These Boys Wore "Revealing" Tops To Protest Their School's Unfair Dress Code Rules
21 August 2017, 12:54 | Updated: 15 November 2018, 15:28
How are we still punishing girls for showing shoulders? What year is it?
Yes, it's 2017 and, yes, schools are still enforcing off-the-shoulder tops as dress code violations. Many schools have held on to the belief that collarbones and exposed shoulders on girls are "a distraction" for male students. This, of course, results in a disruption in education for girls who are asked to change clothes before returning to class. Some are even sent home for the day for these infractions.
When students at San Benito high school returned to class on August 10, there was no getting over the blistering heat. Temperatures were around 90F (32C) and many female students dressed accordingly.
One student told Yahoo News that, on the first day of school, 50 students were sent to the principal's office for dress code violations--most of them girls. That's 50 girls who had their education interrupted on the first day of school because someone was afraid that boys would see feminine shoulders.
Interestingly, one student took to Twitter to showcase the school's yearbook, which was full of students wearing off-the-shoulder shirts.
Since they wanna dress code all girls for showing too much shoulder, EXPLAIN THIS pic.twitter.com/HubvYN3dtC
— Michael Gutierrez (@helloitsmikey_) August 15, 2017
Sensing that something unfair was happening, some boys at the school decided to wear off-the-shoulder shirts to school as a show of solidarity.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/pMq8uTdtZm
— Andrei 3000 (@andrei_418) August 15, 2017
Shoutout to Brody and Adryan for supporting our protest pic.twitter.com/abkC5pJsQU
— j (@ocean__avenue_) August 15, 2017
The school's principal told Yahoo News that the events surrounding the "off-the-shoulder shirts have offered some major teachable moments for the entire SBHS community."
Hopefully, the main teachable moment here is that we have to let girls get an education and stop this unhealthy fixation with their shoulders and arms. These unreasonable rules just reinforce the notion that everything girls do needs to be policed, even if it harms them in the process.
Anyway, nice going guys! Way to stand up for your classmates in the face of an unfair policy.
