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In March 2015, Sofia Pierson stood straight and still in an eighth-grade classroom at Fairhaven Middle School in Bellingham, Washington. Behind Pierson stood a female classmate in a decorative skirt; she scanned her surroundings nervously as a staff member patrolled the hallways looking for students in violation of the school's dress code.

A group of about ten girls had chosen that day to dress up for school, in celebration of their friend who was moving to another state. The girls wore what they thought to be tasteful sundresses and skirts-all just above the knee. The school's dress code required dress length to extend beyond pinky fingers, and stipulated: "tops should cover front, back and midriff with straps two fingers wide."

Such provisions are fairly common at high schools and middle schools across the country. Schools often deem certain attire a "distraction" for other students, and it's usually female-specific clothing-short skirts, dresses above the knee, skin-baring tops-that is seen as the culprit. For example, at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, in one two-week period in 2014, 200 students-90 percent of whom are girls-were cited for dress code violations

There is a growing chorus of students at hundreds of schools who are speaking out against sexist dress codes that are based on the idea that girls' and women's attire is to be judged on the basis of boys' and men's presumed reaction to it. In most places, policy change in the form of an effective yet inclusive and gender-neutral dress code has been hard to come by. But Fairhaven Middle School is an example of how such change can be made when administrators listen to and work with students.

On that day in March, when Fairhaven staff got word that the girls were wearing outfits that violated the school's policies, they began to call them into the office. Pierson remembers one staff member visiting classrooms to collect the girls showing too much skin.

Halley Linscheid, one of the girls in the sundress group, said after being singled out by teachers that day, she and her friends knew it was time to start talking to administrators about creating a nonsexist dress code.

The girls scheduled a meeting with the principal the following week, but Linscheid knew a meeting to address the incident wouldn't be enough to start the ball rolling on changing the policy. She immediately enlisted Pierson's help-recognizing her peer as a feminist leader on campus.

Pierson, who identifies as agender and uses they/them pronouns, helped take things from there. Although they weren't singled out as one of the dress code violators, Pierson said they were tired of watching their peers feel anxious about whether what they were wearing could get them sent to the office.

In the days that followed, the group began to work on a campaign to get the attention of Fairhaven faculty. Pierson made a call to tip off the local newspaper, The Bellingham Herald, where a local reporter began to report on the students' quest for equality. They handed out the first article on the incident to faculty at the school, drawing attention to the issue.

The next week, Pierson and their female peers organized a silent protest, in which they all decided to wear dresses to school on the same day. The group had two rules: They had to wear an outfit that fit the dress code, which Pierson admits was hard with such strict guidelines. And the girls couldn't tell staff about their protest. They wanted to gain attention to start an effective dialogue, instead of getting shot down before getting started.

Pierson's mother, Ana Cuevas, said she was appalled at how the conservatively the girls had to dress in order to conform to the dress code guidelines. "The night before, girls were sending Sofia pictures.... Nobody could have an outfit that they could wear. I was like, 'There are so many more important things in life.'"

When the group showed up to school the next day dressed to the (school-approved) nines, they got the attention of faculty and staff. Pierson says it was obvious that the protestors were making a point about the strict provisions of the code, and that effective change couldn't be solved with a single meeting. They wanted to keep talking.

Fairhaven Principal Robert Kalahan said he knew this issue needed to result in a dialogue with those involved. He had the counselor join him in sitting down with the concerned students to reach a compromise on a dress code that worked best for everyone.

"We talked about what happened and the reaction the girls had to it, and in our conversations, the number-one thing that came out was the sense of shame that some of the girls expressed from the situation," he said. "Based on the descriptions of how staff addressed issues, I agreed with them."

So Kalahan invited other parents, including Cuevas, to devise a dress code that would be immediately enforced that spring.

"Ultimately, we wanted a dress code that, number one, didn't disrupt school, number two, respected everybody involved, and number three, was allowable for student individuality to come out," Kalahan said. "And based upon those as our criteria, we came up with our district-wide policy at the middle level, which basically doesn't designate anything about length or the measurements or anything but still keeps the information of having safe messages and not being disruptive to the overall school or any community."

The new Fairhaven dress code uses language such as "Clothing will cover torso, midriff and backside," which Kalahan pointed out takes away the gender-specific language.

"It was very important to make it gender-neutral," Kalahan said. "We had pieces that were directed toward girls, and some that were more addressed to the boys' dress code issues. We wanted to make it very clear that we're not targeting one or the other."

Now a first-year student at Sehome High School, Pierson said they are satisfied with the revised dress code at their middle school and even noticed that students were able to be more body-positive.

"[The new dress code] opened up the rest of everyone's wardrobe because there is probably half of their wardrobes that is tucked away for the weekends or after school," they said. "I was even being complimented; people would say, 'I really like those shorts,' or something. So then all of the sudden, I felt more positive definitely body- and dress-wise, and I never expected that to happen."

And though Pierson thought their school's revised dress code made sense, they think the best solution would be no dress code at all. Because when it comes to freedom for all students, including those who are gender-nonconforming, the fewer restrictions the better.

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Sexist school dress codes can be changed - Women's Media Center

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In March 2015, Sofia Pierson stood straight and still in an eighth-grade classroom at Fairhaven Middle School in Bellingham, Washington. Behind Pierson stood a female classmate in a decorative skirt; she scanned her surroundings nervously as a staff member patrolled the hallways looking for students in violation of the school's dress code.

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Should modesty refer to our hearts and not our clothing? Isn't that what the Bible focused on? 

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Should modesty refer to our hearts and not our clothing? Isn't that what the Bible focused on? 

