A common debate of this century is whether or not social media is obscuring the rights of students in public schools, however, one major and overlooked problem regarding freedom of speech in schools is what girls are allowed to wear as opposed to boys. There are many dress codes limiting the allowance of certain articles of clothing for women, but not their counterparts for men. Often times the reason for this limitation of what women are allowed to wear is due to it being distracting for boys. Freedom of speech? for women is  being suppressed by many schools across the nation.

It is often noted that what males and females are allowed to wear in school is different, even if the articles of clothing are the same. Schools throughout the nation prevent girls from wearing yoga pants and leggings to school, however, the same schools have no problem when males wear leggings to school. Girls are often told to change out of their outfits, while boys, with pants sagging so low you can see their underwear, are just told to pull their pants up: “In Indiana, a 12-year-old female student was suspended and missed two days of class. The offense: tight pants. Other dress-code violations include baring shoulders, wearing a tank top, or exposing a bra strap.”(Alvarez) This quote from Girls Fight Back Against Gender Bias in  School Dress Codes  shows the prejudice reasoning for what women are allowed to wear.  Girls are sent home for showing a bra strap, but when a boy's underwear is showing he is just told to pull his pants up. When I was in middle school, I was constantly worried that I would get in trouble because the spandex I had to wear under my shorts were too short. I should not have been taught that what I was wearing might not be acceptable, I should have been learning the curriculum. While high school rules and standards have relaxed, the fundamental ideas are still imprinted in our memories. It has reached the point where sexism in dress codes is limiting the ability of female students to learn and get a proper education and express themselves in equal ways, which limits women's rights.

Today’s society is full of inequality between men and women, especially in the workplace, and they don’t come out of nowhere once we reach adulthood. They are put in place early in our lives, but the time they shape us the most is during the stage of  greatest development, high school. The time where we should be learning that freedom of expression is a great opportunity, but instead girls are taught to be ashamed of their bodies and that they are distracting. Dress code differences for men and women in high schools are legitimate and prevent inappropriate clothing.But when differences get to the point of inequality and limiting rights of women, but not men, we should draw the line. Two-thirds of students in high school and middle school that I interviewed believed that there was an unfair difference between what boys and girls are allowed to wear to school. For example, at F Middle School, girls are expected to wear spandex or leggings under their shorts, but the same rule does not apply to boys.  The reason behind this rule is that girls’ shorts are “too short” and “distracting.” Saying that shorts are distracting in middle school means that you are not only objectifying girls who are way too young to be seen as sexually distracting, but also teaching them that their rights to education are less than the rights of boys. Implying that females shouldn’t be allowed to wear clothes because they are a distraction to men is not only patronizing to women, but also to men, because it makes it seem as though men can not control their sexual desires.  Women should be able to express themselves through freedom of dress equally to men in public schools without being sexually objectified.
 

Rape and sexual harassment are another huge issue in our culture and are commonly blamed on the victim.  “Girls’ bodies are dangerous and harassment is inevitable is the overriding message being sent to students around the world by sexist school dress codes.” (Bates) The discriminating dress codes enforced in the classrooms of schools, a trusted learning environment, makes all students think that women’s bodies aren’t as important as male needs. This thought leads to the disrespect that both men and women have for women's bodies. Because things that we are taught in classrooms have to be true, right? Dress code is not just about what you wear, it is a way of expressing yourself, of speaking your mind. So if students are being taught that the way women express themselves is not to be respected, then they won’t respect women or anything they have to say. Not respecting what women have to say, not listening to them when they say no can lead to sexual harassment. This disrespect is a major violation of women’s rights because their speech is limited, while men’s are not. The limitation of their rights is not only do to the lack of equality between gender, but, also because of the trouble that women get into when they do express themselves freely.  Sexist dress codes aren’t just hurting our society’s youth and teaching them that inequality and objectifying women is acceptable, but they are breaking the constitution and limiting women’s right of freedom of speech.

School dress is an issue that is often ignored, but shouldn’t be. Girls are made to feel ashamed of their bodies, feel objectified and as though their expression and voice is valued less than men's. There is no question as to why there is inequality between men and women in our society when in high school both men and women are taught that is how it should be. High school and middle school dress codes are incredibly limiting on women's freedom of speech because they are often times not allowed to express themselves through their clothes in the same ways as men, and when they do they get in trouble for being distracting. Girls should not be made to feel as though they are distracting. Boys should not made to feel that it is expected of them to see women as nothing more than sexual object. Sexist dress codes teach all the wrong lessons. Sexist dress codes reinforce sexism. Sexist dress codes are a violation of women's freedom. Something needs to change.