Dress Codes are important. If we did not have a general sense about what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, we might show up to a formal occasion in sweatpants or to church in a mini-skirt. At weddings, a dress code which states the bride is the only one in white is significant. Dress codes serve us well until they cannot properly be enforced. School administrators choose certain girls to snatch into their offices, leaving the boy with his pants half down his ass to roam the hallway freely. This is only the beginning of the unintentional consequences creating the growing rape culture in which we live.

It’s part of school conduct. Each year we read through our handbooks which state:
1. Tank tops must have straps at least two fingers in width.
2. Shorts must be below one’s fingertips when their arms are straight at their side.
3. No visible bra straps.
4. No sagging.
5. No hats.
6. No midriff showing.

All these rules hold a purpose but are broken continuously and reinforced poorly. The rules are subjective with the majority targeted toward females. Administration chooses what they do and do not want to see, leaving some rule-breakers unpunished while others are forced to wait for a parent to bring them a pair of jeans. An absurd rule that demonstrates the subjectivity of the codes, is the “fingertip rule”. I have a friend who is about an inch taller than I am, whose arms are at least two and a half inches shorter than mine. She could get away with wearing spandex-length shorts through the school, and I don’t have a chance. In middle school, an administrator asked me to change because my mid-thighs were too short. Unfortunately, during my walk to the office I passed a group of popular girls wearing shorts a couple inches shorter than mine. The administrator walked by as if she didn’t notice.

Now, you could argue that the lengthy list of rules set by the school is hard to enforce equally with so many juveniles, and there must be a line for what is and is not acceptable. No teacher or administrator wants to see too much of a student’s skin, that’s just awkward. Many students also don’t need to be made uncomfortable by what another classmate is wearing. The rules are there to respect ourselves as well as the people around us, and while I agree that these rules cannot be enforced perfectly, and there does need to be a basis for what is appropriate for school, I am disappointed in the choosiness of it all. A close friend of mine was told to cover her bra strap when wearing a sundress. Aside from a thin strap and her shoulder, nothing else was showing. As she began to discuss with the administrator, a boy walked by with his pants fastened in the middle of his ass. Some administrators would argue that sagging is a cultural statement, and for this reason they will not pull boys into the office for it. But those same administrators will see a glimpse of a bra strap and immediately tell the girl to cover it. Oh no! A bra strap? Those are mystical articles of clothing that men aren’t supposed to know women wear.

A teacher once informed me that the “hat rule” exists because it's easier to identify people on camera if they aren’t wearing a hat, in case of an emergency or crime. This is a valid point, except not all hats are treated the same. I see people getting yelled at in the hallway to take off their cowboy hats, ballcaps, or fedoras, but never a beanie. If you are wearing a beanie, feel free to leave it on because it is fashionable and matches your outfit. So what is the hat rule’s significance now? It’s not an all or none.

Biologically, females have more to cover. It’s a fact that can’t be argued. Some may try and ask why a woman’s boobs need to be covered, but a boy can walk around without his shirt. To that I say this: Psychologically, the curves of a woman indicate fertility, and from an evolutionary standpoint, males will always see it this way. There is an inherent sexual connotation that simply can’t be escaped. So then why do we enforce rules that make a woman worry about her appearance, rather than teaching a male to recognize the biological facts, and learn to not oversexualize a bra strap or shoulder? Why do I listen to a family-friend’s dinner conversation about how if a woman wears provocative clothing, she’s essentially asking to get raped? When does a man learn to control his sexual feelings? It’s not in school. The dress code only enforces that women have to cover up, not men. They can do whatever they want! It’s a woman’s fault for distracting him.

We sit here wondering, why will one in three women be raped in their lifetimes? This shouldn’t be a question. There is an obvious answer no one wants to admit. Society sexualizes the female body, and from a young age, with the assistance of school dress-codes, males are taught that they can sag their pants, take off their shirts, blame their distractions on women, and ultimately take advantage of her because it is her fault for not covering that one strap. It’s her fault for wearing a tight skirt or shorts that were above the middle of her thigh. It’s her fault for thinking that a male could control himself. What an outrageous thought! Normalizing a woman’s body?

Never.