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Does modesty only apply to women or should men have to dress modestly too?

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Does modesty only apply to women or should men have to dress modestly too?

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Do your clothes define how modest of a person you are? Do you think that's how it should be?

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Do your clothes define how modest of a person you are? Do you think that's how it should be?

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School bans girls from wearing yoga pants and leggings

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"9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God."

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"Christian women do not fear God if they wear bikinis"

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"Christian women do not fear God if they wear bikinis"

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Most Annoying Conservative & Christian Women

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Can Christian women wear Bikini's?  Not if they fear God

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Bikinis were invented by the devil and promote sexual immorality and promiscuity. It's so sad that now-a-days people are more concerned about promoting their desire to get tan at the beach, then covering their bodies to not promote lust. God will judge.

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"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion."

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"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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"Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

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"In fact, it seems that most of the Bible's instructions regrading modesty find their context in warnings against materialism, not sexuality...a pattern that has gone largely unnoticed by the red-faced preacher population." (Held Evans 128)

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"Isn't clothing a form of nonverbal comunication? If so, should we be allowed to judge others by what they "say"? (Held Evans 131)

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Girls are being targeted for what they are wearing

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Girls are being targeted for what they are wearing

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It's not the banned yoga pants that bother Katie Larson about West Central High School's dress code.

It's the seven PowerPoint slides with photos of girls in short skirts, ripped jeans and spaghetti strap tops compared to the zero slides with photos of boys in a presentation by Principal Melinda Jensen.

The presentation, which made its annual appearance Monday during freshman orientation, left some parents and students feeling the school's dress code is unfair to girls because of its focus on prohibiting girls' clothing items that may be a "distraction" (a term used in the slideshow) to classroom learning.

Larson, a 17-year-old senior, understands why a dress code is necessary, but to hear dress code rules presented as a way to prevent distraction in the classroom makes her feel disrespected.

"To hear that me showing my shoulders will be a distraction, I feel I'm being more of an object than a person," Larson said.
Palfy Klemond: ​Parenting: Calling clothes a 'distraction' does a disservice to our sons, daughters
She's not the only one feeling singled out because of her gender during Jensen's presentation.

The slideshow outlines the general dress code policy, with the next seven slides showing images of women in various outfits. A final dress code slide shows the text-only "guidelines for boys," which include a "neat and clean" appearance with no saggy jeans, no tank tops and no hats worn in the building.

The discrepancy in number of slides illustrates junior Kyra McMillan's feeling that the high school's dress code is less strict for boys.

"A lot of girls don't like the dress code," McMillan said.

The girls' slides in Jensen's presentation show photos of the women in athletic shorts or "short-shorts" next to a photo demonstrating the appropriate length. Others show examples of short skirts, off-the-shoulder blouses, ripped jeans and spaghetti-strap tank tops.

Jensen would not share the slideshow file with Argus Leader Media, but she did allow a reporter to view the presentation.

She defended her extensive use of examples of women, saying she's been asked by parents to give examples of what is and isn't school-appropriate attire for girls, but not for boys.

"(Do) they want me to show a picture of a boy with a hat and a boy without a hat?" Jensen said.

A dress code violation at West Central lands students in detention, Jensen said. Last year, 33 students were cited for dress code violations, most of whom were girls.

Deb Peters, a South Dakota state senator and mother of two boys at West Central, said she would like to see a dress code policy that's consistent for both boys and girls.

"There's got to be an education system where girls don't feel discriminated against," Peters said.

Jensen doesn't feel the policy or her presentation discriminates against girls.

"If I'm a young lady, and I don't want to be objectified, I need to do my research," she said. "I need to do my thinking on what are those things that objectify women in our society. (The slideshow) is informational. I'm not making judgments here."

Michael Reynolds, a 17-year-old West Central junior, doesn't see his female classmates' clothes as a distraction. He said the dress code policy would be more fair if girls could wear what they wanted.

"I don't think it's fair (for the girls) because we can wear what we want," Reynolds said.

McMillan's frustration with the policy comes in its enforcement. Students who violate dress code are pulled from class and asked to change clothes, meaning that girls whose outfits are deemed to be a distraction are forced to miss class.
Follow education watchdog reporter Megan Raposa on Twitter @mlraposa and subscribe to The Highlighter, an education newsletter for parents.
"I think no matter what you wear," McMillan said. "It shouldn't be a distraction to your own education to not be a distraction to others'."

Read or Share this story: http://argusne.ws/2bCa3K2

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Students, parents say West Central dress code unfairly targets girls

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It's not the banned yoga pants that bother Katie Larson about West Central High School's dress code. It's the seven PowerPoint slides with photos of girls in short skirts, ripped jeans and spaghetti strap tops compared to the zero slides with photos of boys in a presentation by Principal Melinda Jensen.

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“The idea is to avoid dressing in a way that draws attention to your outer self, but instead to dress so that your inner self is allowed to shine through. You should try to be pretty, but not alluring.”(122)

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"We pull little girls to the front of the class and slap rulers against their bare legs and try to measure their modesty in inches. Then we grow so attached to our rules that they long outlive their purpose, and the next thing we know, we’re adding leaves to our tables and cutting the ends off our roasts. We cling to the letter because the spirit to master." (140)

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"We pull little girls to the front of the class and slap rulers against their bare legs and try to measure their modesty in inches. Then we grow so attached to our rules that they long outlive their purpose, and the next thing we know, we’re adding leaves to our tables and cutting the ends off our roasts. We cling to the letter because the spirit to master." (140)

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Block C: Sarah Montgomery, Sarah Perret, Tori Conlon, Mikki Pittman, Christina Campbell, Audrey Perry