The ongoing problem of slut-shaming and dress-coding

Until last month, girls attending the fifth-largest school district in North Carolina had to wear a dress to their high school graduation. In February 2019, senior Lacey Henry launched a successful Change.org petition to overturn the dress code, arguing that it implicitly sexualized girls by forcing them to dress in a distinctive and gendered manner. Now, thanks to her efforts, her district allows all students the option to wear dress pants when they collect their diplomas.

I’ve been tracking and writing about slut-shaming — the phenomenon of girls and women being policed, judged, and denigrated because of their actual or presumed sexuality — for over 20 years. Very often, school dress codes, like the one in North Carolina, play a role in perpetuating slut-shaming. Administrators typically defend dress codes by arguing that “revealing” outfits are distracting to other students. Ironically, these codes result in the opposite consequence: Girls’ bodies become the center of attention because monitoring students’ clothes means paying close attention to their bodies and, by extension, their sexuality. Girls are simultaneously sexualized and punished for being sexualized.

I recently launched the Instagram project @BeingDressCoded to create a space in which we don’t just observe individual stories about dress codes but can look for patterns and learn from a larger, collective story about sexism and sexual objectification. I’m also interested in the way racial discrimination operates with dress coding. Girls of color are more frequently dress-coded than white girls because school officials tend to monitor and scrutinize their bodies more.

I asked Lacey about her about her new role as an activist on dress codes.

Leora: What motivated you to protest your school's graduation dress code?

Lacey: I grew up in a military household where my dad was gone 90 percent of the time, leaving my mom as head of the house. She did tasks that society would call "the man’s responsibilities," and so I was raised without the presence of traditional gender roles. When I was told that for my high school graduation I would have to wear a dress that exposed my legs and heels, I was not pleased. I am not a fan of dresses, as I personally feel very exposed. I am an active person and lack "ladylike" manners (crossing legs when I sit, walking without causing my skirt to fly up, etc.). I did some research online and ended up at the ACLU website, where I found the article "5 Things Public Schools Can and Can’t Do When It Comes to Dress Codes." I discovered that my school, and my entire county, was violating Title IX in multiple ways.

Once I knew that I had a federal law backing me, I decided to start a petition. I did not expect more than 50 signatures altogether. But within the first hour, I received 100 signatures. Within the week, I was being contacted by the media. And within three weeks, I was making national news.

Leora: What are your thoughts about school dress codes in general?

Lacey: I think that school dress codes teach boys that women are sexual objects, not people, and that if they cannot control their sexual urges, then the woman is at fault. By policing girls’ bodies, we teach them that they are responsible for making sure boys’ education is fulfilled. We also teach them that they are less than their male counterparts and that they matter less, which can instill psychological damage.

I personally have gotten in trouble many times because my sleeves were said to be “too short.” I also have not worn shorts to school since the seventh grade because I had been repeatedly called out of class and forced to bend over, sit down, and walk in front of an administrator, who determined if my shorts "stayed long enough." I have been told to "turn around and lift up my shirt" so that an administrator can check to see if my pants or leggings have pockets to determine if they are permitted under the daily dress code. All of these incidents have led me to pursue an entire countywide dress code reform and retraining for staff. We are hoping to get the Portland Public School Dress Code approved countywide.

I’m inspired by Laura Orsi, a student in Little Rock, Arkansas, who recently started a movement called “Pass The Skirt” after her friend was dress-coded for wearing a skirt that the school said was too short. Laura showed that the dress code was enforced arbitrarily because when she wore the same skirt, she was not dress-coded.

Leora: In your opinion, is a completely gender-neutral dress code possible? If yes, would it solve the problem of girls' bodies being objectified at school?

Lacey: I am positive that a completely gender-neutral dress code is possible, as Portland, Oregon, has implemented one in all of their public schools. But I do not think it would solve the problem of girls' bodies being objectified at school. The objectification of the female body is a deep-rooted disease in our society. I recall being 12, not really developed yet, and wearing a bikini at a local lake with my family and being cat-called. I have been whistled at and followed by older men when I’ve worn sweatpants, Crocs, and a huge sweatshirt on my way to pick up dog food at Walmart. Our society has to be retrained to not view women's bodies as sexual objects. This is why we are pushing within the county to not only reform the dress code but also to have county-wide retraining and sensitivity training.

Leora: What kinds of reactions are you getting from students and also from adults?

Lacey: Students, for the most part, have been supportive, but there are a few female students who chose not to sign the petition because they don’t agree with it. Adults everywhere have told me that I need to just shut up, and "rules are rules." All I can say to that is that Title IX is a federal "rule," and my county is breaking it. The fact that an 18-year-old has to keep the fifth-largest school district in the state in line and inform them they are in violation of federal law is kind of ridiculous.

Leora Tanenbaum is the author of I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet and Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation. Her Instagram project, @BeingDressCoded, explores the intersection of slut-shaming and dress-coding.