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    The article argues that school dress codes in Texas unfairly target female students. It notes that shoulders, legs, and stomachs are not sexual organs but girls may feel they need to cover up based on school perceptions that certain clothing could be distracting to boys. The article claims this prioritizes male education over female and promotes a culture where girls feel the need to conform to certain standards to avoid objectification or harassment. Tight restrictions on female dress can negatively impact girls' self-esteem, mental health, and academic performance. The article concludes that like past reforms to male dress codes, schools should focus on fair education for all students rather than policing girls' appearance.

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    October 2015 Page 3

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    The article argues that school dress codes in Texas unfairly target female students. It notes that shoulders, legs, and stomachs are not sexual organs but girls may feel they need to cover up based on school perceptions that certain clothing could be distracting to boys. The article claims this prioritizes male education over female and promotes a culture where girls feel the need to conform to certain standards to avoid objectification or harassment. Tight restrictions on female dress can negatively impact girls' self-esteem, mental health, and academic performance. The article concludes that like past reforms to male dress codes, schools should focus on fair education for all students rather than policing girls' appearance.

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    The article argues that school dress codes in Texas unfairly target female students. It notes that shoulders, legs, and stomachs are not sexual organs but girls may feel they need to cover up based on school perceptions that certain clothing could be distracting to boys. The article claims this prioritizes male education over female and promotes a culture where girls feel the need to conform to certain standards to avoid objectification or harassment. Tight restrictions on female dress can negatively impact girls' self-esteem, mental health, and academic performance. The article concludes that like past reforms to male dress codes, schools should focus on fair education for all students rather than policing girls' appearance.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    90 views1 page

    October 2015 Page 3

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    api-307936954
    The article argues that school dress codes in Texas unfairly target female students. It notes that shoulders, legs, and stomachs are not sexual organs but girls may feel they need to cover up based on school perceptions that certain clothing could be distracting to boys. The article claims this prioritizes male education over female and promotes a culture where girls feel the need to conform to certain standards to avoid objectification or harassment. Tight restrictions on female dress can negatively impact girls' self-esteem, mental health, and academic performance. The article concludes that like past reforms to male dress codes, schools should focus on fair education for all students rather than policing girls' appearance.

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    of 1

    VOICES

    October 2015 | Prowler

    Dress Code Should Barely be an Issue


    Schools Need To Reexamine Their Focus On Female Dress
    Just As They did On Male Appearance More Than A Decade Ago
    by
    staff reporter
    Delilah Rivera

    Shoulders, legs and the stomach


    are not sexual organs. But girls in
    Texas, where the states education
    agency has given each school district
    the authority to create their own
    dress code, may think different.
    Based on a school boards view of
    what might be a a distraction to the
    educational environment, teen girls
    in Texas are encouraged to hide their
    skin so that boys might not take a
    peek at a bare shoulder, but instead
    focus their eyes on the newest work
    sitting in front of them.
    Texas schools unnecessary take
    on young womens dress needs to
    end. Just as Texas school boards
    from more than a decade ago started
    shifting their eyes from how boys
    with longer hair and earrings looked
    to how young men were educated,
    school boards today must shift their
    eyes from the small patches of female
    skin to the work of young women
    broadening their futures.
    Treating individual body parts
    as if they are a threat to a learning
    environment only sexualizes young
    women and discriminates against
    girls who have a different body
    physiques. Girls with curvier or
    bigger physiques not only suffer
    from the heat of the early August and
    September days where temperatures
    exceed 90 degrees, but they are also
    more likely to get called out for what
    they wear, such as shorts that do not

    fall exactly at fingertip point on their


    thighs. These ladies are not alone in
    the hallways. Their petite and lanky
    friends are never covered enough in
    Texas schools, as clothing designers
    can not or do not meet the demands
    of their taller frame.
    The intense look on how females
    dress leaves girls in a situation where
    they cant seem to win when they
    walk into the school doors while
    following social norms. Take, for
    example, a simple article of clothing,
    the bra. Not wearing a bra, no matter
    what cup size, brings public shame as
    early as the late years of elementary
    school, but, on the reverse side, the
    visibility of a bra, as little as a strap,
    is considered obscene. In school,
    when a girl gets dress coded for her
    bra straps, its usually because they
    end up coming out from under the
    sleeve, or they fall down because
    they become loose. Getting in
    trouble for this shames young girls
    for something that is an accident, for
    something they are trying to do right
    and for something that is a part of
    their normal everyday attire.
    When girls get in trouble for
    things as such as a bra strap, or a
    little skin showing, it is said that the
    clothing is considered a distraction
    to the learning environment.
    We students understand that a
    disruption to education is one of the
    few ways courts allow school districts
    to partially infringe on students first
    amendment rights in terms of dress
    codes, but the adults on campus
    who use this phrase need to listen
    to themselves. The saying of a girls

    TO THE

    EDITOR

    Letters

    PHONE ZONES
    The phone zones are lame. We
    cant listen to music, and they think
    that we are going to record every
    single fight or every single thing.
    I mean, the passing periods are
    for going to class.
    What if a class is moved? And, we
    cant know where it is because we
    cant use our phones.
    Its just unreasonable, and I think
    that we should change that.

