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| girls are told to wear pants in order not to distract their male teachers |
I believe that some of the initial rhetoric surrounding body policing is internalized in schools. It is during this time that teenagers are becoming more aware of media messages and the expectations of their schools, parents and even the working world. Dress code, while on a micro level as compared to reproductive barriers and sex laws, is a form of policy that is meant to keep students looking professional, keep distractions to a minimum, and in a sense uphold a moral standard. These objectives are iterated many times throughout life as one moves from business to business or school to school. However, these policies are disproportionately targeted towards girls. Girls are being told what they can and cannot wear because their attire is deemed too“distracting to boys/male teachers.” In some cases, the physical attributes of their bodies (their hair or their breasts) are being used as “reasons” for suspensions, or expulsion. When school administrators, principals, and teachers use this reason to justify dress code, they are expressing ideas such as, a girl cannot be trusted to make decisions about her own body and should therefore be left up to “those who know what is best,” boys are reactionary beings that cannot be held accountable of their actions, and lastly a girl’s education is second to her looks. These messages that are stealthily conveyed to girls under the guise of professionalism and moral uprightness have detrimental effects on girls and boys. They covertly tell a girl that her worth is told through her clothes and that safety, and conversely any harm done to her, is solely her responsibility. This is reminiscent of the safety myth which states that a woman will not be raped if she is dressed conservatively, gets home early and so on. This does not address why rape actually happens, nor does it teach boys to see young women as independent of their actions. However, it does teach young women to fear men and their actions.
If
dress code initiates girls into this repetitious narrative of men in power
detailing what is and is not appropriate for a women’s body then surely there
are larger areas where this narrative plays out. This theme can be seen in regards
to reproductive rights. Often debates, such as those focused on women’s
reproduction, tend to be dominated by white males. These men tend to
arbitrarily set the rules for what is "reproductively appropriate" for a woman’s
body. Through these debates men in power underline the irrationally held idea
that women cannot be trusted to make decisions in regards to their bodies and
need higher powers to make those decisions. This sentiment is echoed in the many
barriers women have to overcome in order to attain an abortion. Through these
barriers and debates men take away the agency that a women has over her body
and turn her into a talking point, something to be discussed. These barriers are often further compounded by
the class, race, and age of the woman in question. As described in Jennifer Nelson's Introduction from Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement poor women
of color were seen as “incompetent” of having children and were sterilized as a
result. For these women attaining safe and legal abortions was second to their
wish to be seen as competent and have the ability to raise healthy children. In
this instance, body policing takes into account race and class, and explicitly
reiterates the message that women of color and poor women are not valuable nor
are their offspring.
I, as a teenager, went to a school that had a uniform. The
uniform rules were highly enforced on both girls and boys to the point that
students were being expelled from school due to numerous dress code violations.
Both boys and girls got demerits for wearing the wrong shoes, non-school issued
sweaters, wearing jeans. There was only one time that a girl was given a longer
skirt to wear in school. However, as I am maturing I have become more aware of
body policing and how it affects me and young women to come. For instance, as I
slowly begin to make my way into the corporate word I fear that I will be
complacent if told I must change something that relates to my appearance in
order to seem professional or serious. As I grow into a woman that must take
charge of her own body and sexuality, I fear that carrying condoms will somehow
land me in jail. These policies and laws that are created to keep women safe
only create a sense of fear in the women subjected to these regulations. However, there have been movements on social media that are currently working
against that narrative of body policing. #Stopsexualizingus is a hashtag that girls have been using
in order assert ownership over their bodies. These women that use this hashtag are
displaying their agency, conveying to all that they are capable of making
decisions in regards to their bodies and that these decisions should not be the cause of a boy’s reaction. "Slut walks" are marches that are meant to show that no
woman should have to be held accountable of rape or men’s unwanted advances due
to their appearance. There have been a number of women not afraid to challenge
the current state of reproductive laws. Much of the rhetoric surrounding women
and their bodies has changed over the years. Hopefully, it will continue to
change so that women will be able to comfortably make and fulfill decisions about
their bodies without outside interventions and barriers.
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