Dress code is supposed to keep all students feel comfortable and undistracted at school, however dress code is primarily targeted towards females. Women have fewer options when it comes to lengths in clothing, so when females get dress coded for wearing “short shorts,” people need to realize there are no options for long shorts. The shorts that are of “modest” length are deemed unfashionable.

“Dress code overall is not a big problem at our school, but in some classes it can be,” senior Vilmiina Nupponen said.

At San Pasqual, there is not a very strict dress code, but what is enforced is aimed towards women. Admin does not enforce dress code, but some teacher won’t allow students to enter the class based on what they are wearing.

“Some teachers [observe] dress code because of their personal agendas or they want students to be more conservative,”  Nupponen believes.

The teachers who enforce dress code aren’t doing it because administration is nagging them to. Some students believe these teachers are making females feel insecure, and disagree that a female wearing shorts in 90 degree heat could cause a riot in class. Some teachers, on the other hand, believe it disrupts the learning environment or their personal beliefs. 

“There should not be a dress code; women should be able to wear what they want and not feel self conscious because it makes other people uncomfortable,” junior Tessa Thorn said.

In 2018, one would think that a woman could wear what she wants without being ridiculed and sexualized. By telling a young women to change because what she is wearing is too provocative, women who are teenagers are being sexualized.

“I would not be okay with a male teacher dress coding me; it isn’t right for a man to tell a female what she can and can’t wear.” Thorn said.

For a man to dress code a young woman is wrong on many levels. Most of the time parents see what their daughters are wearing to school. If the parent of a young woman knows what she is wearing, students wonder what gives a male teacher the right to embarrass her and make her change?

As soon as a female gets enough confidence to wear something she feels confident in, if she has to go through the humility of being dress coded, she may have to wear an oversized, stained, unwashed shirt. Females are the ones who deal with being sexualized from a young age. When is the last time a boy got dress coded for taking his shirt off or wearing a shirt with a nude girl on it? Instead of body shaming females, many students believe that we should pass on embarrassing young women for who they are rather than making them change for wearing a tank top.