    Seniors Alejandra Tejada and Tianna Glover

    Shoulders,
    legs and the
    stomach are not
    sexual organs,
    but girls in
    Texas, where the
    states education
    agency has
    given each
    school district
    the authority to
    create their own
    dress code may
    think different.
    attire can be a distraction from the
    learning environment is misogynist,
    and it gives the impression that a
    young boys education and impulses
    are more important than a girls.
    The notion that boys will be boys
    becomes the norm, and gives young
    males in high school more reason to
    view girls as sexual objects that are
    supposed to conform to a standard
    that shouldnt cause a distraction
    to them. Every childs education

    is important, but when a girl gets


    pulled out of class for taking the
    attention away from a male student,
    its prioritizing his education ahead
    of hers.
    Ruthann Robson, a longtime
    professor at the City University
    School of New York School of
    Law, says that this perspective
    only implies that boys cant control
    themselves, and its also giving them
    permission for being essentially

    COMMUNICATION

    DISORGANIZATION

    As far as administration goes,


    and informing students on events,
    its really lacking.
    Nobody knows what was going
    on, especially this morning [editor
    note: Sept. 30 the campus was
    evacuated three times because of
    an electrical outage.]
    Events get rescheduled and
    planning isnt always done
    correctly. So, theres always
    congestion in the hallways and
    theres no process that everyone is
    aware of.

    I think that the school is very


    disorganized. Nothing ever gets
    done in time and everything is
    always messed up. Today (Sept. 30)
    for example, we were out there for
    over an hour. They should have just
    called everything off and shut the
    school down. We were out there,
    we missed most of first period,
    and then they had to rearrange
    the entire schedule and make it
    later because they had to have
    people for breakfast. Its just very
    disorganized and its been like that
    for as long as Ive been here.

    Junior Cade Garrett

    Junior Simone Cunningham

    aggressive to females. Because of this,


    girls are more vulnerable to being
    sexually objectified or harassed at
    school, and, in the end, it promotes a
    Rape Culture by telling females they
    must cover up to protect themselves
    from harassment.
    Aside from harassment and
    putting males needs before girls, the
    unnecessary look at girls dress can
    also have mental consequences. In a
    study by the APA, over sexualization
    and objection can lead to negative
    consequences such as anxiety, shame
    and depression. A study completed
    by the University of Nebraska proved
    that objectification can even cause
    grades to drop. The anxiety of being
    objectified falls into the phenomenon
    known as the stereotype threat,
    causing performance on educational
    tasks to drop.
    So when a girl gets told to cover up
    in order to preserve the educational
    environment, it affects her. It skews
    her understanding of how she fits
    into social norms. It forces her to
    adapt to a new image of herself
    when trying to find appropriate
    clothing for her body form. It leaves
    her with the image that she is less
    than her male counterparts. Texas
    schools, including RRISD secondary
    schools, should not be putting female
    students in these uncomfortable
    positions for the sake of upholding a
    conservative view of dress. Instead,
    just like they did with males in
    previous decades, the schools should
    look beyond attire and put attention
    on the real concern, a free, fair
    education for all.

    CHEERS & JEERS


    Voices of the Student Body

    FOOTBALL SEASON
    I like our pep. At football
    games the blue crew gets
    really intense. I like how we
    ride behind our football
    team. Its really fun during
    our football season.
    -Destinee Silva (11)

    A LOT TO OFFER
    I like how Stony Point
    has a lot of different
    organizations so that
    everyone can find
    something that theyre
    interested in and can
    express themselves.
    -Rameen Razzaq (12)

    CROWDED LUNCHES
    I want to have more
    space to eat because its
    usually crowded. Some
    people are actually
    sitting on the garden
    part of the walls outside.
    We could open the back
    gates so that people
    could eat around the
    parking lot.
    -Wesly Horn-Torres (09)
    MALL AND PHONES
    I dont like that we
    cant hang out in the
    mall anymore. And the
    phone zones, they are not
    appropriate.
    -Tianna Glover (12)

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