​— WRITTEN BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AND RACHEL DEXTER

Dear Diary,

We are females and we have the freedom of choice just as much as the next person.

Which means: yes, I can wear my v-neck shirt, yes, I can wear my cute high-waisted shorts and yes, I can wear that beautiful summer dress that barely goes an inch above my knee.

We aren’t saying that it’s acceptable to be barely clothed and we also aren’t saying that you shouldn’t show any skin. What we are saying is that if there needs to be a dress code, it needs to be a fair one.

On the Internet a quote has been circulating: “When you interrupt a girl’s school day to force her to change clothes or send her home because her shorts are too short or her bra straps are visible, you are telling her that making sure boys have a ‘distraction free’ learning environment is more important than her education. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.”
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In schools throughout the country and even abroad, girls have been shamed for what they wear. This is the norm for many schools across the United States. Stories of girls wearing completely modest and appropriate outfits being sent home for allegedly breaking dress code are becoming more common.

They are repeatedly sent home or forced to wear “shame suits.” Anything really that removes them from their learning environment, and all because what they are wearing is distracting. But distracting to whom exactly?

We’re sorry, are muscle tees not considered distracting too?

Schools are the ones claiming girls’ outfit choices are distractions for boys — not the boys. Thus, why are girls really being sent home? Is it an attempt to control young girls and teach them a lesson in modesty? Is this about schools wanting to teach more than their academic standards allow?

Many schools claim that if a bra strap is showing or a pair of shorts are shorter than where your fingertips fall, then boys will be distracted and not able to focus in class. But even more absurd than that is not only are shorts and tank tops banned at many schools, but so are leggings, yoga pants and even maxi skirts. This is not a call for girls to start accepting these rules or to start wearing something different. This is a call for schools to change their dress codes and to give guys some credit in the fact that they can focus even if their classmate’s bra strap is visible. If guys in college can focus with absolutely no dress code, then high schoolers can too.

Have you considered that there may be girls who can only afford the clothes they have? We’re not saying that as a copout for girls around the country to use freely, but consider what this new “dress code” is doing. Along with punishing girls for their outfit choices or sense of fashion, this dress code is policing girls and teaching them to cater to guys.

If anything boys should be just as upset at this dress code because it portrays them as less mature than they actually are. So boys and girls unite and stand up to what should not be an issue in the first place.

And girls — wear whatever you want.

Sincerely,

Your Opinion Editors

​— WRITTEN BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AND RACHEL DEXTER

Dear Diary,

Sexy — it’s merely a word.

A word that’s spit at girls who walk by in short shorts and v-neck shirts. It is whispered among guys who sit around the bar. It has become negative — a sign of objectification. But at one point sexy was beautiful, sexy was strong — a sign of power.
Spoken word artist and poet Michael Lee, better known as Tenrai Kenshin, has been one of the many artists who has represented and reclaimed this sensual and provocative word.

“Sexy is taking all the evil things people call you as compliments and using the rocks they’ve thrown to build mansions,” said Lee in his poem “Sexy.”

It should be used synonymous with beautiful, strong and intelligent and not a word to describe the “girl that gets around.” What happened to the time when sexy was empowering? A word to describe the strength of a female, the confidence in herself and the pride in being a woman.

Sexy is beautiful. Sexy is strong. Sexy is intelligent — sexy is you.

Sincerely,

Your Opinion Editors

​— WRITTEN BY RACHEL DEXTER AND CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

Dear Diary,

Sit up straight. Cross your legs. You can’t wear that. Don’t swear. That’s not ladylike. Girls can’t do that.

No matter how these phrases are worded, almost every girl has heard them. When those words are spoken, whether it be from a parent, a sibling, a friend, a teacher or anyone else, they have the same effect — they diminish a girl’s self-worth.
Whether we know it or not, those phrases place limits on us. They put pressure on us to act in a certain manner — a manner which has become synonymous with being feminine and ladylike. It is perceived by society that when and only when we cross our legs, wear feminine clothing and act as a juxtaposition to the masculine can we really be considered a girl.

We are forced into a world where, even before the age of adolescence, expectations are placed on us simply because of our gender. Because being a girl means that you are expected to play with Barbies, not trucks. You are to be quiet and reserved, while boys can be loud and rowdy.

The unwritten rules that girls are pressured to follow are absurd. Be seen and not heard. Hold your tongue. If we do something we’re not supposed to, we are told “that’s not ladylike.” If boys do something they’re not supposed to, it’s brushed off as “boys will be boys.” So not only are the expectations different, the repercussions are also drastically different.

The gender norms that women are subjected to are unnecessary and outdated.

There is almost always a negative connotation to the things girls do, and it is appalling. When a girl likes something traditionally girly, she is considered weak and fragile, but if she likes something that is more masculine, she is not girly enough. And if she starts to do girly things, and she is now considered weak and fragile. It’s a vicious cycle that will always hold girls back.

Girls can be dainty. Girls can be strong. Girls can like pink. Girls can like blue.

Girls can do whatever they want when they want. Girls can like whatever they want how they want.

Girls can do all of these things or none of these things. It doesn’t matter. No matter what a girl does or how she acts, she is still a girl — screw gender norms.

Sincerely,  

The Opinion Editors