海角大神

A North Dakota high school assembly on the school dress code 鈥撀爏tipulating that yoga pants and skinny jeans must be appropriately聽
covered 鈥� was expected to last five minutes.

But last Friday the 220 girls stayed in the Devils Lake High School聽gymnasium for more than half an hour.聽There, they watched two short video clips from 鈥淧retty Woman鈥� (1990). In one, star Julia Roberts, who plays a prostitute in the R-rated movie, is dressed scantily. In the other, she was dressed to the nines.

鈥淭he image you project is so important,鈥� Devils Lake principal Ryan Hanson says in an interview. 鈥淚t matters so much to you as a woman. In our eyes, we鈥檙e trying聽to protect our kids, and sometimes they don鈥檛 see it that way.鈥澛�

Indeed. These North Dakota students, parents, and teachers have leapt into a broader national dialogue about gender bias in school dress codes, body image, and societal standards and perceptions.

Friday's girls-only assembly was called after the Devils Lake聽assistant principal counted more than聽30 girls in violation of the dress code, which stipulates聽that yoga pants, leggings and/or tight jeans must be appropriately covered by other clothing. Students were聽wearing yoga pants 鈥渟tretched so thin聽that they become see through,鈥� Mr. Hanson says. 鈥淭hings aren鈥檛 left to the imagination, I guess.鈥�

At the assembly, Hanson explains, a few students spoke out against what they said was an unfair policy, which the school鈥檚 assistant principal aims to keep boys focused on their academics. But Hanson notes that some girls also took offense to the video.聽

鈥淎 student said something to the effect of, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e calling us prostitutes,鈥欌�� he recalls. 鈥淭hat聽was not the intent 鈥� it was an unfortunate choice, because yes, she plays a prostitute in the聽movie, but that wasn鈥檛 what was trying to be stressed.鈥澛�

Dress code disputes between high school students and administrators are nothing new, says聽Jo Paoletti, an associate American studies professor at the University of Maryland, who studies聽American children鈥檚 clothing. She calls the conflict a 鈥渃lash of cultural meanings.鈥澛�

Walkouts protesting dress codes have sprouted up around the US. this fall, , as has the hashtag , which references the argument that boys聽cannot pay attention in class when girls wear tight outfits.聽

Last March, middle school girls protested a ban on leggings and yoga pants in Evanston,聽Ill., . Hundreds of students signed a petition, and several聽marched 鈥� one carrying a poster that asked 鈥渁re my pants lowering your test scores?鈥澛�

The Associated Press reported last month that 200 detentions (90 percent girls) followed a Staten聽Island dress code change that bans skimpy clothing. Fifteen Tottenville High School staff聽members look for violations in the approximately 4,200-person student body, the New York Post聽reported.

Conflict arises, professor Paoletti says, when adults ascribe meaning to clothing that students do聽not share. She connects the current battles over yoga pants and leggings to men growing their hair聽long in the 1960s.聽

In this case, she says, students and adults are 鈥渘ot quite on the same wavelength.鈥澛犫�淭he more adults say, 鈥榖ecause I said so, you鈥檒l understand when you鈥檙e older,鈥� the more聽there鈥檚 a rift between the people who are supposed to be abiding by the rules and the people who聽make them,鈥� she says.

At Devils Lake High School, when individual students violate the dress code, officials聽first ask them to change their outfits, Hanson says. If students don鈥檛 have anything to change into,聽the school will offer them spare clothing. And if that doesn鈥檛 work, he says, they must stay in the聽office until a parent brings them new clothing 鈥� for each class period missed, they鈥檒l have to sit聽a one-hour detention.

The assembly鈥檚 message, Hanson says, was supposed to focus more on how people聽perceive one another differently depending on how they dress. Noting the largely critical media聽spotlight on the dress code ban, he says that the school 鈥渄idn鈥檛 handle the situation 100-percent perfectly鈥� and that he聽
plans to apologize to the female students in a future assembly.