There are some aspects of school life that many of us recall as annoying yet benign rites of passage like boring teachers and extraneous homework, just to name a few. Dress codes could also be put in that category, but as an increasing number of girls and parents across the country have called out schools for their sexist dress codes full of double standards, it is becoming clearer that they’re not always that benign.
A new report by the National Women’s Law Center adds an extra layer to the sexism dress codes enforces by including race. Black girls are 17.8 times more likely to be suspended from school in Washington, D.C. This can be partially attributed to how dress codes are used to target and harm Black girls in particular.
Using first-hand accounts from current students in the area, the organization reveals how they’re “often targets of ambiguous rules that create too much room for discriminatory enforcement driven by intersecting race- and sex-based biases.” In “DRESS CODED: Black Girls, Bodies, and Bias in D.C. Schools,” we see how Black girls end up missing valuable class time due to dress codes.
Students are removed from the classroom and even sent home, often illegally, for violating strict dress codes. These rules aren’t neutral: many target girls, and especially Black girls, by regulating skirt length and headwraps. And the rules aren’t applied equally, either. Students report that Black girls, and especially curvier students, are disproportionately targeted. Disturbingly, schools tell girls they must change in order to avoid “distracting” their male classmates — or to avoid being sexually harassed. These punishments interrupt girls’ educations while sending dangerous messages to the school community: how a girl looks is more important than what she thinks, and girls are ultimately responsible for the misbehavior of boys.
Dress codes are used to punish Black girls for things out of their control. When infractions—based on a biased judgment—kick them out of the classroom, it makes it easier for them to fall behind in school. Missing valuable class time doesn’t just hurt their grades for the day; it can harm their academic paths in ways that would only exacerbate the racist and sexist inequalities they will inevitably face. Seems like a disproportionately harsh punishment for something like wearing a tank top or a skirt with a hemline above the knee.
The report isn’t all bad news; the authors include suggestions on how to avoid continuing this cycle. Their overall recommendation is to remove dress codes completely—but they know that not everyone is willing to do that just yet. That’s why they include some guidelines to make dress and grooming policies more equitable. What does that look like? Take this excerpt from an Illinois high school’s policy, for example:
Evanston Township High School’s student dress code supports equitable educational access and is written in a manner that does not reinforce stereotypes and that does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group based on race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, household income or body type/size.
At first glance, dress code reform may not seem worth prioritizing considering everything that is happening in our schools. Yet as the Education Department continues to skirt the responsibility of protecting civil rights, measures like these that can be implemented at micro levels can make the world of a difference in a student’s life.
By changing dress codes and how (or if) they’re enforced, there will be less time spent on shaming girls and making them feel bad for their bodies or hair—and more time for them to learn.
