to gender roles simply encourages our youth to assume that sexual crimes must have something to do with women’s “suggestive” clothes or behavior, rather than teaching them that every individual is responsible for respecting others’ bodily autonomy.

Listen to some of these idiot adult authorities (and their deputized parents/grandparents/meddling bystanders).

“Have y’all ever seen any ‘skanks’ around this school…I don’t want to see anyone’s ass hanging out of their shorts.”

A school superintendent in Noble, Oklahoma allegedly asked female students to bend over during a dress code check on the first week of school and claimed, “If you’re not comfortable with bending over, we might have a problem.”

For fuck's sake.

#CropTopDay

In an event page on Facebook, Halket wrote that a male teacher at Etobicoke School of the Arts complained that a shirt she was wearing one day looked “too much like a sports bra.”

“I went in to the office and refused to change or cover up, and I was sent to the principal where we talked for over an hour and came to no conclusion except a threat that if I wore something like this again I would be called in to the office,” she wrote.

Lots of good discussion in the comments on this article.

Teen Girl Kicked Out Of Prom So Her Dress Wouldn’t Lead Boys To ‘Think Impure Thoughts’

A 17-year-old high schooler from Virginia says she was kicked out of her prom because the parental chaperones were worried she was inspiring “impure thoughts” among the boys in attendance. Even though her dress adhered to the “fingertip length” dress code requirement, she was asked to leave.

More slut-shaming dress code examples.

No tight pants.

No yoga pants.

No curvature of breasts.

Kindergartner's skirt too short one week, not the other.

Degrading clothing inspections bordering on sexual harassment.

It is ridiculous. The sad thing is that this *could be* a golden opportunity, a teachable moment for all, including the person wearing the clothing about how to handle "distracting situations", but alas. No. I think it'll be alright, the stories we hear about are the epic fuckups by the administrators and parents; the successful outcomes just don't make the news, but I know they're out there. But some of these administrators need a different job.