Our muffin tops will not be denied

Hey Emma. We want to pref- ace our rebuttal by letting you know that our greasy feminist hearts don’t wish to personally attack you, just your article. You see, in the midst of your witty wordplays and muffin top jokes (more on that later), you for- got to discuss a very important as- pect of the dress code. It’s instilling a very dangerous mentality in our student body. Call us “hacktivists,” but we think that something should be done about the dress code. Un- fortunately, being the gardener of Eden doesn’t entitle you to dictate what is and is not worthy of activ- ism.

This dangerous mentality we speak of is made up of various el- ements. For starters the dress code promotes rape culture. It’s safe to say that the (oh-so-subtle) addition of boxers to the list of B’s was a pathetic attempt by administrators to balance the amount of shaming between females and males. But by calling revealing clothing distracting, we are punishing girls for how others react to their bodies. This is essentially victim blaming. The female body has been over sexualized to the point where our navels are considered provocative! If the school is so concerned with our ability to learn, how about they don’t take girls out of their classes to be embarrassed by an authority figure.

Cat experienced the humiliating process of being dress coded. It was the end of lunch and we were headed to class when a teacher stopped her. She curtly pointed out that Cat’s dress was too see-through and Cat’s bra too visible. Instead of going to class, Cat had to go to her house office to put a t-shirt over her outrageous breasts. Samo, once a comfortable space, has become puritanical in its practices. Only instead of a Scarlet Letter, the new badge of shame is a gray t-shirt.

She was told by her house prin- cipal that one of the administration’s arguments for the dress code is that they’re trying to create a professional environment, and that since school “is our job” we should dress accordingly. However, we don’t see anyone being dress coded for their Adventure Time PJs. Why don’t we all show up to school wearing knight armor and uggs, because that really screams “professionalism?” That is, just as long as they don’t accentuate our mammary glands. Clearly the focus of the dress code is on policing the female body. This is an extremely unhealthy mindset. It’s promoting slut shaming! It’s promoting the “she asked for it” attitude. It’s a form of hate, and just because it is being sanctioned by Samo doesn’t mean it’s okay. Now, when we go out into the world and spot a woman wearing provocative clothing we’ll think to ourselves, “how un- professional,” “she’s distracting everyone.” So where do we draw the line? If a man driving a car checks out a woman in a short dress but while doing so runs someone over, is she to blame?

Ruthann Robson, a law profes- sor at City University of New York and author of “Dressing Constitu- tionally: Hierarchy, Sexuality, and Democracy” makes an interesting point regarding the goals of a dress code: “School administrators say they are trying to desexualize the climate in the schools and if girls do a certain thing this will be distracting to boys. I see a lot of problems with that. First it implies that all boys are heterosexual and also that girls bear the responsibility for how boys act and respond to their sexuality.” And what about girls born with prominent breasts or butts? Are they inherently distracting? Curvy girls face even more restrictions because of how they’re bodies are shaped. When we hear the announcements denounce Breasts and Butts, this turns them inherently provocative objects and is simply unfair.

Indeed Emma, our “muffin tops will not be denied!” Now you’re just fat shaming! But we’re not here to be “extremists” so we’ll forgive you this once for your fat joke. We won’t, however, forgive you for your argument on “hacktivism” because it’s totally hypocritical. You say that people should protest against “important issues,” but what does that even mean? What defines an important issue? Just because the impact of changing the dress code would only affect the scope of our community, it doesn’t make it less important. Sometimes, smaller is- sues have the most impact. The answer isn’t to criticize students for getting involved in something they’re passionate about.We propose that instead of implementing a fixed dress code condemning Butts, Breasts, Bellies and Boxers, the school should only act on a case-by-case basis. If a teacher sees someone’s outfit actively disrupting the class, then they can confront the student in a discreet manner. And don’t get us wrong, a distracting outfit doesn’t necessari- ly mean it’s too revealing. It could just be a T-shirt on twerking or a clown costume. If it detracts from the teacher’s lesson, then it is com- pletely valid to request the student to change. This way it’s fair. Oth- erwise our dress code just becomes an arbitrary system governed by whatever individual security guards deem inappropriate.mazcarate@thesamohi.com