School dress codes perpetuate sexism against women, constraining their freedom of expression and reinforcing gender bias in many ways.

According to a report released in 2022 by the Government Accountability Office, 90 percent of dress codes prohibit clothing items typically associated with girls, meaning dress code policies are unfairly targeted towards women’s clothing and have become a constant issue within the school environment.

“I’ve been dress-coded at least once every year,” said Myriam Cano (11). “I would definitely agree that the dress code is sexist. I feel like they sexualize women’s bodies a lot more than men.”

The official Rogers dress code states that students are prohibited from wearing clothing that exposes the underwear, buttocks or the chest. While this doesn’t specifically say anything directly pointed towards women’s clothing, when was the last time you saw a crop top or mini skirt in the men’s section? The dress code can be a good regulation for clothing that is offensive or harmful. However, the majority of the rules are targeted towards clothes that women wear and thus adding to the level of unfairness for female  students.

“The dress code is extremely sexist,” said Angelina Garcia (11). “I’ve only been dress-coded by male teachers. It makes me feel uncomfortable because why are teachers looking at my clothing and over-sexualizing it?”

Garcia has never received a dress code violation from a female teacher, and she believes this is emblematic of the issue.

“I feel like allowing male teachers to dress code females over something so little as a bra strap showing or a spaghetti strap seems extreme and weird and a very inappropriate view to have on students, more specifically, women,” Garcia said.

The dress code on the district page never says anything about showing your shoulders or wearing thin straps. So why do women constantly get in trouble or get told to cover up? Is it possible the real issue here is the teachers abusing their power of authority and dress coding students for issues not mentioned in the hand book?

“You know, I do think that it’s an unfortunate system where girls get dress-coded more often than boys,” said Christhian Saavedra, Heritage’s Student Success Coordinator.

“I don’t have data to support that [females get dress-coded more than males,] but if you were asking my opinion I would say that it might trend more towards females,” said Brian Walker, a teacher on special assignment.

With even our school’s own staff agreeing that the dress code is targeted towards women, what else is needed to make a change?

Dress codes make women feel ashamed for the body they are given at birth; they are scared that expressing their own style could get them in trouble by male teachers over- sexualizing their outfits and bodies. Sexism is a broader and more deeper issue. However, we can start the change by making people of Heritage more aware of the sexism behind the school dress codes.