Pop Culture Tuesday - I Am More Than A Distraction

It's no secret that dress codes are pretty much a necessity for every school even they don't have a uniform. It's also not a secret that these dess codes and 'uniform policies' police women's bodies. It seems to be every other day that I read some article about a teenage girl sent home in disgrace becausue her shoulders were showing and that would 'distract the male students'.

Here's why that's problematic:

1) It enforces the idea that 'boys will be boys' and can't be held responsible for their actions if a girl is wearing revealing clothing and she is sexually assaulted. This promotes victim blaming.
2) It promotes the concept that what a girl wears is more important than how she uses her brain. This objectifies women.
3) It's humiliating - especially if you're a teenage girl. You're going though puberty - breasts are developing for one thing and a top you wore 2 months ago when you were still an A-cup now just accentuates your chest and some 'teachers' see that as inappropriate and vilify you for having a body that is going through female puberty and is a fact of life.
4) IT PROMOTES THE IDEA THAT A BOY'S EDUCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A GIRL'S.

It is blatant sexism and everyone knows it. It's gender discrimantion in most cases, a typical male versus female debate in which the man almost always comes out on top because society is so deeply rooted within the patriarchy that we value a boy's education over a girl's.

My favourite reason though has to be when a teenage girl at a public high school in America got sent home after her t-shirt was 'distracting' to male teachers because it was deemed 'too revealing' and by that they mean 'it didn't cover every part of her bare skin'. Surely a teacher is professional enough not to be distracted by a teenage girl's body?

In retaliation to these incidents, a twitter hashtag #IAmMoreThanADistraction was trending and set tongues wagging - because girls are more than a distraction. We are human beings with developing bodies, a brain like any other person on the planet and a voice to speak out on any discrimination - gender or otherwise.