Distractions, "Hidden" Messages, and Culture

Inspired by a fascinating discussion my friends and I had about These Articles.

I was quite intrigued by the messages of these two articles.  As a teacher, we spend a lot of time "enforcing dress codes."  It is just something we get asked to do.  But what are the messages we are sending when we do so?

I see so many sides of this issue.  I have seen girls' clothing, specifically listed in student and parent handbooks as "distractions to other students" and even "distractions to boys."  I find it frustrating that these are the reasons given for not wearing certain clothing.

See, I am not in favor of wearing inappropriate clothing to school for EITHER gender.  However, I find the reasons often given for not wearing such clothing to be inappropriate.  As one of my friends pointed out yesterday, "Everyone needs to learn that clothing is about self presentation.  What messages do people send when they wear certain clothes?"

This is the way to pitch dress codes.  Not the "distraction" mentality.  By adopting the distraction mentality, we are doing everyone a disservice.  We are saying that no one has impulse control.  We are not even bothering to teach impulse control.  We are perpetuating the "she was asking for it by what she was wearing."  And that takes me back to thinking about infantilization and false control. 

Many years ago, I taught at a private school.  There was a piece of the dress code that forbade frayed skirts.  There was one day that one of my advises had worn a frayed skirt and she needed to see the Dean about a club she was running. She comes running up to my room during my free period and starts folding up her skirt and pinning it with thumbtacks.  "What are you doing?" I asked.  "Ohhhh, Ms. L, I need to go see Dean C and I have a frayed skirt."  I sighed.  "No, J," I told her.  "Paper clips.  Not thumbtacks.  It is less painful and looks like a fashion statement."  And lo and behold, it worked. 

Why, one might ask, did I knowingly help a student "skirt" (hahaha) the dress code?  Because her skirt was the proper length, it wasn't "inappropriate," and seriously, who cares.  It was a tasteful skirt with some fringe on it.  This takes me down the false control road, but I have already been there, and may go there again tomorrow.

There was a bit in the discussion where a friend of mine said that her school had a dress code "to protect the teachers."  While I do kind of see this point, what I see in this is the infantilization of teachers!  "Well, they have no self control and students don't have to either!"

So this is a rough sketch of where I might focus some attention for the next few posts.  False control, self control, objectification, and the multitude of separate issues contained in this issue (race, class, gender, and more!)

So, friends, what are your thoughts on the articles?  Keep the discussion going!