I’ve got nothing for you this week. I actually was thinking of writing, ‘I am not funny!’ enough times to fulfill my 600 words … just like Bart Simpson writes his punishment on the chalkboard. If you’ve never watched The Simpsons, what is wrong with you? Everyone needs a little Marge in their life.
That reminds me. Have you seen the viral video a Florida school made regarding its dress code? It features a group of teenage girls dressed in T-shirts and shorts with the song “Bad Girls” playing in the background. They look like every other group of girls you walk by at the mall, but apparently, they are violating the school’s dress code. The students were sent to detention, where a teacher wrote on the whiteboard, ‘I will not wear athletic shorts.’ The girls then had to repeat the phrase after her, a chant of sorts. There is not a single boy in the room. The principal apologized for the video; I think he used the term ‘insensitive.’ I would have chosen a different word, but I was not interviewed by the news station.
Fortunately, I went to Catholic schools for the first 12 years of my education, and I wore uniforms. Well, to be honest, I wore them for the first eight. My high school had rather loose enforcement. It was important that you wore the skirt, but what you wore with it didn’t matter. Oh, and if you gained a little weight, you just used a rubber band wrapped around the button as a ‘belt’ to hold it in place because no one bought a new uniform. The school had bigger fish to fry, like making sure we were only smoking cigarettes in the smoking lounge and nothing else. (It was the ‘70s folks, don’t judge.)
I am perplexed by dress codes because they are nearly always directed toward girls and women. My daughter’s high school, which wasn’t associated with a religion, had one. She couldn’t show her shoulders. I’m assuming it’s because her shoulders were distracting to the boys in her classes. Growing up with four brothers and raising a son myself, aren’t most boys distracted by girls regardless of what they are wearing? Aren’t most girls distracted by boys? Is covering shoulders really going to help?
Once you are an adult, no one can tell you what to wear—well, not usually. The normally quiet sport of tennis polices what women can wear. Serena Williams was told by the French Tennis Federation not to wear a certain Nike cat suit. People were outraged, but not Serena. She basically said they have the right to do what they want. I suspect she has been told she can’t do things and then just proves those people wrong. Alizé Cornet received a code violation for removing her shirt at the U.S. Open when she apparently had it on backwards. This rule does not apply to men. The backlash was swift against the umpire.
I will leave you with this quote from Scott McNealy, founder of former computer company Sun MicroSystems, when he was asked about his company’s dress code: “Yes, we have a dress code. You have to dress.” I like the simplicity of it, especially since I am writing this in my pajamas.
Contact Patty at phannum@townandstyle.com.