It makes sense that people should come to school dressed appropriately. Boys, girls, men, and women should all be expected to look presentable. The word “presentable” has some varying definitions, though, especially in the context of school.

To me, the word simply means you have dressed for the occasion. So in the context of school, I think that as long as you have some shoes, a shirt, and some pants to put it all together, you should be fine. I’m not saying it’s ok to show up in lingerie, but leggings and tights and shorts and all else that covers your parts a respectable amount should be fine.

To some people, this concept poses a big problem. In their thinking, “provocative” clothing can sidetrack learning. Actually, I couldn’t agree more. If someone is wearing something that is alluring, it’s only natural someone would be swept up by it. Here’s where my train of thought differs though: just because the clothes being worn can be distracting, why should the girls (most often it is the girls who are penalized) wearing them be held responsible? Shouldn’t the ones acting on their urges be held responsible for them? It’s not clothing that does the thinking, it’s the people in them.

See, the school dress code is supposed to safeguard learning and as I said earlier, make sure it doesn’t get sidetracked. In effect though, it only serves to safeguard boy’s education, because they’re the ones everyone thinks are getting distracted. Does the dress code even do that, though? I don’t think so.

If women in normal attire are going to be uncontrollably distracting in a school setting, how are boys going to function out in the real world as grown men? Sure, there may be dress codes in the workplace, but there won’t be any in the supermarket or your favorite diner. What are they going to do then, going about based on what they learned in school? They’re going to think that it’s a woman’s responsibility to control how they think and how they act.

That may go in one ear and out the other, but that concept, that misconception, is behind so many of the world’s problems. Think about rape cases in the news. One of the key things you hear, especially in crimes taking place in less developed countries, is that the woman asked for it because of what she was wearing. The fact that it is not someone else’s responsibility for how someone thinks and acts is still lost on some people.

Based on what you’ve read so far, you might think I’m a staunch feminist and I have no regard for the rights of men. That’s not at all the case. I think having a looser school dress code would benefit boys immensely. After all, if we want to raise good men, we have to start by raising good boys.

If you’re reading this as a girl, you probably want me to lay out all the ways that the dress code takes away from our learning experience too, but I’m sure you know those reasons all too well. I can almost promise that you’ve been dress coded at some point in your life. Maybe you deserved it, I don’t know. Like I said earlier, there are some things that aren’t school appropriate. But more likely than not, your shorts were an inch too short or your bra strap was peeking through. I bet you felt a bit ashamed, right? People have tried to dress code me twice this year alone and I know I’ve sure had to look in the mirror. If that’s the case with you too, then just try to keep on keeping on and know it likely isn’t you, it’s the system.