I’ve had it up to here (here being the part of my thigh where my fingertips rest, which is clearly the determining factor in whether or not my skirt length makes me look like a hussy) with the sexist policies girls have to abide by regarding how much skin they can show.
Recently the Internet has been ablaze over the story of a high-schooler named Clare who was forced to leave her senior prom due to her attire. Despite adhering to the dress code (making sure her dress reached fingertip length), Clare received a complaint from a chaperone that her dress was too short. After proving to the chaperone that her dress was of appropriate length, the chaperone hesitantly let Clare rejoin her friends. Later on the chaperone again approached Clare, telling her that some of the fathers that had been chaperoning complained that Clare’s dancing was inappropriate and would inspire the male prom attendees to think “impure thoughts.” Clare remains adamant that her dancing was closer to swaying, was in no way suggestive, and says she has friends who can verify these claims. However, Clare was forced to leave the prom.
Unfortunately, these sorts of things occur quite frequently. Back when I was in high school, one of my close friends was often the victim of similar complaints. Teachers would pull her aside and tell her that the amount of cleavage she was showing was inappropriate. The crazy thing is most of the time she was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. My friend was incredibly busty for her age; in order for her to cover her cleavage entirely she would have had to wear a turtleneck. Somehow these logistics didn’t seem to matter to school officials, though. I recall that I myself was once called to the principal’s office on a sweltering hot day, wearing a tank top and miniskirt, and was told my attire was too revealing. It’s ridiculous to expect girls to cover up every inch of skin in the scorching hot seasons in appropriately nicknamed ‘Hotlanta’ just so teenage boys don’t get turned on by a glimpse of a female thigh.
One of the many major issues with these dress codes is that they’re completely one-sided. A teacher wouldn’t glance twice at a boy wearing a low cut muscle tank and I’ve certainly never heard of a teenage boy being asked to take the ‘finger length test’ regarding his shorts. When I pointed out to my offended teachers that my male classmates’ boxers were constantly showing and nobody complained about that, they failed to see my point. These boys had pants so low that their undergarments were clearly visible yet somehow this wasn’t a problem and I know why — because male bodies aren’t sexualized the way that female ones are so women have to suffer the consequences.
The supposed problem with girls showing a lot of skin is that it distracts the boys. Of course, the patriarchal solution to this is to closely monitor the girls’ wardrobes when instead we should be teaching these young men to learn some self control so that women can wear a pair of short-shorts hassle-free in 90 degree weather.
