Dress codes enforce a set of values through the regulation of permitted items of clothing. Students want to express themselves and have autonomy in their bodies, and schools create rules about what clothing is appropriate to wear at school. The gray area is in words like “appropriate.” Who decides what is appropriate? What values are communicated in these terms? Here are some questions to ask about your school’s dress code policy:

• Who benefits from this policy?
• Who is harmed by this policy?
• Why do we have this dress code? What are the underlying assumptions?
• Are there different sets of rules for “girls’ clothing” and “boys’ clothing”?
• How is the dress code being enforced? Are infractions disproportionally going to girls, people with larger bodies, gender non-conforming people, or people who are not white?
• Is there vague language that’s subjective in its interpretation and enforcement such as “too much leg” or “inappropriate” or “distracting”?
• Do students feel shamed for their bodies and dress when they are in violation?
• Is the dress code enforced equally and fairly to all students?
• Do teachers and staff feel confused or hesitant about enforcing the dress code?
• Do the students feel the dress code policy is fair and serves their educational needs?
• Does the dress code assume all students have access to new clothes and a washer and dryer?

See NOW Oregon’s model dress code policy .

Dress codes that restrict girl’s clothing perpetuate the sexualization of girls. They send the message that girl’s bodies are inherently sexual and must be covered. These codes are written and enforced to shame girls about their bodies.

As Bust writer, Elleanor Chin put it,

“Girls have bodies. They bring them to school.”

Dress codes that place the responsibility of “not distracting” on girls. This policy tells boys they are not responsible for their actions and attention. Dress code policies that hold girls responsible for boy’s behavior are the very basis of rape culture. It’s only one small step from blaming girls for distracting to blaming girls when they experience sexual violence.

Dress codes that hold girls responsible for boys’ distraction is a form of slut-shaming and victim-blaming, which is the root of all sexual violence.

Dress codes that apply differently to larger bodies or more mature bodies send the message that some bodies are more dangerous/sexualized/needing-to-be-controlled than others. Young people often tease and harass their peers with larger bodies or more mature bodies. Policies that focus on clothing choices rather than harassment create a culture that normalizes sexual harassment. It erases the violence that students commit to other students when they bully and harass based on body size, physical maturity, and gender. It erases the accountability of teachers and staff to protect students from such bullying and harassment.

Dress code policies are used to police gender-nonconforming students. If a teacher or administrator feels uncomfortable with a student’s gender expression, they can punish a student under the guise of “not distracting” the other students. This targeted use of dress code policies leads to higher rates of school pushout for LGBTQ students especially students of color.  

Dress codes play a central role in the school-to-prison-pipeline. The school-prison-pipeline is a web of policies, practices, and discrimination that more harshly punishes marginalized young people (people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, people from low-income families, non-native English speakers, etc.) pushing them out of school and into the criminal justice system. Marginalized students experience much higher rates of bullying and harassment from their peers and teachers. Marginalized students are more likely to be written up, sent home, suspended, and blamed for their own victimization. This type of enforcement conveys the message that their education is not important. Repeated punishment pushes students out of education opportunities.

Dress code policies that prohibit wearing ‘gang colors’ is a vague way of targeting black and brown students. These aspects of the dress code policy are vague and can be used to justify racial bias.

Ideally, communities including adults and young people can come together to decide on a set of clear and concrete items of clothing that are permitted and specific body parts that must be covered. Most importantly, values and reasoning for such rules should be explicit in the policy and agreed upon by the community. Students in Portland, Oregon challenged the premise of their school’s dress code, worked in the community to develop a better policy, and eventually, the school district adopted this policy.

Oregon NOW (National Organization for Women) partnered with these students and community members to create a model dress code policy. They encourage schools across the country to use their policy to rewrite their policies to not be sexist.

It starts with us, teachers, students, community members, parents, and school administrators to make our school policies align with our values of nonviolence, gender equality, and equal educational opportunities for all. We can prevent sexual violence and make our communities stronger.