Adriana Vink, Class II
Dear TBLS Cabinet,
We are writing to you in response to the newly implemented dress code policies for non-uniform days, which read as such:
We encourage (but we don’t require) that the dress-down clothing align with the theme of the day.
Clothing should not expose underwear or stomachs.
Clothing should not include words or images that are inappropriate for school and/or make anyone feel disrespected or unsafe. (Examples include hateful, violent, offensive, or otherwise dangerous words or images.)
We whole-heartedly support policies I and III, but write in strong opposition to policy II. Brooklyn Latin stands alone amongst its peers in imposing this rule. Crop tops and other midriff-baring tops are allowed at many comparable New York City high schools including but not limited to: Bard Queens, Beacon, the Berkeley Carroll School, the Boerum Hill School for International Studies, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Friends, Brooklyn High School of the Arts, Brooklyn Tech, Edward R. Murrow, Flushing, Fort Hamilton, Frank Sinatra, Grover Cleveland, the iSchool, LaGuardia, Midwood, Millennium Brooklyn, NEST+m, the NYC Museum School, and Stuyvesant. Students at these schools have attested that they are not subject to this type of dress coding. As you can see, multiple other specialized high schools are on this list.
Although the new policy uses “gender neutral language,” the application of it will never be gender neutral. Study after study has shown that female-identifying students, particularly Black and brown women and curvier students, are dress coded much more often than white male students. Dress codes that police body parts, by definition, sexualize the bodies of those they apply to. The new policy sexualizes and objectifies teenage girls — who are the most likely to wear tops that show the midriff and/or bra straps — and contributes to rape culture. The over policing of women’s clothing contributes to victim-blaming. As author Sady Doyle wrote, “Every woman has a moment when she realizes her body is public property.”
This new policy bans the visibility of stomachs — a body part that has no sexual function whatsoever. Since we have not received clarity on the motivations for enacting this policy, we will assume that it is to promote “professionalism” or prevent “inappropriate” appearance. If that is so, “then maybe it’s an idea to prohibit showing genitals (banned in only 1% of US schools) instead of belly buttons (banned in 71%) which have no sexual function at all." Class II student Aidan Wohl said, “It’s unfair that they’ll give us these clear guidelines but they won’t give us a clear reason for why they exist. If they had a good answer, they would give it to us.”
Many students stand in opposition to this dress code policy. One student who was dress coded said, “My feelings were never even considered.” Another student said, “Why did this suddenly start last week when people have been wearing crop tops on dress down days since I was a freshman?” Regarding the creation of this policy students said, “Why does the school administration get to decide these things? They never ask us what we want. It’s always their decision in the end” and “For a school that claims that we have a welcoming community, they’re not doing a good job at sticking with that.” One student candidly stated, “There are so many more pressing issues that they’re doing a sh*tty job of addressing.” Finally, one student discussed the discomfort this policy has caused, saying, “It’s uncomfortable to imagine that adults in this building are spending time imagining what students are wearing or what students look like.”
Being dress coded causes students, who previously were not thinking about their outfit or were even pleased with it, to feel self-conscious, which we all know can lead to numerous mental health issues. Additionally, studies have shown that “when people are consciously thinking about their appearance, they perform worse on various cognitive tasks like math tests and are more likely to experience eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression.” Based on scientific research, TBLS’ new dress code will have a negative impact on students’ academics. Therefore, not only does this new policy cause the student embarrassment, discomfort, and self-consciousness, but it also disrupts their learning — in many ways. Being dress coded is “a bigger detractor from learning than the allegedly disruptive outfit was in the first place."
On Monday, March 28th, multiple students were stopped in the hallways and pulled out of class for violating the brand-new anti-stomach policy. They were forced to miss class in order to have sometimes hour-long “discussions” or “conversations” with members of the administration. This puts students in an intimidating and uncomfortable situation where they have one of two choices: to actively decide to speak their mind and prepare for possible consequences or to betray their beliefs in favor of safety. Additionally, Section VII of Chancellor’s Regulation A-665 regarding dress-code related discipline states that “students shall not be…removed from class.”
We recognize that TBLS values its uniform — something we do not question in this letter. However, that is what makes every dress-down day so significant for discipuli. It is our one chance to express our individuality and choose the clothing that makes us feel confident. If TBLS were a school that truly valued diversity, it would value the diversity of clothing our students wear on dress-down days and the diversity of bodies we live in every day.
Thank you for your time,
Adriana Vink, Public Advocate
Sources:
Zhou, Li. “The Sexism of School Dress Codes.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 21 Oct. 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/school-dress-codes-are-problematic/410962/.
Karlsen, Alina, and Tess de Rooij. “Dress Code.” This Is Gendered, https://thisisgendered.org/entry/dress-code/#:~:text=In%20US%20schools%20where%20dress,%25)%20and%20shoulders%20(8%25.
Thomas, Amber. “The Sexualized Messages Dress Codes Are Sending to Students.” The Pudding, Feb. 2019, https://pudding.cool/2019/02/dress-code-sexualization/.
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